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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer learned a discounter was selling a new skincare range that seemed similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest shop to purchase the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its sleek blue packaging and gold cap of the two creams look strikingly comparable. Although she has not tested the high-end cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK buyers say they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44% among younger adults, based on a recently published survey.

Dupes are skincare products that copy established brands and offer affordable options to premium items. These products often have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists say many alternatives to high-end labels are good quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is always more effective," comments skin specialist one expert. "Not every affordable beauty label is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are truly impressive," says a skincare commentator, who presents a program with celebrities.

A lot of of the items based on luxury brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional believes alternatives are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he says. "These items will do the basics to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is quite affordable because there's very little that can cause issues," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

But the specialists also suggest consumers check details and say that costlier items are occasionally worth the additional cost.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only funding the label and advertising - sometimes the elevated price also is due to the formula and their standard, the strength of the key component, the research utilized to create the product, and trials into the item's effectiveness, the expert explains.

Beauty expert she suggests it's valuable considering how some alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she states they could contain filler ingredients that lack as many benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Commentator Scott admits in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name brand but the product itself has "no connection to the original".

"Do not be sold by the packaging," he warned.

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For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends using more specialised companies.

She says these typically have been subjected to expensive studies to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty items are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains expert another professional.

If the brand states about the effectiveness of the item, it requires research to support it, "but the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead use evidence completed by other firms, she adds.

Check the Back of the Container

Is there any components that could indicate a item is inferior?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up