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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out a supermarket was selling a recent beauty line that looked akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She dashed to her closest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its smooth blue tube and gold cap of both products look noticeably similar. While she has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been using beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK buyers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recent poll.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate well-known labels and present budget-friendly alternatives to luxury products. They frequently have alike labels and design, but occasionally the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty professionals argue some alternatives to luxury brands are reasonable standard and help make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is invariably superior," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not all budget beauty label is inferior - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who hosts a podcast featuring famous people.

Many of the items based on high-end labels "disappear so fast, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "These items will perform the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can save money when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

But the specialists also suggest consumers do their research and note that more expensive products are sometimes worth the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just paying for the brand and promotion - at times the elevated cost also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the key component, the technology employed to create the item, and trials into the item's performance, the expert explains.

Skin therapist she argues it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

In some cases, she says they may have bulking agents that don't have as significant benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One major question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott says on occasion he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a well-known label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he added.

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For more complicated items or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends selecting medical-grade brands.

She states these probably have been subjected to costly studies to assess how efficacious they are.

Beauty products must be assessed before they can be available in the UK, says consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it must have research to back it up, "however the brand does not always have to do the testing" and can instead reference testing conducted by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Pack

Are there any components that could signal a item is inferior?

Components on the back of the bottle are arranged by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up