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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer learned Aldi was offering a fresh skincare range that looked akin to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She hurried to her local shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of the two creams look noticeably similar. Although Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been using lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK consumers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recently published poll.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic well-known brands and offer budget-friendly options to premium products. These products typically have comparable branding and containers, but occasionally the components can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare experts say certain substitutes to luxury brands are good quality and assist make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think higher-priced is necessarily more effective," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not all affordable beauty label is bad - and not every high-end skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really excellent," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a podcast about famous people.

A lot of of the items inspired by luxury labels "run out so rapidly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Box'

Yet the professionals also suggest consumers check details and say that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not just funding the brand and marketing - at times the increased cost also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the potency of the effective element, the science employed to develop the product, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Facialist another professional says it's worth considering how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they could have bulking agents that don't have as numerous benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"The major doubt is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a well-known label but the item has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

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

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For potent products or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, she suggests sticking to medical-grade labels.

The expert states these will likely have been subjected to expensive trials to assess how successful they are.

Beauty products must be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

If the label states about the efficacy of the item, it needs evidence to back it up, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the testing" and can instead use testing completed by other companies, she says.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the container are arranged by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up