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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was selling a recent product collection that seemed comparable to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her local shop to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold lid of each products look strikingly comparable. While Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she claims she's pleased by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK buyers state they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a recent survey.

Dupes are beauty items that copy bigger name labels and present budget-friendly options to premium products. They frequently have alike labels and design, but sometimes the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts say many dupes to premium brands are reasonable quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"I don't think costlier is invariably more effective," says skin specialist one expert. "Not every low-budget beauty label is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a program featuring celebrities.

A lot of of the items inspired by luxury brands "disappear so fast, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry believes dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he comments. "They will handle the fundamentals to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when seeking simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be alright in using a lookalike or something which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

But the specialists also suggest shoppers do their research and state that costlier products are at times worth the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just funding the brand and advertising - often the increased cost also comes from the formula and their grade, the strength of the active ingredient, the technology employed to produce the item, and tests into the item's effectiveness, Dr Belmo notes.

Beauty expert another professional suggests it's valuable questioning how some dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

In some cases, she says they could include less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One major question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn says on occasion he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known label but the item has "little similarity to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she recommends selecting medical-grade labels.

She states these probably have been subjected to expensive trials to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty products are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company makes claims about the performance of the product, it needs evidence to support it, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead cite studies completed by other companies, she says.

Examine the Back of the Pack

Is there any components that could suggest a item is poor?

Components on the back of the container are listed by concentration. "The baddies that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up