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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper heard a supermarket was selling a fresh skincare range that seemed comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her nearest outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold top of the two products look strikingly similar. And though she has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's impressed by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers say they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic well-known companies and present cost-effective substitutes to luxury products. These products frequently have alike labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals say many substitutes to high-end labels are decent quality and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion higher-priced is always superior," states dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every affordable product line is bad - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," says a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast with celebrities.

Numerous of the items based on luxury brands "run out so quickly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor thinks alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he explains. "They will perform the basics to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is fairly affordable because there's not much that can be problematic," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the experts also suggest shoppers investigate and say that higher-priced products are occasionally worth the additional cost.

With luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the name and promotion - sometimes the increased price also stems from the formula and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the research employed to produce the item, and studies into the item's performance, she explains.

Facialist another professional suggests it's valuable thinking about how some dupes can be priced so cheaply.

In some cases, she states they could include less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One key question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Commentator Scott admits sometimes he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a big-name label but the item has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Don't be fooled by the container," he cautioned.

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For potent products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests using more specialised labels.

She explains these probably have been through costly tests to assess how successful they are.

Beauty items must be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company states about the performance of the product, it requires evidence to back it up, "but the seller doesn't always have to perform the testing" and can instead cite evidence completed by other companies, she adds.

Read the Back of the Pack

Are there any components that could suggest a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are ordered by amount. "Potential irritants that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up