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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer learned a supermarket was launching a new beauty line that seemed comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of both creams look noticeably similar. While Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's in good company.

Over a quarter of UK consumers state they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recent survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate established labels and present budget-friendly options to luxury products. They frequently have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the components can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts argue some substitutes to high-end brands are good quality and help make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think costlier is always superior," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not all affordable skincare brand is bad - and not every high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," adds a podcast host, who presents a program about celebrities.

Numerous of the items based on luxury labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry argues alternatives are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will be effective," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when you're looking for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly affordable because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Box'

Yet the experts also advise buyers check details and say that costlier items are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

With high-end skincare, you're not just covering the name and promotion - sometimes the elevated price tag also is due to the formula and their quality, the strength of the key component, the technology employed to create the product, and trials into the item's performance, Dr Belmo explains.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's important thinking about how certain dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

In some cases, she states they may contain filler ingredients that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

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

Commentator McGlynn admits in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the item has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Do not be fooled by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

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Regarding potent products or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist advises sticking to more specialised brands.

She explains these probably have been subjected to expensive studies to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare products need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, explains expert another professional.

If the label states about the performance of the product, it must have data to support it, "but the brand doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively use evidence conducted by different brands, she adds.

Read the Label of the Container

Are there any components that could signal a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are ordered by amount. "The baddies that you need to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up