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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was offering a recent skincare range that looked akin to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her local store to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold lid of the two items look noticeably comparable. While Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK buyers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that copy established brands and provide budget-friendly alternatives to high-end items. These products frequently have similar labels and design, but in some cases the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare professionals say many dupes to high-end labels are decent standard and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion higher-priced is always more effective," comments dermatology expert a doctor. "Not every affordable product line is bad - and not all high-end skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," adds a podcast host, who hosts a show about celebrities.

Many of the items modeled on high-end brands "sell out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor believes dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will be effective," he explains. "They will do the fundamentals to a acceptable level."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

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

'Do Not Be Sold by the Box'

However the professionals also recommend consumers do their research and say that costlier items are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

With high-end skincare, you're not just paying for the name and marketing - at times the higher price also is due to the formula and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the technology employed to develop the product, and tests into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's valuable considering how some dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they may include bulking agents that don't have as significant positive effects for the complexion, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"One key uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a established label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Do not be sold by the container," he added.

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Regarding potent products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends sticking to research-backed companies.

The expert says these typically have been subjected to comprehensive tests to evaluate how successful they are.

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

When the label advertises about the performance of the product, it requires research to support it, "but the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively cite studies done by other companies, she says.

Check the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a product is inferior?

Ingredients on the label of the container are ordered by concentration. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up