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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was launching a new skincare range that seemed comparable to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest store to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml item.

The smooth blue packaging and gold lid of each items look remarkably similar. While she has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK buyers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a recent survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate bigger name labels and present affordable substitutes to high-end items. They typically have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts argue some alternatives to high-end labels are decent standard and help make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion costlier is necessarily better," states skin specialist one expert. "Not every budget beauty label is poor - and not every high-end beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely excellent," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a podcast featuring famous people.

Numerous of the items modeled on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry thinks dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a acceptable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also recommend buyers do their research and state that costlier items are occasionally worth the premium price.

With high-end skincare, you're not just covering the brand and advertising - at times the elevated price tag also comes from the formula and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the science utilized to produce the item, and tests into the item's effectiveness, she says.

Facialist another professional says it's worth questioning how certain dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she says they might contain less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott notes in some cases he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a big-name label but the product itself has "no connection to the original".

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

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For more complicated items or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist advises sticking to medical-grade companies.

She explains these will likely have been subjected to expensive studies to determine how effective they are.

Skincare products are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it must have data to verify it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively cite evidence done by other companies, she clarifies.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a item is poor?

Components on the list of the bottle are listed by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up