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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard Aldi was offering a recent beauty line that appeared akin to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She rushed to her local store to pick up the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the high-end 50ml product.

The smooth blue tube and gold cap of each items look strikingly comparable. And though she has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a 25% of UK buyers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to nearly half among younger adults, based on a recently published poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established companies and offer affordable alternatives to high-end products. These products often have similar names and packaging, but occasionally the components can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts argue many substitutes to high-end labels are good standard and aid make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that higher-priced is invariably more effective," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not all low-budget beauty label is inferior - and not every high-end beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast featuring public figures.

Many of the items based on luxury labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor argues dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will do the job," he comments. "These items will handle the basics to a reasonable degree."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or something which is very affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Box'

However the experts also advise consumers investigate and say that more expensive items are occasionally worth the additional cost.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the brand and marketing - at times the higher cost also stems from the ingredients and their quality, the strength of the key component, the research employed to produce the product, and trials into the products' performance, Dr Belmo says.

Facialist she argues it's important thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

In some cases, she believes they may have filler ingredients that do not provide as numerous advantages for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One big question mark is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott admits in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "no connection to the original".

"Don't be sold by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

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Regarding advanced items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist advises selecting more specialised labels.

She says these typically have been through costly studies to determine how effective they are.

Beauty items are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the brand makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it needs data to verify it, "but the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead use studies conducted by other firms, she says.

Examine the Back of the Pack

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is inferior?

Components on the back of the container are arranged by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up