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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out a supermarket was offering a new beauty line that seemed akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml item.

Its sleek blue container and gold lid of the two items look remarkably similar. And though Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she states she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been using skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers state they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, based on a February study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy bigger name labels and provide cost-effective alternatives to high-end products. They typically have alike names and packaging, but sometimes the formulas can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts contend some alternatives to luxury labels are decent standard and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think more expensive is always more effective," comments skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all low-budget product line is inferior - and not all luxury beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely impressive," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast featuring celebrities.

Many of the products based on luxury brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory level."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is very low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the specialists also suggest buyers investigate and say that more expensive items are at times worth the premium price.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - at times the elevated cost also comes from the ingredients and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the technology used to create the product, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she says.

Facialist she argues it's worth considering how certain dupes can be sold so cheaply.

Occasionally, she says they could contain less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the complexion, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The key doubt is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the premium version".

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

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Regarding advanced items or ones with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she recommends sticking to more specialised brands.

She explains these typically have been subjected to comprehensive tests to assess how successful they are.

Skincare items must be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the label states about the efficacy of the item, it must have data to verify it, "however the brand doesn't always have to do the trials" and can instead use testing conducted by other companies, she says.

Check the Label of the Bottle

Is there any components that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are ordered by quantity. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up