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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was launching a new beauty line that appeared comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She dashed to her local store to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The smooth blue tube and gold top of the two creams look noticeably alike. Although Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK buyers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, based on a recently published study.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic bigger name companies and present affordable options to luxury products. These products frequently have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the components can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Better'

Skincare specialists argue many alternatives to high-end labels are good standard and assist make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think higher-priced is necessarily more effective," says skin specialist a doctor. "Not all budget product line is bad - and not all luxury beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a show about public figures.

Many of the items based on luxury labels "disappear so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional argues dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a reasonable standard."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be okay in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

But the professionals also recommend buyers investigate and say that costlier products are occasionally worth the premium price.

With high-end skincare, you're not only covering the label and promotion - often the increased price tag also is due to the components and their standard, the potency of the effective element, the science employed to develop the item, and studies into the products' efficacy, the expert notes.

Skin therapist she argues it's important considering how some dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they may include filler ingredients that lack as many advantages for the complexion, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The major doubt is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott admits in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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Regarding advanced products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist suggests selecting more specialised companies.

She explains these typically have been subjected to expensive studies to evaluate how efficacious they are.

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

When the brand makes claims about the performance of the product, it requires data to verify it, "but the brand does not necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead reference testing completed by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a product is poor?

Components on the label of the container are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up