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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was selling a fresh beauty line that appeared akin to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper dashed to her nearest 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 container and gold top of the two products look strikingly alike. Although she has not used the premium cream, she claims she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers say they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a February study.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic well-known companies and offer affordable alternatives to high-end products. They often have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Skincare professionals argue many dupes to high-end labels are reasonable quality and aid make skincare cheaper.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably superior," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every affordable beauty label is inferior - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely amazing," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a program with famous people.

Numerous of the items based on high-end labels "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor believes dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he comments. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable level."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in using a dupe or a product which is very inexpensive because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

However the experts also suggest shoppers investigate and state that more expensive items are occasionally worth the premium price.

With premium beauty products, you're not only funding the name and marketing - sometimes the higher cost also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the effective element, the science utilized to create the item, and trials into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo notes.

Beauty expert she argues it's important considering how some alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they could contain less effective components that don't have as many benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The key question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Commentator McGlynn notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a established brand but the item has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

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For potent items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests using more specialised companies.

The expert says these typically have been through costly tests to determine how effective they are.

Beauty products must be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company makes claims about the performance of the item, it must have evidence to back it up, "but the manufacturer does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead use evidence conducted by different brands, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are arranged by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up