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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper heard Aldi was offering a new product collection that seemed akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She dashed to her closest store to purchase the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml item.

The sleek blue packaging and gold cap of both items look strikingly comparable. Although she has not used the premium cream, she states she's pleased by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK consumers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic well-known labels and present budget-friendly options to luxury products. These products frequently have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the components can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Skincare specialists say certain alternatives to high-end labels are decent standard and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily more effective," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget beauty label is inferior - and not all premium beauty item is the best."

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

Many of the products inspired by high-end labels "sell out so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he explains. "They will perform the basics to a acceptable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or something which is very low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

Yet the experts also advise buyers do their research and say that more expensive items are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only funding the label and promotion - sometimes the higher cost also stems from the formula and their quality, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology utilized to produce the item, and studies into the products' performance, she says.

Beauty expert another professional suggests it's important thinking about how certain alternatives can be priced so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they might have bulking agents that lack as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Podcast host McGlynn says sometimes he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a well-known brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or those with components that can inflame the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests sticking to research-backed brands.

She explains these probably have been subjected to costly trials to determine how effective they are.

Beauty products must be tested before they can be sold in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label states about the effectiveness of the item, it requires evidence to back it up, "but the brand doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead reference evidence conducted by other brands, she says.

Read the Label of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the list of the container are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up