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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard Aldi was offering a fresh beauty line that seemed similar to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She hurried to her closest store to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The smooth blue tube and gold top of both products look remarkably similar. And though Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she claims she's impressed by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published poll.

Dupes are skincare products that copy bigger name companies and offer budget-friendly alternatives to high-end items. They often have alike labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare experts argue many dupes to high-end labels are reasonable quality and assist make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion costlier is invariably better," says skin specialist one expert. "Not all affordable skincare brand is bad - and not every luxury skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are truly amazing," says a skincare commentator, who presents a podcast featuring public figures.

Numerous of the items based on luxury labels "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry thinks alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "They will handle the basics to a reasonable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is very inexpensive because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Box'

Yet the specialists also suggest shoppers do their research and say that costlier items are at times worth the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - often the higher price also is due to the components and their standard, the potency of the effective element, the research employed to develop the product, and studies into the item's effectiveness, Dr Belmo notes.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman suggests it's important considering how certain dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they might contain bulking agents that lack as many benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One big doubt is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott says in some cases he's bought beauty products that look similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the premium version".

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

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For potent products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she advises selecting medical-grade labels.

She explains these typically have been through costly tests to assess how successful they are.

Beauty items are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand advertises about the efficacy of the item, it must have evidence to support it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead cite testing conducted by other brands, she clarifies.

Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could signal a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are listed by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up