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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell heard a supermarket was launching a fresh beauty line that looked comparable to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her closest outlet to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of the two products look strikingly alike. And though Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone.

More than a fourth of UK buyers state they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published poll.

Dupes are skincare products that copy bigger name companies and present cost-effective options to premium items. They frequently have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the ingredients can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Superior'

Skincare professionals argue certain dupes to premium brands are decent quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily more effective," says consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all affordable product line is bad - and not all high-end beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely impressive," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a program featuring famous people.

Numerous of the items based on high-end labels "run out so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "They will perform the basics to a satisfactory level."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the specialists also advise shoppers check details and say that costlier products are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With premium beauty products, you're not only paying for the label and promotion - sometimes the increased price also is due to the formula and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science utilized to produce the item, and studies into the products' performance, the expert notes.

Skin therapist another professional says it's worth considering how certain alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

Occasionally, she says they might contain less effective components that lack as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The major uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn says sometimes he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a big-name label but the item has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the outer appearance," he added.

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For potent products or ones with components that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist suggests sticking to medical-grade companies.

The expert states these typically have been subjected to costly trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare products need to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, explains expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the performance of the product, it needs research to verify it, "but the manufacturer doesn't always have to do the trials" and can alternatively reference testing done by different brands, she adds.

Read the Back of the Bottle

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

Components on the back of the bottle are listed by quantity. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up