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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell found out a discounter was selling a new product collection that looked similar to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her nearest store to buy the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its sleek blue tube and gold lid of the two items look strikingly alike. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK buyers state they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recently published survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy bigger name companies and present cost-effective options to premium products. They frequently have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty professionals say some alternatives to high-end brands are good standard and aid make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think more expensive is necessarily superior," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all budget beauty label is inferior - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a show about public figures.

Many of the products inspired by high-end brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he comments. "These items will handle the essentials to a reasonable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or a product which is fairly affordable because there's not much that can be problematic," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Container'

But the specialists also recommend consumers investigate and state that costlier items are sometimes worthy of the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only funding the name and advertising - at times the higher cost also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology used to produce the item, and studies into the products' performance, the expert says.

Beauty expert she suggests it's important thinking about how certain dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

In some cases, she states they may include filler ingredients that don't have as significant benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"One major doubt is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a established brand but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he added.

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For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she advises selecting more specialised labels.

She says these will likely have been subjected to costly trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty products must be tested before they can be available in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the company advertises about the efficacy of the product, it requires data to back it up, "however the manufacturer does not always have to conduct the testing" and can instead cite testing completed by different brands, she adds.

Check the Back of the Bottle

Are there any components that could signal a product is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are listed by amount. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up