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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned Aldi was selling a fresh skincare range that appeared akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She dashed to her nearest outlet to pick up the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its sleek blue tube and gold top of each items look strikingly similar. And though Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

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

More than a fourth of UK buyers say they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a February study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy established labels and offer cost-effective options to high-end products. These products typically have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists argue many dupes to luxury brands are decent standard and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is necessarily better," says skin specialist one expert. "Not every budget beauty label is inferior - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly amazing," says a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast with famous people.

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

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry argues dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "They will do the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a dupe or a product which is quite affordable because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

Yet the professionals also suggest shoppers check details and note that costlier items are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the label and advertising - often the increased cost also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the potency of the effective element, the research used to create the item, and trials into the item's performance, she says.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman says it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they might include filler ingredients that do not provide as significant advantages for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

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

Podcast host Scott says sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name brand but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Do not be fooled by the outer appearance," he warned.

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For more complicated items or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests selecting medical-grade brands.

She states these probably have been subjected to comprehensive tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, notes expert another professional.

When the label states about the performance of the product, it must have research to verify it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can instead use studies done by other companies, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a product is inferior?

Components on the list of the bottle are arranged by amount. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up