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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper learned a discounter was selling a fresh skincare range that appeared akin to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her local store to purchase the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The streamlined blue tube and gold cap of each creams look noticeably alike. Although Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a quarter of UK consumers say they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among younger adults, based on a recent survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy well-known labels and present cost-effective alternatives to premium items. These products often have similar labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Superior'

Skincare experts say certain dupes to premium labels are good standard and assist make beauty routines less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily superior," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is bad - and not every luxury beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really excellent," adds a skincare commentator, who runs a program with famous people.

Many of the items based on luxury labels "disappear so fast, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry thinks alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable degree."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can save money when searching for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a budget alternative or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also suggest buyers investigate and note that costlier products are occasionally worth the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only covering the name and marketing - at times the higher price tag also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the potency of the key component, the research used to develop the product, and studies into the item's performance, she says.

Skin therapist she argues it's worth questioning how certain alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she says they may have filler ingredients that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The major question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Commentator McGlynn says in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name brand but the item has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be sold by the outer appearance," he warned.

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For potent items or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, she recommends selecting more specialised companies.

The expert says these typically have been subjected to costly tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty items are required to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes expert another professional.

When the label advertises about the performance of the item, it needs research to verify it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to perform the testing" and can alternatively use studies completed by other firms, she says.

Read the Label of the Bottle

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

Components on the label of the container are ordered by concentration. "The baddies that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up