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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was offering a new beauty line that looked similar to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold cap of both creams look strikingly comparable. Although Rachael has not used the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

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

More than a fourth of UK consumers report they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a February survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate bigger name brands and present budget-friendly alternatives to premium items. These products frequently have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the components can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts say many substitutes to high-end labels are good standard and help make skincare cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is invariably better," comments dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all affordable product line is inferior - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely impressive," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a show about famous people.

Numerous of the items modeled on high-end brands "disappear so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional argues dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "They will do the basics to a satisfactory degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can save money when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is very low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Box'

Yet the specialists also advise consumers do their research and say that costlier items are at times worth the additional cost.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only covering the brand and promotion - at times the elevated price tag also comes from the formula and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology utilized to develop the product, and trials into the item's efficacy, she explains.

Skin therapist another professional says it's important thinking about how certain alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she states they could contain filler ingredients that do not provide as many benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One key uncertainty is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a established label but the item has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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For advanced products or ones with components that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises sticking to more specialised companies.

The expert states these typically have been through costly trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty items need to be tested before they can be available in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the label states about the effectiveness of the product, it must have evidence to back it up, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively cite studies done by other firms, she adds.

Read the Label of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Components on the list of the tube are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up