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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper found out Aldi was offering a new skincare range that appeared akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her nearest shop to purchase the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its smooth blue container and gold lid of the two creams look strikingly similar. And though Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she claims she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers report they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a recent survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy well-known labels and provide budget-friendly substitutes to premium products. They often have alike labels and design, but sometimes the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts argue many alternatives to luxury labels are reasonable quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is necessarily more effective," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all low-budget product line is poor - and not every luxury beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who presents a show about public figures.

Many of the items modeled on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry thinks alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "These items will perform the basics to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the specialists also advise shoppers check details and say that costlier products are sometimes worth the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only paying for the brand and promotion - at times the elevated price tag also stems from the ingredients and their quality, the potency of the active ingredient, the science utilized to create the product, and studies into the item's performance, the expert says.

Skin therapist she argues it's valuable questioning how some dupes can be sold so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she states they might contain less effective components that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott says sometimes he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a well-known brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she advises sticking to medical-grade brands.

The expert says these typically have been subjected to expensive trials to determine how efficacious they are.

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

When the company makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it must have research to verify it, "but the brand does not always have to do the testing" and can alternatively use evidence completed by different brands, she clarifies.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are ordered by amount. "The baddies that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up