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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer found out a supermarket was offering a fresh product collection that appeared similar to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper hurried to her closest store to pick up the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue container and gold top of the two creams look remarkably similar. Although she has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a February poll.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic bigger name labels and provide affordable substitutes to high-end products. These products often have alike names and packaging, but occasionally the components can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Beauty professionals contend some dupes to high-end brands are reasonable quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is invariably more effective," comments consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," says a skincare commentator, who hosts a show about famous people.

A lot of of the products based on luxury labels "sell out so quickly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

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

"These products will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will perform the essentials to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a dupe or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

However the specialists also advise shoppers do their research and say that higher-priced items are at times worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only paying for the label and advertising - at times the elevated cost also stems from the ingredients and their quality, the strength of the active ingredient, the technology utilized to produce the product, and studies into the item's effectiveness, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman says it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she says they could include filler ingredients that lack as numerous advantages for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The big question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott says in some cases he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a well-known brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be sold by the container," he added.

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For advanced products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist suggests using medical-grade labels.

The expert says these probably have been through expensive studies to determine how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the brand states about the efficacy of the product, it must have research to support it, "however the brand doesn't always have to do the trials" and can instead reference testing completed by other brands, she says.

Check the Label of the Pack

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

Components on the list of the container are arranged by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up