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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard a discounter was launching a new skincare range that seemed akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper rushed to her local shop to purchase the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The sleek blue tube and gold cap of the two products look strikingly comparable. Although Rachael has not used the premium cream, she says she's pleased by the product so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK consumers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recent survey.

Dupes are skincare products that copy well-known brands and provide cost-effective substitutes to high-end items. These products frequently have alike labels and design, but sometimes the components can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Better'

Beauty specialists contend many substitutes to luxury brands are good quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily superior," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every low-budget beauty label is poor - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a program about public figures.

Numerous of the items based on luxury labels "run out so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry thinks dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "They will do the essentials to a reasonable level."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when searching for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or something which is quite affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Container'

However the professionals also suggest buyers investigate and say that more expensive items are at times worth the additional cost.

With luxury skincare, you're not just covering the brand and marketing - at times the increased price tag also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science used to develop the product, and studies into the products' performance, she says.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman says it's worth considering how some alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she says they could include filler ingredients that lack as significant advantages for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"The key question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a well-known brand but the item has "no resemblance to the premium version".

"Don't be fooled by the container," he added.

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Regarding potent items or ones with components that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends using research-backed brands.

She explains these will likely have been through costly tests to determine how effective they are.

Skincare items are required to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the item, it must have research to verify it, "but the seller does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively cite studies conducted by other firms, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Pack

Are there any components that could indicate a product is inferior?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are arranged by quantity. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up