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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was launching a new product collection that seemed comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael rushed to her closest outlet to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

The streamlined blue packaging and gold cap of both items look strikingly similar. And though Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers say they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate well-known labels and offer cost-effective alternatives to premium items. They frequently have alike labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty specialists argue certain substitutes to premium labels are good quality and help make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably more effective," states dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is poor - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a program about celebrities.

Many of the products based on luxury brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry believes dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will do the job," he says. "They will perform the essentials to a satisfactory level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

However the specialists also suggest buyers check details and note that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the label and promotion - at times the higher price tag also comes from the formula and their standard, the potency of the key component, the technology used to develop the product, and trials into the item's efficacy, she explains.

Facialist another professional says it's important questioning how some dupes can be sold so at a low cost.

In some cases, she states they may contain filler ingredients that lack as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

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

Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a established label but the item has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he cautioned.

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For advanced items or those with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests using more specialised brands.

The expert says these typically have been subjected to costly tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare products need to be tested before they can be available in the UK, explains expert another professional.

If the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it must have evidence to verify it, "however the manufacturer does not always have to perform the trials" and can instead use evidence completed by different companies, she says.

Check the Back of the Container

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

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are listed by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up