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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell heard Aldi was offering a new skincare range that looked akin to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She rushed to her local store to pick up the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The streamlined blue tube and gold cap of both products look noticeably alike. Although she has never tried the high-end cream, she says she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been using lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recent survey.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic established brands and present budget-friendly alternatives to premium items. These products typically have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Skincare experts say certain alternatives to high-end brands are decent standard and help make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think more expensive is invariably more effective," says skin specialist one expert. "Not all low-budget beauty label is bad - and not all premium skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really amazing," adds Scott McGlynn, who presents a program with celebrities.

Many of the items based on high-end labels "sell out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "These items will handle the basics to a satisfactory level."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can save money when seeking single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in using a lookalike or something which is fairly low cost because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

However the specialists also advise consumers do their research and say that more expensive items are occasionally worth the extra money.

With premium skincare, you're not only funding the name and advertising - at times the increased price also stems from the components and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the science utilized to develop the item, and studies into the item's efficacy, Dr Belmo explains.

Facialist another professional suggests it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she states they may have less effective components that do not provide as significant positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One major question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he added.

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Regarding advanced products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises selecting more specialised companies.

She says these typically have been through expensive studies to determine how effective they are.

Beauty products are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor another professional.

When the company makes claims about the performance of the item, it requires data to back it up, "but the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can instead cite evidence completed by other companies, she says.

Check the Label of the Bottle

Is there any components that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Components on the list of the tube are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up