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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned a supermarket was selling a new product collection that appeared akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her local store to buy the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its smooth blue tube and gold cap of the two creams look strikingly comparable. Although Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers state they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This increases to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent study.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic bigger name labels and provide affordable alternatives to luxury products. They often have comparable branding and containers, but in some cases the formulas can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Beauty professionals say many alternatives to premium brands are good standard and aid make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that costlier is necessarily superior," states skin specialist a doctor. "Not all budget beauty label is poor - and not all luxury skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast about public figures.

A lot of of the items modeled on high-end brands "run out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional believes alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will do the basics to a reasonable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can cause issues," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Box'

However the professionals also recommend shoppers check details and note that costlier products are sometimes worth the extra money.

With high-end skincare, you're not just covering the brand and promotion - sometimes the elevated price also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the science utilized to create the item, and trials into the item's performance, the expert says.

Facialist Rhian Truman says it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she states they may have less effective components that lack as many positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One big uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the premium version".

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

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For advanced items or those with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests selecting more specialised companies.

The expert says these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty items are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label states about the effectiveness of the item, it requires research to back it up, "however the brand doesn't always have to do the testing" and can alternatively cite studies done by different firms, she clarifies.

Check the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Components on the label of the container are ordered by concentration. "The baddies that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up