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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard a supermarket was launching a fresh product collection that looked akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her nearest store to pick up the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of the two creams look noticeably alike. Although she has never tried the luxury cream, she claims she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK consumers state they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a February survey.

Dupes are skincare products that copy bigger name brands and provide cost-effective alternatives to luxury products. They frequently have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty specialists argue certain dupes to premium brands are reasonable standard and assist make skincare cheaper.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably superior," comments consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every high-end skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," adds Scott McGlynn, who presents a podcast about public figures.

Many of the items inspired by high-end brands "disappear so fast, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

However the specialists also advise shoppers check details and state that more expensive items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not just paying for the label and marketing - sometimes the increased price tag also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the key component, the science used to create the item, and tests into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo explains.

Skin therapist another professional says it's valuable thinking about how some dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she states they may contain less effective components that lack as many positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One major question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Expert Scott notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

"Do not be sold by the packaging," he warned.

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she suggests selecting research-backed brands.

The expert states these probably have been through expensive tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty products need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes expert another professional.

When the brand advertises about the efficacy of the item, it needs data to back it up, "however the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively reference evidence completed by different brands, she says.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any components that could indicate a item is inferior?

Ingredients on the label of the container are ordered by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up