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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper found out a discounter was launching a fresh skincare range that appeared similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper dashed to her nearest outlet to buy the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml cream.

The sleek blue tube and gold cap of both items look remarkably similar. Although Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44 percent among younger adults, based on a recently published poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established labels and provide budget-friendly substitutes to luxury products. These products often have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty specialists argue certain substitutes to premium brands are decent quality and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion more expensive is necessarily better," comments dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every affordable beauty label is bad - and not all high-end beauty item is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," says Scott McGlynn, who presents a podcast about public figures.

Numerous of the products modeled on high-end brands "disappear so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable level."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or a product which is quite affordable because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

But the experts also advise buyers check details and note that more expensive items are sometimes worth the premium price.

With high-end skincare, you're not only paying for the label and advertising - at times the higher price tag also comes from the components and their standard, the strength of the key component, the technology used to develop the product, and tests into the products' effectiveness, the expert explains.

Facialist another professional argues it's worth considering how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they could include filler ingredients that do not provide as significant positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One big question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott admits sometimes he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be sold by the container," he added.

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For potent items or those with components that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she recommends sticking to medical-grade companies.

The expert states these probably have been through comprehensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare products are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains expert another professional.

When the company makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it needs evidence to back it up, "but the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead reference studies done by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are listed by amount. "The baddies that you need to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up