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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a discounter was selling a new beauty line that seemed similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest store to purchase the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the high-end 50ml cream.

The sleek blue container and gold top of both products look noticeably alike. And though Rachael has not used the premium cream, she says she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK consumers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a February poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic bigger name brands and provide budget-friendly options to premium items. They typically have similar names and packaging, but sometimes the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Skincare specialists say some substitutes to high-end labels are good standard and assist make beauty routines less expensive.

"I don't think higher-priced is invariably more effective," says dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is inferior - and not every luxury skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are really excellent," says a skincare commentator, who presents a show about famous people.

A lot of of the products based on luxury labels "sell out so quickly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry believes dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he explains. "They will perform the basics to a acceptable level."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can save money when searching for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be alright in using a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Box'

However the specialists also suggest shoppers investigate and say that more expensive products are at times worth the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just paying for the name and promotion - at times the elevated price also comes from the components and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology employed to develop the item, and tests into the item's effectiveness, she explains.

Facialist another professional says it's worth considering how some alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

Occasionally, she states they might have less effective components that do not provide as numerous advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

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

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be sold by the container," he added.

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she recommends sticking to research-backed labels.

The expert states these will likely have been through expensive studies to determine how efficacious they are.

Skincare products need to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it requires data to back it up, "but the brand doesn't necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively reference studies completed by different brands, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Pack

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

Components on the back of the tube are arranged by amount. "Potential irritants that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up