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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard a supermarket was selling a recent beauty line that appeared akin to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her closest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

The smooth blue container and gold cap of the two products look strikingly similar. Although Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's pleased by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK consumers state they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to nearly half among younger adults, based on a February poll.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic bigger name brands and offer budget-friendly substitutes to premium products. They often have similar labels and design, but sometimes the components can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Beauty experts contend many alternatives to premium brands are reasonable standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is always better," states skin specialist a doctor. "Not every affordable product line is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the top."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast about public figures.

Numerous of the products inspired by high-end brands "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor argues alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when searching for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be alright in using a budget alternative or something which is quite low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Container'

However the specialists also recommend buyers check details and say that costlier products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

With premium beauty products, you're not just covering the label and marketing - often the higher price tag also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the strength of the effective element, the technology utilized to create the product, and tests into the item's performance, Dr Belmo explains.

Skin therapist she says it's valuable considering how certain alternatives can be priced so cheaply.

Occasionally, she states they could contain less effective components that lack as many benefits for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The big uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott says in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a established label but the product itself has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

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For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate advises selecting medical-grade brands.

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

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

If the brand states about the efficacy of the product, it needs data to support it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively reference studies conducted by other firms, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are arranged by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up