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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard a discounter was offering a recent product collection that seemed similar to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her closest shop to buy the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue container and gold cap of each creams look noticeably similar. While she has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a recently published study.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy well-known brands and offer affordable substitutes to premium items. They often have alike names and packaging, but sometimes the ingredients can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Skincare experts argue many substitutes to luxury labels are reasonable quality and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"I don't think more expensive is necessarily superior," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is poor - and not all premium skincare product is the best."

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

A lot of of the products modeled on high-end labels "disappear so fast, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor argues alternatives are suitable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he comments. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is very low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

However the specialists also recommend shoppers do their research and state that higher-priced products are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not just funding the name and promotion - at times the higher price also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology used to create the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo notes.

Facialist another professional says it's important thinking about how some alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

In some cases, she states they might have bulking agents that lack as many advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott admits in some cases he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a well-known brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the premium version".

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

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For advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she suggests sticking to research-backed brands.

She states these typically have been through expensive studies to assess how successful they are.

Beauty products are required to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it requires research to back it up, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead cite studies done by different firms, she says.

Read the Label of the Bottle

Are there any components that could suggest a item is inferior?

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