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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was selling a new beauty line that appeared comparable to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her local store to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of each creams look noticeably similar. While Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

More than a 25% of UK buyers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to nearly half among younger adults, according to a recent study.

Dupes are beauty items that copy bigger name companies and offer budget-friendly options to luxury products. They frequently have comparable names and packaging, but sometimes the formulas can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Better'

Skincare professionals say some substitutes to luxury brands are good standard and assist make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think more expensive is always more effective," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are truly excellent," adds a podcast host, who runs a program about celebrities.

Numerous of the products inspired by high-end brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry thinks dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he comments. "They will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a dupe or something which is very affordable because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

But the professionals also recommend consumers do their research and say that more expensive items are at times worth the extra money.

With premium skincare, you're not just paying for the brand and marketing - sometimes the higher cost also is due to the components and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the research used to develop the product, and studies into the item's effectiveness, the expert notes.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman says it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be priced so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they may contain less effective components that lack as many positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One big doubt is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a big-name label but the item has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Do not be fooled by the outer appearance," he added.

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Regarding more complicated items or those with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she suggests selecting medical-grade labels.

She says these will likely have been subjected to costly tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty products need to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the performance of the product, it requires evidence to verify it, "however the manufacturer does not always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite studies done by other firms, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are ordered by quantity. "The baddies that you need to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up