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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper learned a discounter was launching a fresh beauty line that looked comparable to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper rushed to her local store to purchase the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml cream.

The sleek blue tube and gold lid of the two products look remarkably alike. While Rachael has not used the premium cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recently published survey.

Dupes are skincare products that copy bigger name brands and present affordable substitutes to high-end products. These products often have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the formulas can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty experts argue certain alternatives to luxury brands are decent standard and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is invariably superior," states skin specialist one expert. "Not all affordable product line is inferior - and not every luxury beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a program with famous people.

Many of the products inspired by luxury labels "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor thinks dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will perform the essentials to a reasonable degree."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly affordable because there's minimal that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Container'

Yet the experts also advise shoppers do their research and state that costlier products are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

With premium skincare, you're not only funding the brand and marketing - often the higher cost also stems from the formula and their grade, the concentration of the effective element, the technology utilized to develop the item, and studies into the products' performance, the expert explains.

Beauty expert she argues it's important questioning how some alternatives can be priced so cheaply.

Occasionally, she states they may contain less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the complexion, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"The big uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a big-name label but the item has "no connection to the original".

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

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Regarding potent items or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends using more specialised companies.

She says these will likely have been through costly trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty items need to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the company advertises about the performance of the product, it needs research to support it, "however the brand does not always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively reference evidence done by other brands, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Components on the back of the bottle are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up