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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out a discounter was offering 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 Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The streamlined blue packaging and gold top of the two creams look remarkably comparable. While Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK buyers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recent study.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy well-known labels and provide affordable alternatives to high-end products. They often have alike names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Better'

Beauty experts argue many substitutes to luxury brands are reasonable quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think higher-priced is necessarily more effective," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not all budget beauty label is poor - and not all high-end beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," adds a podcast host, who hosts a show about celebrities.

Numerous of the products inspired by luxury labels "sell out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "They will do the basics to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is quite low cost because there's not much that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Box'

Yet the experts also advise shoppers do their research and note that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just funding the name and promotion - at times the elevated price tag also comes from the formula and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the science employed to create the product, and trials into the products' effectiveness, the expert says.

Beauty expert she argues it's valuable considering how certain dupes can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she believes they might have filler ingredients that don't have as significant benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The major uncertainty is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott says sometimes he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a big-name label but the item has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he warned.

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Regarding potent items or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist suggests selecting research-backed labels.

The expert says these will likely have been through comprehensive trials to assess how efficacious they are.

Beauty items are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company states about the performance of the product, it requires evidence to back it up, "however the seller does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively reference testing done by other brands, she adds.

Read the Label of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the list of the tube are arranged by amount. "Potential irritants that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up