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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was offering a fresh product collection that looked similar to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael dashed to her nearest shop to pick up the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its smooth blue container and gold top of each creams look remarkably similar. Although she has not used the premium cream, she states she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been using lookalike products from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February poll.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic well-known brands and provide budget-friendly alternatives to high-end products. They typically have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts contend many substitutes to high-end labels are decent quality and aid make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think higher-priced is necessarily more effective," comments skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is inferior - and not every luxury beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely excellent," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a program featuring celebrities.

Numerous of the items modeled on high-end brands "run out so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he comments. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a acceptable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

But the experts also suggest shoppers investigate and state that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

With high-end beauty products, you're not only paying for the label and promotion - often the higher price tag also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology utilized to develop the product, and tests into the products' performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist another professional says it's important questioning how certain dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they may have less effective components that do not provide as numerous advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Expert Scott notes sometimes he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a established label but the product itself has "no connection to the original".

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

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For more complicated items or those with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist suggests using research-backed brands.

She explains these typically have been through costly tests to assess how successful they are.

Skincare products must be tested before they can be available in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it requires evidence to support it, "but the seller does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite testing completed by other brands, she says.

Check the Back of the Pack

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is poor?

Components on the back of the tube are listed by concentration. "Potential irritants that you need to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up