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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper learned Aldi was launching a recent product collection that appeared akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest store to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue container and gold lid of the two products look noticeably comparable. And though she has not used the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

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

Over a quarter of UK shoppers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This jumps to 44% among younger adults, as per a recent survey.

Dupes are skincare products that imitate bigger name brands and provide cost-effective alternatives to luxury items. These products typically have comparable names and packaging, but sometimes the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists contend some alternatives to high-end labels are reasonable standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is always superior," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget beauty label is poor - and not every premium beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," says Scott McGlynn, who presents a show featuring public figures.

A lot of of the products modeled on luxury brands "disappear so rapidly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional believes dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he comments. "They will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when seeking simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's minimal that can go wrong," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the specialists also suggest buyers do their research and state that more expensive items are occasionally worth the premium price.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not just funding the brand and marketing - often the higher price also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the science used to create the item, and studies into the item's effectiveness, she notes.

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

In some cases, she says they might have filler ingredients that do not provide as significant benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One key doubt is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be sold by the outer appearance," he warned.

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For more complicated items or ones with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends sticking to more specialised labels.

The expert states these typically have been through comprehensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

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

When the label makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it requires evidence to support it, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead reference evidence done by other brands, she says.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are arranged by amount. "Potential irritants that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up