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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out Aldi was selling a new skincare range that appeared similar to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She hurried to her nearest store to purchase the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its streamlined blue container and gold cap of each creams look noticeably alike. And though Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to 44% among younger adults, according to a recent poll.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic well-known brands and offer affordable options to luxury items. These products frequently have alike names and packaging, but in some cases the formulas can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Skincare professionals argue some substitutes to high-end labels are decent quality and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is always better," comments skin specialist a doctor. "Not all low-budget beauty label is bad - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast about famous people.

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

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional argues alternatives are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging'

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

With high-end beauty products, you're not just funding the label and advertising - often the elevated price tag also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the effective element, the science employed to create the item, and studies into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Facialist Rhian Truman argues it's important considering how certain alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

Sometimes, she says they may have bulking agents that don't have as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One major question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn admits sometimes he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

"Don't be convinced by the container," he warned.

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Regarding advanced products or those with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using research-backed brands.

She explains these will likely have been through comprehensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it must have evidence to back it up, "however the brand does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead cite studies completed by other firms, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Pack

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

Components on the list of the container are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up