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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned Aldi was launching a fresh skincare range that looked akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She dashed to her local shop to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of the two items look strikingly alike. While Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers say they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, based on a February study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate well-known labels and present affordable substitutes to high-end items. These products typically have alike names and packaging, but sometimes the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals argue many alternatives to luxury labels are decent standard and aid make skincare more affordable.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably more effective," states skin specialist one expert. "Not all affordable skincare brand is bad - and not all luxury beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," adds a podcast host, who runs a podcast with public figures.

Many of the products inspired by high-end labels "run out so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor thinks alternatives are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and cleansers.

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

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can save money when seeking simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a dupe or something which is quite inexpensive because there's not much that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

But the experts also advise buyers do their research and note that costlier products are sometimes worth the premium price.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the name and advertising - at times the higher price also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the technology used to create the item, and trials into the item's performance, she explains.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she says they might have less effective components that do not provide as many benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"One key uncertainty is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn says in some cases he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a well-known label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be sold by the packaging," he added.

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Regarding potent items or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests using medical-grade brands.

She says these probably have been subjected to comprehensive tests to determine how successful they are.

Beauty products are required to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it must have research to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite testing done by other brands, she adds.

Check the Ingredients List of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a product is poor?

Ingredients on the back of the container are ordered by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up