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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was launching a new skincare range that appeared akin to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her nearest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the high-end 50ml cream.

The streamlined blue packaging and gold cap of the two creams look remarkably alike. And though Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a quarter of UK consumers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a February study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate established labels and present budget-friendly options to high-end items. These products frequently have comparable branding and containers, but occasionally the components can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals say many dupes to luxury brands are reasonable quality and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"It is not true that costlier is always superior," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget product line is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes a podcast host, who presents a podcast with famous people.

Numerous of the items modeled on luxury labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes alternatives are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "They will do the fundamentals to a acceptable level."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be alright in using a budget alternative or a product which is very affordable because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the experts also suggest shoppers investigate and note that more expensive products are sometimes worth the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not just covering the label and promotion - sometimes the elevated cost also comes from the formula and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the science used to produce the product, and studies into the item's performance, she notes.

Skin therapist another professional says it's important thinking about how certain dupes can be sold so cheaply.

Sometimes, she believes they might contain less effective components that do not provide as significant benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"One major question mark is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott notes sometimes he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

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

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Regarding advanced items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends sticking to research-backed labels.

She says these will likely have been subjected to costly trials to determine how effective they are.

Beauty items are required to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, says skin doctor another professional.

If the brand advertises about the performance of the item, it needs research to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively use studies conducted by other brands, she says.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are arranged by concentration. "Potential irritants that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up