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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer learned Aldi was launching a fresh product collection that looked akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her local store to buy the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

The sleek blue container and gold cap of the two items look noticeably comparable. And though she has not tested the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK consumers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a recent poll.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate bigger name brands and offer affordable alternatives to premium products. They often have similar labels and design, but occasionally the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts argue certain alternatives to luxury labels are reasonable quality and assist make beauty routines less expensive.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily more effective," comments skin specialist a doctor. "Not every affordable skincare brand is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

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

Numerous of the products modeled on high-end brands "disappear so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he comments. "They will handle the essentials to a reasonable level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can cause issues," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the professionals also suggest shoppers do their research and note that higher-priced items are at times worthy of the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not only covering the name and promotion - at times the increased cost also stems from the components and their quality, the strength of the effective element, the technology used to develop the item, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she says.

Facialist another professional argues it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she states they may have less effective components that lack as numerous advantages for the complexion, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

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

Podcast host Scott notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be fooled by the container," he added.

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Regarding advanced items or ones with components that can irritate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends using research-backed brands.

The expert says these typically have been through expensive tests to determine how effective they are.

Beauty items must be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label states about the performance of the product, it needs data to support it, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively cite studies completed by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Container

Are there any components that could signal a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the label of the tube are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up