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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer learned a supermarket was launching a recent product collection that looked akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael rushed to her local shop to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

The smooth blue tube and gold top of each creams look strikingly alike. Although Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK consumers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recent study.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic bigger name companies and present cost-effective alternatives to luxury items. They often have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists contend certain dupes to luxury brands are decent quality and help make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily more effective," states dermatology expert a doctor. "Not every affordable beauty label is bad - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," notes a podcast host, who presents a podcast about public figures.

A lot of of the items inspired by high-end brands "run out so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he explains. "They will handle the essentials to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be alright in using a dupe or a product which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the specialists also suggest buyers do their research and note that costlier products are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

With luxury skincare, you're not just paying for the brand and marketing - sometimes the higher price tag also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology employed to produce the product, and tests into the products' efficacy, she says.

Beauty expert she suggests it's worth considering how certain alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she states they may contain less effective components that lack as many advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One big question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott says on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a established label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he cautioned.

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Regarding more complicated products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests sticking to medical-grade brands.

She explains these probably have been subjected to expensive tests to determine how efficacious they are.

Skincare items are required to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

When the company states about the efficacy of the item, it must have evidence to verify it, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead use studies done by other firms, she says.

Check the Back of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the list of the container are arranged by quantity. "Potential irritants that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up