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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell found out a supermarket was offering a recent skincare range that appeared similar to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest shop to buy the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml product.

Its smooth blue container and gold top of each creams look remarkably comparable. Although Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

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

Over a 25% of UK consumers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recently published survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic bigger name companies and offer affordable substitutes to luxury products. These products often have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the formulas can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals say many substitutes to premium brands are decent quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily superior," says skin specialist a doctor. "Not all affordable skincare brand is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely amazing," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a program featuring public figures.

A lot of of the items inspired by luxury brands "run out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "These items will do the basics to a reasonable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when seeking simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the specialists also advise consumers do their research and state that more expensive products are at times worth the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only paying for the name and marketing - often the elevated cost also is due to the components and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the science utilized to develop the item, and tests into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo explains.

Skin therapist she argues it's valuable thinking about how some alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

Occasionally, she believes they may contain filler ingredients that lack as many advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn notes sometimes he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

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

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For potent items or those with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests sticking to research-backed labels.

The expert says these probably have been through comprehensive studies to assess how effective they are.

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

If the brand advertises about the performance of the product, it requires research to back it up, "but the seller does not always have to perform the trials" and can instead use evidence conducted by other firms, she says.

Check the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Components on the label of the bottle are arranged by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up