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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out a supermarket was launching a recent beauty line that seemed comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael rushed to her local shop to buy the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue container and gold cap of the two products look strikingly similar. And though she has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been using beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK consumers report they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a recent poll.

Dupes are skincare products that copy established labels and present budget-friendly substitutes to high-end items. These products often have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts argue certain substitutes to luxury labels are decent standard and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that costlier is always better," says dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all affordable beauty label is inferior - and not all luxury beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely impressive," says Scott McGlynn, who hosts a show featuring famous people.

Numerous of the items inspired by high-end labels "disappear so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional thinks alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will do the job," he comments. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can spend less when you're looking for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in using a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Container'

Yet the specialists also suggest buyers check details and note that higher-priced items are at times worthy of the additional cost.

With high-end skincare, you're not just paying for the label and advertising - at times the higher price also comes from the ingredients and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology used to create the item, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she explains.

Beauty expert another professional suggests it's valuable considering how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she believes they could contain filler ingredients that lack as significant positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The key uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott admits in some cases he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

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

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For potent items or ones with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she suggests sticking to more specialised companies.

She states these typically have been subjected to comprehensive trials to assess how effective they are.

Beauty products are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

If the brand states about the efficacy of the item, it must have data to back it up, "however the seller doesn't always have to conduct the testing" and can instead reference testing done by different firms, she says.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is poor?

Components on the label of the bottle are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up