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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned a discounter was launching a recent beauty line that seemed similar to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her closest shop to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold top of both products look strikingly comparable. While Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she says she's pleased by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK consumers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a recently published study.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established labels and provide affordable options to premium products. They typically have alike labels and design, but occasionally the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts say some dupes to high-end labels are reasonable standard and aid make skincare cheaper.

"In my opinion more expensive is invariably better," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every low-budget beauty label is inferior - and not all high-end beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a program with famous people.

Numerous of the items based on luxury labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor thinks alternatives are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he explains. "These items will handle the basics to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or something which is very inexpensive because there's minimal that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Container'

However the experts also advise buyers do their research and say that costlier products are at times worth the premium price.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just paying for the label and promotion - often the elevated cost also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science employed to create the item, and trials into the item's efficacy, the expert says.

Facialist Rhian Truman says it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they may have bulking agents that don't have as significant positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"One major uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn notes sometimes he's bought beauty products that look similar to a well-known label but the actual formula has "no connection to the premium version".

"Do not be sold by the packaging," he cautioned.

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Regarding potent items or those with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she suggests sticking to medical-grade labels.

She says these will likely have been through comprehensive trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare items need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the efficacy of the product, it must have research to verify it, "however the brand does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite evidence conducted by other brands, she adds.

Read the Back of the Container

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

Components on the label of the container are arranged by quantity. "Potential irritants that you need to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up