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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned a discounter was offering a new beauty line that looked comparable to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her closest store to purchase the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

The sleek blue tube and gold cap of the two items look strikingly comparable. And though Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK buyers say they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to nearly half among younger adults, as per a recent survey.

Dupes are beauty items that imitate well-known labels and present budget-friendly alternatives to premium products. They typically have alike labels and design, but sometimes the formulas can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Beauty professionals contend many dupes to luxury labels are decent standard and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is always superior," comments dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all affordable beauty label is inferior - and not every luxury beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are truly excellent," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast about famous people.

Numerous of the products modeled on high-end labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional thinks dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "These items will perform the basics to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be fine in using a dupe or something which is quite inexpensive because there's not much that can cause issues," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Box'

However the specialists also suggest consumers check details and note that more expensive items are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only funding the label and promotion - at times the elevated price tag also comes from the formula and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science utilized to produce the item, and studies into the products' efficacy, the expert notes.

Beauty expert she says it's valuable thinking about how some alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they might contain bulking agents that do not provide as significant benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The big doubt is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Expert McGlynn notes on occasion he's bought skincare items that look similar to a big-name brand but the item has "no connection to the original".

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

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For more complicated items or ones with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends selecting more specialised brands.

The expert says these typically have been through costly trials to determine how successful they are.

Skincare products must be tested before they can be available in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the label states about the performance of the item, it needs evidence to verify it, "however the manufacturer does not always have to conduct the testing" and can instead reference studies completed by other companies, she says.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the list of the tube are listed by concentration. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up