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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard Aldi was launching a new skincare range that appeared similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her local shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the high-end 50ml item.

Its sleek blue tube and gold cap of the two creams look noticeably alike. While she has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK consumers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, based on a February survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy bigger name companies and present budget-friendly alternatives to luxury items. These products often have comparable branding and containers, but occasionally the components can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals contend certain alternatives to premium brands are reasonable quality and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"It is not true that costlier is necessarily more effective," states dermatology expert one expert. "Not all affordable product line is bad - and not every high-end beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are truly impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who presents a podcast about famous people.

Many of the items modeled on high-end labels "sell out so fast, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes alternatives are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he explains. "These items will handle the basics to a satisfactory degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is very low cost because there's minimal that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also recommend consumers investigate and note that costlier products are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not just covering the label and marketing - often the increased price also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the research employed to create the product, and tests into the products' performance, the expert says.

Facialist she suggests it's important considering how certain dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they might include bulking agents that don't have as significant benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"The major uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott admits in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a established brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

"Don't be sold by the container," he cautioned.

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Regarding more complicated products or ones with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends selecting medical-grade companies.

The expert states these probably have been through expensive studies to assess how efficacious they are.

Beauty products are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it needs research to back it up, "however the seller does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively reference studies conducted by other companies, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

Are there any components that could indicate a product is poor?

Ingredients on the back of the container are arranged by concentration. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up