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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out a supermarket was offering a new product collection that appeared similar to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper rushed to her local store to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

The sleek blue packaging and gold top of both creams look remarkably similar. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK consumers say they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, based on a February poll.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate bigger name brands and present affordable options to premium items. These products typically have comparable branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty professionals say certain substitutes to premium labels are decent quality and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is invariably superior," comments skin specialist a doctor. "Not every budget product line is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are truly impressive," adds a podcast host, who runs a show featuring famous people.

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

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry believes dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when searching 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 okay in using a budget alternative or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can cause issues," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also recommend buyers do their research and note that costlier items are at times worthy of the premium price.

With premium beauty products, you're not only covering the label and marketing - sometimes the elevated cost also comes from the components and their grade, the strength of the key component, the research utilized to produce the item, and trials into the item's performance, Dr Belmo says.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's worth questioning how some alternatives can be priced so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she states they may have bulking agents that don't have as numerous advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Expert Scott notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be sold by the outer appearance," he warned.

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Regarding potent products or ones with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she recommends selecting research-backed brands.

She says these will likely have been subjected to costly tests to assess how successful they are.

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

If the brand advertises about the performance of the product, it must have evidence to back it up, "however the brand doesn't always have to conduct the testing" and can instead cite studies conducted by different firms, she says.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a product is poor?

Ingredients on the label of the container are ordered by quantity. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up