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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was selling a new product collection that appeared comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael hurried to her nearest shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The sleek blue packaging and gold lid of both creams look noticeably alike. And though Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been using lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers state they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recent study.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate established labels and present budget-friendly options to premium items. They often have similar names and packaging, but sometimes the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare professionals argue many substitutes to luxury labels are good quality and assist make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion more expensive is always better," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable skincare brand is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are truly amazing," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a program with famous people.

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

Scott McGlynn

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

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

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

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a budget alternative or something which is very low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'

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

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just funding the name and advertising - often the higher cost also stems from the components and their quality, the concentration of the effective element, the science utilized to produce the product, and studies into the item's performance, she explains.

Facialist she argues it's important thinking about how certain alternatives can be priced so at a low cost.

In some cases, she believes they may have bulking agents that don't have as numerous advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The key doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

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

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For potent products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends selecting research-backed labels.

The expert states these probably have been through comprehensive tests to determine how efficacious they are.

Skincare products are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand states about the performance of the item, it requires evidence to support it, "however the seller doesn't always have to do the trials" and can instead cite testing completed by other brands, she adds.

Read the Ingredients List of the Pack

Is there any components that could signal a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are ordered by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up