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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out Aldi was offering a recent beauty line that appeared similar to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael dashed to her nearest shop to pick up the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold lid of both items look noticeably comparable. And though she has never tried the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK consumers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, based on a February survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy well-known brands and offer cost-effective substitutes to high-end items. They typically have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the formulas can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts argue some alternatives to high-end brands are decent standard and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion higher-priced is necessarily better," comments dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget beauty label is inferior - and not every high-end skincare product is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are truly amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who presents a podcast about celebrities.

Many of the products based on luxury brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he comments. "They will perform the essentials to a reasonable level."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a budget alternative or something which is quite low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

Yet the experts also recommend buyers do their research and state that more expensive items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With high-end skincare, you're not just funding the label and advertising - at times the higher cost also stems from the components and their grade, the potency of the effective element, the research utilized to produce the product, and studies into the item's efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Facialist Rhian Truman suggests it's important considering how certain dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she states they might include bulking agents that don't have as many positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One big doubt is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a established label but the product itself has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Do not be sold by the container," he warned.

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For potent products or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests sticking to medical-grade labels.

The expert states these typically have been through comprehensive studies to assess how successful they are.

Skincare products must be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label advertises about the efficacy of the product, it must have research to support it, "but the seller does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite testing completed by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the list of the tube are listed by amount. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up