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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard Aldi was launching a recent beauty line that looked akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her nearest outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold top of the two items look strikingly comparable. Although Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recent survey.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic well-known labels and provide cost-effective alternatives to luxury items. These products typically have alike names and packaging, but sometimes the ingredients can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals contend some dupes to high-end brands are good standard and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"I don't think more expensive is invariably superior," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all budget beauty label is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are really impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who runs a program about celebrities.

A lot of of the items modeled on high-end brands "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry believes dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he comments. "They will handle the essentials to a reasonable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in using a dupe or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also recommend consumers do their research and state that more expensive products are occasionally worth the premium price.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just paying for the brand and marketing - often the higher price also is due to the components and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the research utilized to develop the product, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she explains.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's worth considering how certain dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

In some cases, she says they may contain bulking agents that lack as many positive effects for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The major doubt is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn notes in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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For advanced products or those with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises selecting more specialised labels.

The expert explains these probably have been subjected to expensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty products need to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it needs evidence to support it, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can instead use testing conducted by other brands, she clarifies.

Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any components that could signal a product is poor?

Components on the back of the container are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you need to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up