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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned Aldi was launching a recent product collection that seemed comparable to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her closest shop to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The sleek blue container and gold lid of each items look remarkably alike. While she has not used the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers state they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, according to a February study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic bigger name brands and present budget-friendly options to high-end items. These products often have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Skincare specialists say certain dupes to luxury labels are reasonable standard and help make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think higher-priced is invariably better," comments skin specialist a doctor. "Not all budget product line is poor - and not all luxury skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast about famous people.

Numerous of the items modeled on high-end labels "sell out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry thinks alternatives are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or a product which is quite affordable because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

But the specialists also recommend buyers do their research and state that costlier products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just covering the label and promotion - sometimes the higher cost also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the strength of the key component, the science employed to produce the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo explains.

Facialist Rhian Truman suggests it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she believes they could have bulking agents that do not provide as many positive effects for the complexion, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

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

Expert Scott admits sometimes he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Do not be fooled by the packaging," he warned.

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For advanced products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate advises selecting research-backed labels.

She explains these typically have been subjected to comprehensive tests to determine how successful they are.

Beauty products must be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes expert another professional.

If the label makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it requires research to verify it, "however the seller does not always have to conduct the testing" and can instead reference testing done by other brands, she adds.

Read the Label of the Bottle

Is there any components that could signal a item is inferior?

Ingredients on the label of the container are arranged by amount. "Potential irritants that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up