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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer heard a supermarket was selling a recent beauty line that appeared comparable to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest store to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml item.

The streamlined blue packaging and gold lid of both creams look remarkably similar. Although she has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been using beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, based on a February study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate established companies and offer cost-effective substitutes to luxury products. They often have similar branding and containers, but sometimes the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Skincare professionals contend some substitutes to premium brands are decent standard and assist make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think more expensive is always superior," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not every low-budget product line is inferior - and not all premium beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," says Scott McGlynn, who runs a program featuring celebrities.

Many of the products modeled on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional argues dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will serve a purpose," he explains. "They will do the essentials to a satisfactory level."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can save money when searching for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the professionals also suggest consumers do their research and say that more expensive items are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only paying for the label and promotion - at times the elevated cost also comes from the formula and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the technology utilized to create the product, and tests into the products' efficacy, the expert says.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's valuable thinking about how some alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

Sometimes, she says they could have less effective components that do not provide as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"The big uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn notes in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a established brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he cautioned.

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Regarding potent products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends sticking to medical-grade brands.

She states these will likely have been subjected to costly tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare products need to be tested before they can be available in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the efficacy of the item, it must have research to verify it, "however the manufacturer does not always have to do the trials" and can instead reference studies done by different brands, she says.

Check the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could signal a item is poor?

Components on the list of the container are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up