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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out Aldi was offering a recent beauty line that looked akin to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her nearest outlet to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its sleek blue tube and gold top of each items look noticeably alike. And though Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she states she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK buyers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to nearly half among younger adults, according to a February survey.

Dupes are beauty items that imitate established brands and provide budget-friendly substitutes to high-end products. These products often have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the components can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty professionals say some substitutes to high-end labels are good standard and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably superior," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every affordable beauty label is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are really impressive," says a skincare commentator, who presents a show with public figures.

Many of the items inspired by luxury labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional believes alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will be effective," he explains. "They will handle the essentials to a reasonable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be alright in using a lookalike or something which is fairly affordable because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Box'

However the specialists also advise buyers investigate and state that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - sometimes the increased price tag also is due to the formula and their grade, the concentration of the effective element, the science utilized to create the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, the expert explains.

Facialist she argues it's valuable considering how certain dupes can be sold so cheaply.

In some cases, she believes they could contain filler ingredients that do not provide as significant benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

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

Expert McGlynn says on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a big-name label but the item has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

"Do not be fooled by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

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For advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests sticking to research-backed companies.

She explains these typically have been through expensive trials to determine how successful they are.

Beauty items are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the label states about the performance of the item, it requires evidence to support it, "but the seller doesn't always have to do the testing" and can alternatively reference evidence done by different firms, she says.

Check the Back of the Bottle

Are there any components that could indicate a product is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up