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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper learned a supermarket was launching a fresh beauty line that appeared comparable to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She dashed to her local shop to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The smooth blue container and gold cap of each products look remarkably similar. While she has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK buyers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic bigger name labels and present budget-friendly options to premium items. These products often have alike labels and design, but occasionally the formulas can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals contend certain dupes to luxury brands are reasonable standard and help make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily more effective," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every luxury skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who hosts a program featuring famous people.

A lot of of the items inspired by high-end labels "run out so rapidly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "They will perform the essentials to a acceptable degree."

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

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a dupe or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

However the experts also suggest buyers do their research and say that more expensive products are occasionally worth the extra money.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - at times the higher cost also is due to the components and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the science utilized to produce the product, and tests into the item's performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Facialist another professional argues it's valuable considering how certain alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she believes they may include bulking agents that lack as significant positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

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

Podcast host McGlynn notes in some cases he's bought skincare items that look similar to a established label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be convinced by the packaging," he cautioned.

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Regarding advanced products or those with components that can irritate the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist advises using more specialised brands.

She states these probably have been through comprehensive trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare products are required to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand makes claims about the performance of the product, it requires research to support it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to perform the testing" and can alternatively cite studies completed by other companies, she clarifies.

Check the Label of the Bottle

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

Components on the list of the container are ordered by quantity. "Potential irritants that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up