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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper learned a supermarket was selling a fresh skincare range that looked akin to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She rushed to her nearest shop to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml product.

The sleek blue tube and gold cap of the two items look remarkably comparable. And though she has not tested the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers report they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to 44% among younger adults, based on a February study.

Dupes are skincare products that copy bigger name companies and provide cost-effective substitutes to high-end items. They typically have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the components can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Better'

Beauty specialists contend many alternatives to premium labels are reasonable quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is necessarily better," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every affordable product line is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says a podcast host, who runs a podcast featuring public figures.

Numerous of the products modeled on luxury brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

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

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or something which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can go wrong," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

But the experts also suggest shoppers check details and say that costlier products are occasionally worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only covering the name and advertising - sometimes the elevated price also is due to the components and their quality, the potency of the effective element, the science employed to develop the product, and trials into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo explains.

Facialist another professional suggests it's important thinking about how certain dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

In some cases, she states they could contain less effective components that don't have as many benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One key uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits in some cases he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a big-name brand but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

"Don't be sold by the outer appearance," he added.

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Regarding advanced products or ones with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she recommends using more specialised companies.

She explains these probably have been subjected to costly studies to assess how successful they are.

Beauty items need to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label makes claims about the performance of the product, it must have evidence to back it up, "however the seller does not always have to do the trials" and can instead reference evidence conducted by different firms, she adds.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Components on the list of the bottle are listed by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up