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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard Aldi was offering a fresh skincare range that looked akin to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael hurried to her nearest shop to buy the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the high-end 50ml product.

The smooth blue container and gold lid of each creams look remarkably comparable. While Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

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

More than a fourth of UK consumers say they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to nearly half among younger adults, based on a recently published survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic established companies and present cost-effective alternatives to luxury items. These products typically have similar names and packaging, but occasionally the formulas can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts say many dupes to premium brands are reasonable standard and assist make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is invariably more effective," says dermatology expert one expert. "Not every budget product line is bad - and not all premium beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," says a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast with celebrities.

Many of the items based on luxury labels "run out so quickly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he comments. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable level."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

But the experts also recommend shoppers check details and say that costlier items are at times worth the extra money.

With premium beauty products, you're not just paying for the name and advertising - sometimes the elevated price also comes from the components and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the science utilized to produce the item, and trials into the products' effectiveness, the expert explains.

Beauty expert she says it's important thinking about how some dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she says they might have bulking agents that lack as significant benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"One key question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

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

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Regarding potent products or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests using research-backed companies.

The expert states these probably have been through comprehensive tests to evaluate how effective they are.

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

When the brand advertises about the performance of the product, it requires data to back it up, "however the brand does not always have to conduct the trials" and can instead use testing done by other firms, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

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

Ingredients on the back of the tube are ordered by amount. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up