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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was offering a recent skincare range that appeared similar to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She dashed to her closest shop to pick up the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its smooth blue packaging and gold lid of each products look noticeably comparable. While Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she claims she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK consumers state they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a February study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate established labels and provide affordable alternatives to premium items. They frequently have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare specialists contend certain dupes to luxury labels are reasonable standard and aid make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily better," says dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget beauty label is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," says Scott McGlynn, who presents a program about famous people.

Numerous of the products based on high-end brands "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry believes dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

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

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is fairly affordable because there's not much that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the specialists also advise consumers investigate and note that costlier items are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not just paying for the brand and promotion - at times the increased cost also is due to the components and their grade, the potency of the key component, the research used to develop the product, and tests into the item's effectiveness, the expert explains.

Beauty expert another professional suggests it's valuable questioning how some dupes can be priced so cheaply.

In some cases, she states they might contain filler ingredients that lack as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One key uncertainty is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no connection to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he added.

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Regarding more complicated items or ones with components that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate advises sticking to medical-grade brands.

She says these probably have been subjected to costly tests to assess how successful they are.

Skincare products need to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the efficacy of the product, it requires research to verify it, "however the seller doesn't always have to do the trials" and can instead use evidence done by other brands, she says.

Check the Back of the Pack

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

Components on the back of the container are listed by amount. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up