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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard Aldi was offering a recent product collection that seemed comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael hurried to her local store to purchase the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of both products look strikingly similar. And though Rachael has not used the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been using lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK buyers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This jumps to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, according to a February study.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic well-known brands and present budget-friendly alternatives to high-end products. They frequently have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare professionals say many substitutes to premium brands are decent standard and assist make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is invariably more effective," comments skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable skincare brand is inferior - and not every luxury beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are really amazing," adds a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast with public figures.

Many of the items modeled on high-end brands "disappear so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable level."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be alright in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

However the experts also advise shoppers check details and note that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

With high-end skincare, you're not only funding the name and marketing - sometimes the elevated price also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the strength of the effective element, the research used to produce the product, and studies into the item's performance, the expert explains.

Facialist another professional argues it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be priced so cheaply.

Occasionally, she believes they might include bulking agents that do not provide as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The key question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Commentator McGlynn notes in some cases he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be sold by the packaging," he warned.

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For potent products or those with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests using more specialised brands.

The expert explains these probably have been subjected to costly tests to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare products must be tested before they can be sold in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it requires evidence to back it up, "however the brand does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively reference evidence done by other companies, she adds.

Check the Label of the Pack

Are there any components that could signal a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up