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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer found out Aldi was offering a recent skincare range that appeared comparable to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her nearest outlet to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold top of the two creams look remarkably similar. And though she has not tested the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy established companies and provide affordable options to high-end items. They often have similar branding and containers, but sometimes the formulas can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Superior'

Skincare professionals contend some dupes to high-end labels are decent standard and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is always better," states skin specialist one expert. "Not all budget beauty label is bad - and not every premium skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly amazing," notes a podcast host, who presents a podcast with public figures.

Many of the items based on high-end labels "sell out so fast, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional thinks dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can save money when seeking simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a dupe or something which is quite low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Box'

Yet the professionals also suggest buyers investigate and state that costlier products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only funding the label and marketing - often the higher price also stems from the components and their grade, the strength of the key component, the technology utilized to produce the item, and trials into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert she suggests it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they might contain less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One key doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a big-name label but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".

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

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For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she advises sticking to research-backed brands.

She says these probably have been through comprehensive studies to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty items must be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor another professional.

If the brand makes claims about the performance of the item, it needs data to verify it, "but the manufacturer does not necessarily have to perform the testing" and can instead reference testing done by different companies, she says.

Check the Label of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are listed by quantity. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up