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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out a discounter was selling a new skincare range that looked comparable to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her closest outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

The smooth blue tube and gold top of both creams look remarkably alike. Although she has not used the premium cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK buyers report they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recently published study.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic well-known labels and offer budget-friendly alternatives to high-end products. These products frequently have comparable labels and design, but in some cases the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Beauty experts contend some alternatives to high-end brands are reasonable standard and help make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think costlier is always superior," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is inferior - and not all luxury beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," adds a podcast host, who runs a show featuring famous people.

Numerous of the products inspired by high-end brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional thinks alternatives are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "They will handle the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is very low cost because there's minimal that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

But the specialists also recommend buyers do their research and state that more expensive products are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just funding the name and advertising - sometimes the higher price also is due to the components and their grade, the potency of the key component, the science employed to produce the product, and studies into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo says.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's valuable thinking about how some alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they may have less effective components that lack as numerous advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One key uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Commentator McGlynn admits sometimes he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a big-name label but the item has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be convinced by the container," he added.

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends sticking to medical-grade companies.

The expert says these typically have been through costly studies to determine how successful they are.

Beauty items need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the company makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it needs data to support it, "but the manufacturer doesn't always have to do the trials" and can alternatively use studies conducted by other companies, she adds.

Check the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

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