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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out Aldi was selling a new product collection that appeared akin to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest shop to buy the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its smooth blue tube and gold top of the two products look noticeably similar. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the product so far.

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

More than a fourth of UK buyers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent survey.

Dupes are beauty items that copy well-known labels and offer affordable alternatives to premium items. They often have alike names and packaging, but in some cases the components can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty specialists argue certain substitutes to luxury labels are good standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is invariably more effective," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not every low-budget product line is poor - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really excellent," adds a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast about celebrities.

A lot of of the items based on high-end brands "run out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor believes dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will do the job," he says. "They will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or something which is quite low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the professionals also suggest shoppers do their research and state that higher-priced items are sometimes worthy of the premium price.

With luxury beauty products, you're not just paying for the brand and advertising - sometimes the increased price tag also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the science utilized to produce the item, and trials into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo explains.

Skin therapist she argues it's important questioning how certain dupes can be sold so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they may include less effective components that do not provide as numerous advantages for the complexion, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

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

Expert Scott says in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a well-known label but the item has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding potent products or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using more specialised labels.

She states these typically have been subjected to costly studies to evaluate how efficacious they are.

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

When the label makes claims about the performance of the item, it requires data to support it, "however the seller does not always have to perform the testing" and can instead cite testing done by different firms, she clarifies.

Check the Back of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are ordered by quantity. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up