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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer learned Aldi was selling a fresh product collection that looked similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She dashed to her nearest outlet to buy the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The sleek blue tube and gold lid of both creams look noticeably similar. While she has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This jumps to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recent poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic well-known brands and provide cost-effective alternatives to luxury products. They often have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Better'

Beauty experts say certain substitutes to high-end brands are decent quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion higher-priced is necessarily superior," comments dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget skincare brand is bad - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"Some [dupes] are truly amazing," adds a skincare commentator, who runs a program with celebrities.

Many of the products based on luxury labels "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he explains. "They will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when you're looking for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or a product which is fairly affordable because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

But the professionals also suggest consumers check details and say that costlier items are sometimes worth the additional cost.

With high-end skincare, you're not only covering the brand and promotion - at times the elevated price tag also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the active ingredient, the science employed to develop the item, and tests into the products' effectiveness, the expert says.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's important thinking about how certain alternatives can be priced so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they might include less effective components that don't have as many benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"One big doubt is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Commentator McGlynn says sometimes he's bought beauty products that look similar to a established brand but the item has "no connection to the premium version".

"Don't be convinced by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends using more specialised labels.

The expert explains these typically have been through expensive studies to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it must have evidence to support it, "but the brand does not always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively reference testing conducted by different companies, she adds.

Read the Back of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are listed by quantity. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up