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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell found out a supermarket was launching a recent product collection that appeared akin to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her nearest store to pick up the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its smooth blue packaging and gold lid of both creams look strikingly alike. And though Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK consumers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a February study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy established companies and present cost-effective options to high-end products. They frequently have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the components can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Beauty professionals contend some substitutes to high-end brands are decent quality and help make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think costlier is necessarily superior," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not every low-budget product line is inferior - and not every premium skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are truly excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who presents a podcast with public figures.

Many of the items inspired by high-end labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor argues dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will do the job," he says. "They will handle the essentials to a reasonable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when seeking simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

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

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

But the professionals also recommend shoppers do their research and note that higher-priced products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

With premium beauty products, you're not just paying for the label and marketing - at times the higher price also is due to the formula and their quality, the strength of the active ingredient, the technology employed to produce the product, and trials into the products' effectiveness, she notes.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman suggests it's worth considering how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she states they could have filler ingredients that do not provide as many benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The big uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott admits in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

"Don't be fooled by the packaging," he warned.

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Regarding more complicated products or those with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, she suggests using research-backed companies.

She explains these will likely have been through expensive studies to assess how effective they are.

Skincare products need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the company advertises about the performance of the item, it must have evidence to support it, "but the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively use studies completed by different brands, she adds.

Read 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. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up