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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer learned Aldi was offering a fresh product collection that looked akin to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her local shop to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of each items look remarkably similar. Although Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she says she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been using lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK buyers say they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published survey.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic established brands and present affordable options to premium items. These products typically have comparable labels and design, but in some cases the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Better'

Skincare specialists argue some dupes to premium labels are decent quality and help make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that costlier is always superior," comments skin specialist one expert. "Not every budget product line is poor - and not every luxury beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a program about famous people.

Numerous of the products inspired by high-end brands "disappear so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry believes dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will do the basics to a satisfactory level."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in using a budget alternative or something which is very inexpensive because there's not much that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

Yet the experts also advise consumers investigate and note that costlier items are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only covering the name and promotion - at times the higher price also is due to the components and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the technology utilized to develop the item, and trials into the item's effectiveness, Dr Belmo explains.

Facialist she says it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she says they may contain bulking agents that don't have 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.

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

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

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For advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests selecting more specialised labels.

The expert explains these will likely have been through costly trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty items need to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it requires data to support it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the testing" and can alternatively reference studies conducted by different firms, she clarifies.

Read the Ingredients List of the Container

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

Components on the back of the tube are listed by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up