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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned Aldi was offering a new product collection that looked similar to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper hurried to her local store to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the high-end 50ml cream.

The streamlined blue container and gold top of each products look remarkably alike. And though Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers state they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a recently published study.

Dupes are beauty items that copy established brands and present budget-friendly alternatives to luxury products. These products often have comparable branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty specialists say many alternatives to high-end brands are reasonable quality and help make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think more expensive is invariably more effective," comments skin specialist a doctor. "Not every affordable product line is poor - and not all premium skincare product is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," adds a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast featuring famous people.

A lot of of the products based on high-end labels "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional thinks alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he explains. "These items will do the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or something which is quite low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Box'

However the experts also recommend shoppers investigate and state that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not only funding the name and advertising - at times the higher cost also comes from the formula and their quality, the strength of the key component, the technology employed to create the item, and trials into the products' effectiveness, she says.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's worth considering how certain dupes can be priced so cheaply.

Sometimes, she states they could contain less effective components that do not provide as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"The big question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn notes sometimes he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a well-known brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be sold by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

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For advanced products or ones with components that can inflame the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate advises using more specialised companies.

She says these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive studies to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare items need to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it requires data to verify it, "but the seller does not always have to perform the testing" and can instead use evidence conducted by different firms, she clarifies.

Check the Label of the Container

Is there any components that could suggest a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the label of the tube are arranged by quantity. "The baddies that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up