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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper heard Aldi was launching a recent product collection that seemed similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She hurried to her local outlet to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The streamlined blue tube and gold cap of each items look strikingly alike. And though Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic bigger name labels and provide affordable alternatives to luxury products. They frequently have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty specialists argue many dupes to luxury labels are good quality and help make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think more expensive is necessarily superior," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is bad - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"Some [dupes] are really amazing," notes a podcast host, who runs a program with celebrities.

A lot of of the items inspired by high-end labels "run out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will be effective," he explains. "They will perform the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is very low cost because there's not much that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also recommend consumers check details and say that costlier products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only paying for the name and promotion - sometimes the higher price also comes from the formula and their grade, the concentration of the effective element, the technology used to develop the item, and trials into the products' performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's valuable considering how some alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they could have filler ingredients that lack as numerous advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The major doubt is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the item has "no resemblance to the original".

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

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For advanced items or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using research-backed brands.

The expert says these will likely have been through costly tests to assess how effective they are.

Skincare products need to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the performance of the product, it needs data to back it up, "however the manufacturer does not always have to perform the trials" and can instead cite evidence conducted by other companies, she says.

Read the Back of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a product is poor?

Components on the label of the container are listed by concentration. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up