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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned Aldi was launching a new product collection that appeared akin to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest shop to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its smooth blue container and gold lid of the two products look strikingly comparable. While Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been using lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers report they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a February survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic bigger name labels and provide budget-friendly alternatives to luxury products. These products typically have alike labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty professionals argue some substitutes to premium brands are reasonable quality and help make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that more expensive is always more effective," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not all budget skincare brand is bad - and not every premium skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a program with celebrities.

Numerous of the products inspired by luxury labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional thinks alternatives are fine to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he explains. "They will perform the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can save money when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can be problematic," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

Yet the specialists also recommend consumers investigate and say that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With premium beauty products, you're not just covering the brand and advertising - at times the increased price tag also stems from the components and their quality, the strength of the active ingredient, the research employed to produce the product, and tests into the item's effectiveness, she explains.

Skin therapist she suggests it's important considering how certain alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she says they could contain filler ingredients that lack as significant benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The key uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Commentator Scott admits on occasion he's bought skincare items that look similar to a big-name brand but the item has "no resemblance to the original".

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

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Regarding advanced items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises selecting research-backed brands.

The expert says these probably have been through comprehensive tests to assess how successful they are.

Beauty items must be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

If the company advertises about the performance of the product, it needs data to back it up, "but the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead reference testing completed by different companies, she adds.

Read the Label of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could signal a product is poor?

Components on the back of the tube are ordered by concentration. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up