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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell found out Aldi was launching a recent product collection that looked comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael dashed to her closest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml item.

The sleek blue container and gold lid of each creams look noticeably alike. While she has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

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

Over a quarter of UK shoppers state they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a recently published study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate bigger name companies and present affordable substitutes to luxury items. These products typically have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Skincare specialists contend some substitutes to high-end brands are good standard and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion costlier is invariably better," states skin specialist a doctor. "Not every low-budget beauty label is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly impressive," adds a podcast host, who hosts a show featuring public figures.

Many of the products modeled on luxury brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he explains. "These items will do the basics to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the experts also advise consumers investigate and state that costlier items are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not just covering the name and marketing - often the increased cost also stems from the formula and their standard, the strength of the key component, the research employed to create the product, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo says.

Skin therapist she argues it's important thinking about how some dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she believes they could have less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott says sometimes he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a big-name brand but the product itself has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she recommends sticking to more specialised companies.

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

Skincare products must be tested before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company advertises about the efficacy of the item, it requires research to back it up, "however the seller does not always have to perform the testing" and can instead cite evidence done by other firms, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Pack

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a item is inferior?

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