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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer learned Aldi was launching a fresh product collection that seemed similar to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her nearest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

The smooth blue container and gold top of both items look strikingly alike. And though Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she claims she's pleased by the dupe so far.

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

Over a 25% of UK buyers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, according to a February poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that copy well-known brands and provide cost-effective alternatives to high-end items. They typically have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty experts argue some dupes to premium brands are reasonable quality and help make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is necessarily better," comments consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable beauty label is inferior - and not every premium skincare product is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast featuring celebrities.

A lot of of the products modeled on high-end brands "sell out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional argues dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he explains. "These items will handle the basics to a satisfactory level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or a product which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can be problematic," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging'

However the experts also recommend shoppers investigate and say that higher-priced items are at times worthy of the premium price.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not just paying for the label and promotion - at times the increased price also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the strength of the effective element, the technology employed to produce the item, and tests into the products' performance, she says.

Beauty expert another professional says it's important thinking about how some dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she states they could include less effective components that don't have as significant benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"One key uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott notes on occasion he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a established label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

"Do not be fooled by the packaging," he cautioned.

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For potent products or ones with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests using research-backed companies.

The expert states these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty items need to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

If the brand advertises about the performance of the item, it needs research to support it, "but the brand doesn't always have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite testing completed by other brands, she says.

Read the Label of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are arranged by quantity. "The baddies that you should be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up