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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was launching a recent beauty line that appeared similar to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael dashed to her nearest store to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The smooth blue container and gold lid of both products look noticeably similar. While she has not tested the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK buyers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, according to a recent survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy bigger name labels and provide budget-friendly options to high-end products. These products frequently have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Better'

Skincare professionals contend many alternatives to high-end labels are decent quality and help make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that costlier is always better," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every affordable product line is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," adds a podcast host, who runs a show about public figures.

A lot of of the products inspired by high-end labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor argues dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will be effective," he says. "These items will perform the basics to a acceptable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can save money when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also advise shoppers check details and say that costlier products are at times worth the additional cost.

With luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the label and advertising - at times the increased price tag also is due to the formula and their quality, the potency of the key component, the science employed to produce the item, and tests into the item's performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman suggests it's important questioning how some dupes can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they may have filler ingredients that lack as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One key doubt is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott notes in some cases he's bought beauty products that look similar to a established label but the product itself has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

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For advanced products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, she suggests using more specialised companies.

The expert states these typically have been through expensive tests to assess how successful they are.

Skincare items must be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company states about the performance of the item, it must have data to verify it, "however the seller does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively use studies completed by other companies, she says.

Read the Label of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could signal a item is poor?

Ingredients on the label of the tube are listed by quantity. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up