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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was selling a recent beauty line that seemed similar to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She hurried to her nearest shop to pick up the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml product.

The streamlined blue tube and gold cap of both creams look strikingly alike. And though Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK consumers state they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February poll.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy established brands and provide budget-friendly options to luxury products. These products often have similar labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty professionals argue many alternatives to high-end brands are reasonable standard and aid make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion more expensive is invariably superior," says skin specialist one expert. "Not every budget beauty label is bad - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who presents a show about public figures.

Many of the items inspired by high-end labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional believes dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he comments. "They will handle the basics to a acceptable level."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when you're looking for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be fine in using a dupe or a product which is fairly affordable because there's minimal that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Container'

But the specialists also advise shoppers do their research and note that higher-priced items are at times worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not just funding the name and advertising - often the elevated price tag also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the research employed to develop the product, and tests into the item's efficacy, she says.

Facialist Rhian Truman argues it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they could contain bulking agents that do not provide as many advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One big uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Expert Scott says sometimes he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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For advanced products or those with components that can inflame the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she suggests using research-backed brands.

She explains these probably have been subjected to costly studies to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty items are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it must have evidence to verify it, "but the brand doesn't always have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively reference testing completed by different brands, she adds.

Check the Ingredients List of the Pack

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a item is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the container are listed by amount. "The baddies that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up