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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned Aldi was selling a new skincare range that seemed comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her local shop to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its sleek blue container and gold top of the two creams look strikingly similar. Although Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, based on a recent poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic bigger name companies and provide cost-effective substitutes to high-end products. They often have alike names and packaging, but sometimes the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts say many alternatives to luxury labels are decent quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably better," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable product line is poor - and not every premium skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," adds a skincare commentator, who runs a show with famous people.

Many of the items modeled on luxury labels "disappear so fast, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry thinks dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "These items will perform the essentials to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can spend less when you're looking for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or a product which is very affordable because there's not much that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the professionals also suggest shoppers check details and say that costlier items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not only funding the label and marketing - sometimes the increased price also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the technology utilized to create the product, and tests into the item's efficacy, the expert explains.

Beauty expert she argues it's important thinking about how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she believes they might include bulking agents that don't have as significant positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn admits in some cases he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a established brand but the item has "no connection to the luxury product".

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

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends using medical-grade brands.

She explains these probably have been through costly trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare products need to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand states about the performance of the item, it requires data to verify it, "but the seller does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can instead use evidence completed by other brands, she clarifies.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the list of the tube are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up