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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out a supermarket was selling a recent skincare range that looked comparable to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her closest store to pick up the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item.

The streamlined blue tube and gold lid of the two items look noticeably similar. Although Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she states she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK consumers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, according to a February study.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic established labels and offer budget-friendly options to high-end items. They often have similar labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare specialists argue certain dupes to premium labels are decent quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion more expensive is necessarily more effective," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every budget beauty label is poor - and not all premium skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really amazing," adds Scott McGlynn, who presents a show about famous people.

A lot of of the items modeled on high-end labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he explains. "These items will perform the essentials to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a budget alternative or something which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Box'

But the experts also advise buyers check details and say that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With high-end beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - often the higher price tag also comes from the formula and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the research employed to produce the product, and tests into the item's effectiveness, the expert explains.

Skin therapist another professional says it's important questioning how some alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

Sometimes, she believes they might have bulking agents that lack as significant positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The big question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn notes in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a big-name label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he added.

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For advanced items or those with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using more specialised brands.

She explains these will likely have been through expensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare items need to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it must have data to back it up, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to do the testing" and can alternatively reference evidence completed by other brands, she clarifies.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a product is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are ordered by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up