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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper heard a supermarket was launching a recent beauty line that appeared comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She dashed to her local outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The sleek blue packaging and gold top of the two creams look remarkably similar. Although she has not used the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK buyers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a February survey.

Dupes are beauty items that copy bigger name labels and provide affordable substitutes to premium products. They often have comparable names and packaging, but in some cases the formulas can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts contend some alternatives to luxury labels are good quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is invariably more effective," states skin specialist one expert. "Not all budget skincare brand is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who runs a program with celebrities.

A lot of of the products based on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry believes alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "They will handle the essentials to a acceptable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a dupe or something which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

Yet the experts also suggest consumers investigate and say that higher-priced items are at times worthy of the additional cost.

With luxury skincare, you're not only funding the label and advertising - at times the increased price also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the research utilized to create the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, the expert explains.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman suggests it's worth thinking about how certain dupes can be sold so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she believes they may include bulking agents that lack as significant advantages for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One major doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the premium version".

"Don't be fooled by the container," he warned.

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For potent products or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist suggests selecting research-backed brands.

The expert says these probably have been through costly tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty items need to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label states about the effectiveness of the item, it needs research to back it up, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively cite testing conducted by other firms, she says.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

Are there any components that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you need to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up