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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell heard Aldi was selling a fresh beauty line that seemed similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest shop to buy the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue packaging and gold top of each products look strikingly comparable. While Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This jumps to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February survey.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic bigger name companies and provide budget-friendly substitutes to high-end items. These products frequently have alike labels and design, but occasionally the components can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts contend some alternatives to high-end labels are decent standard and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"I don't think more expensive is invariably more effective," says consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every low-budget beauty label is bad - and not all premium skincare product is the top."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who hosts a program featuring public figures.

A lot of of the items modeled on high-end labels "run out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "They will handle the basics to a satisfactory degree."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can save money when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or a product which is fairly low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

But the specialists also suggest shoppers do their research and state that higher-priced products are at times worth the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only paying for the brand and marketing - sometimes the elevated cost also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the strength of the key component, the technology employed to produce the product, and tests into the products' efficacy, she explains.

Facialist another professional says it's valuable considering how certain alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she says they might contain filler ingredients that do not provide as many benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The key doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott notes in some cases he's bought skincare items that look similar to a big-name label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be convinced by the container," he added.

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Regarding potent products or those with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests using medical-grade companies.

The expert states these probably have been through expensive tests to determine how effective they are.

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

When the company advertises about the performance of the product, it must have research to verify it, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite testing completed by other brands, she says.

Examine the Label of the Pack

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

Components on the back of the bottle are listed by amount. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up