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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer learned Aldi was launching a new beauty line that appeared similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her nearest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold cap of each creams look strikingly similar. And though she has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers report they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a February study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic bigger name companies and provide cost-effective alternatives to high-end items. These products typically have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the ingredients can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts contend many substitutes to high-end brands are reasonable standard and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that more expensive is invariably more effective," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget beauty label is inferior - and not every luxury skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," says Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast about public figures.

Many of the items inspired by luxury labels "run out so fast, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor thinks alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will do the job," he comments. "These items will perform the basics to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

However the experts also recommend buyers investigate and say that costlier products are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

With high-end skincare, you're not just covering the name and promotion - often the elevated price tag also stems from the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the research used to produce the product, and trials into the products' performance, Dr Belmo explains.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's important considering how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they could include bulking agents that don't have as many positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One key doubt is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Expert Scott admits on occasion he's bought beauty products that look similar to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the premium version".

"Do not be convinced by the outer appearance," he added.

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For potent products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she suggests selecting more specialised labels.

She says these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive studies to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty items need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it must have evidence to support it, "but the brand doesn't always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively cite evidence completed by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are listed by concentration. "Potential irritants that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up