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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned Aldi was selling a recent beauty line that appeared akin to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest shop to purchase the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its smooth blue tube and gold lid of both items look strikingly comparable. And though Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recently published survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy bigger name brands and provide affordable alternatives to premium products. They often have comparable labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty professionals contend many substitutes to premium brands are decent standard and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that more expensive is always better," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is poor - and not every premium skincare product is the best."

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

Many of the items modeled on high-end brands "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will do the job," he comments. "They will do the basics to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or something which is quite low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the experts also recommend buyers check details and say that more expensive products are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

With luxury skincare, you're not just funding the name and advertising - sometimes the elevated price tag also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the technology employed to produce the product, and tests into the products' performance, the expert notes.

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

Sometimes, she states they might have filler ingredients that lack as many benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"The key question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's bought skincare items that look similar to a established label but the item has "no connection to the original".

"Do not be sold by the outer appearance," he warned.

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For advanced items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she advises using research-backed brands.

The expert says these typically have been subjected to costly trials to assess how successful they are.

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

If the company advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it requires evidence to verify it, "however the brand does not always have to do the trials" and can instead cite testing conducted by other firms, she clarifies.

Examine the Back of the Bottle

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

Components on the back of the container are arranged by quantity. "The baddies that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up