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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell heard Aldi was selling a fresh skincare range that looked akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael hurried to her local shop to buy the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

The sleek blue packaging and gold cap of both creams look strikingly alike. Although she has not used the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a 25% of UK buyers say they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to nearly half among younger adults, as per a recently published poll.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic bigger name brands and provide affordable options to high-end items. They frequently have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the formulas can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts argue certain alternatives to high-end brands are reasonable standard and help make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is always better," says dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the top."

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

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

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional thinks alternatives are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "They will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is quite low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Box'

But the professionals also suggest shoppers investigate and note that more expensive products are at times worth the additional cost.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the label and marketing - often the elevated price also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology used to create the item, and trials into the products' performance, she notes.

Facialist another professional suggests it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

Occasionally, she states they may include less effective components that do not provide as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One big uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

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

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Regarding potent items or those with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using research-backed brands.

The expert explains these probably have been through comprehensive studies to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

If the brand advertises about the performance of the item, it requires research to verify it, "but the brand doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead use testing conducted by other firms, she says.

Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a item is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the container are listed by amount. "The baddies that you need to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up