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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper found out Aldi was launching a new skincare range that appeared comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She hurried to her closest shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the high-end 50ml item.

Its sleek blue tube and gold top of both creams look remarkably comparable. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she claims she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK consumers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, as per a recent study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic well-known companies and offer cost-effective options to premium items. These products often have similar labels and design, but occasionally the components can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists say certain dupes to premium brands are reasonable quality and assist make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that costlier is necessarily superior," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not every affordable skincare brand is poor - and not every luxury skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," notes a podcast host, who presents a show with famous people.

A lot of of the products based on luxury labels "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional thinks alternatives are fine to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he explains. "They will handle the fundamentals to a acceptable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can save money 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 opting for a lookalike or a product which is very inexpensive because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

But the specialists also suggest buyers investigate and note that costlier products are at times worthy of the extra money.

With high-end beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - at times the increased cost also is due to the formula and their quality, the strength of the effective element, the science used to create the item, and studies into the item's performance, she notes.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman argues it's valuable thinking about how some alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she believes they may include less effective components that lack as significant positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One key uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott says on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be fooled by the packaging," he added.

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For potent products or those with components that can inflame the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests using research-backed labels.

The expert says these typically have been through comprehensive trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty products need to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

If the label states about the efficacy of the item, it requires research to verify it, "however the brand does not always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite studies completed by different brands, she clarifies.

Read the Label of the Container

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

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are listed by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up