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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out Aldi was offering a fresh beauty line that looked comparable to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper dashed to her local shop to pick up the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of both creams look strikingly similar. And though Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she states she's pleased by the product so far.

She has been using beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers state they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a February poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate well-known companies and offer affordable alternatives to premium items. They often have alike labels and design, but occasionally the components can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts argue many dupes to high-end labels are decent quality and help make skincare cheaper.

"In my opinion more expensive is necessarily superior," says dermatology expert a doctor. "Not every affordable product line is inferior - and not all premium skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," notes a podcast host, who runs a show with public figures.

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

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he says. "These items will handle the basics to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is very low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

But the professionals also recommend consumers investigate and note that more expensive products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

With luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the brand and advertising - often the increased cost also is due to the components and their grade, the concentration of the effective element, the science used to develop the item, and studies into the item's effectiveness, the expert explains.

Beauty expert she suggests it's important considering how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they may contain filler ingredients that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The key doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott admits sometimes he's bought beauty products that look similar to a established brand but the item has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not made correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using research-backed labels.

The expert states these probably have been through costly studies to determine how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be assessed before they can be available in the UK, says skin doctor another professional.

When the company states about the effectiveness of the product, it needs evidence to support it, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to perform the testing" and can instead reference evidence completed by other firms, she says.

Read the Back of the Bottle

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

Components on the label of the container are ordered by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up