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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was offering a new beauty line that seemed akin to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item.

The smooth blue container and gold top of each items look strikingly alike. Although Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK buyers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published survey.

Dupes are skincare products that copy well-known labels and present budget-friendly alternatives to high-end products. These products frequently have similar labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts say some alternatives to high-end brands are reasonable quality and aid make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think higher-priced is invariably more effective," says consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all budget product line is poor - and not all luxury skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really amazing," adds Scott McGlynn, who hosts a show about public figures.

Many of the items modeled on high-end brands "sell out so quickly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he explains. "These items will handle the basics to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can spend less when seeking simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple item then you're likely going to be okay in using a budget alternative or a product which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging'

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

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not just covering the brand and marketing - at times the higher price also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology used to develop the item, and tests into the products' performance, she notes.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's worth thinking about how some alternatives can be priced so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they might have less effective components that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The big question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott admits on occasion he's bought skincare items that look similar to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he added.

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For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she recommends sticking to medical-grade brands.

The expert explains these probably have been through expensive trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label makes claims about the performance of the product, it must have research to support it, "however the manufacturer does not always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite evidence done by different brands, she adds.

Read the Label of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a product is poor?

Components on the back of the bottle are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up