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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper learned Aldi was offering a recent product collection that appeared akin to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest shop to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its smooth blue container and gold cap of the two items look remarkably similar. And though she has not tested the luxury cream, she states she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK buyers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recent study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy bigger name companies and offer budget-friendly alternatives to premium items. These products typically have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the formulas can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts contend certain dupes to luxury brands are good standard and assist make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily superior," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not every low-budget product line is bad - and not all premium skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a program featuring famous people.

Numerous of the items based on luxury labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes dupes are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "They will perform the basics to a acceptable standard."

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

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a dupe or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can cause issues," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

Yet the professionals also suggest shoppers do their research and say that costlier products are sometimes worth the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only funding the label and promotion - at times the increased cost also comes from the formula and their grade, the strength of the effective element, the research utilized to produce the product, and trials into the item's efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert she argues it's valuable considering how some alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

Occasionally, she states they may include bulking agents that don't have as many benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One key question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he warned.

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For advanced items or ones with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist advises using research-backed brands.

The expert says these will likely have been through comprehensive tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty items must be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label states about the performance of the item, it requires data to verify it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the testing" and can instead use studies done by different firms, she says.

Read the Back of the Pack

Are there any components that could suggest a item is low-quality?

Components on the list of the tube are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up