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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper heard Aldi was launching a recent skincare range that looked similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She dashed to her closest store to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

The smooth blue container and gold top of both items look remarkably alike. While she has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers report they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic well-known labels and offer affordable options to high-end products. They often have comparable labels and design, but occasionally the formulas can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals say many dupes to premium brands are good standard and aid make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that costlier is always better," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget beauty label is bad - and not every high-end beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," adds a skincare commentator, who hosts a program with public figures.

Many of the products inspired by luxury brands "disappear so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional believes dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he says. "They will handle the fundamentals to a acceptable level."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is very affordable because there's minimal that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

Yet the specialists also suggest consumers do their research and say that more expensive products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

With high-end skincare, you're not just funding the brand and advertising - at times the elevated cost also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the technology utilized to create the item, and studies into the item's effectiveness, the expert says.

Facialist she suggests it's valuable considering how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they may contain less effective components that lack as many advantages for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"The big doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn admits sometimes he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be sold by the container," he warned.

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For potent products or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not made correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she suggests sticking to medical-grade companies.

She explains these will likely have been subjected to expensive tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it needs research to verify it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead reference evidence completed by other companies, she says.

Check the Ingredients List of the Pack

Is there any components that could indicate a product is poor?

Ingredients on the back of the container are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up