My Beauty Hero of the Year.

OK so I might be a wee bit late to the party with this review, but hey – independent confirmation of what you already knew is never a bad thing, is it?

Let me start by reassuring you that since the age of 12 I have veritably slathered my variously spotty/smooth/plumpish/cheekboned/pale/tanned/fine-lined visage in just about every make available of attractively scented unguent.  As a teenager I was even saving my hard-earned Saturday job money for Elizabeth Arden 8-hour cream, Clinique Dramatically Different, Charles of the Ritz (remember them?) something-or-other and heaven knows what else.  I’ve never ventured into Crème-de-la-mer territory (HOW much???!!) but pretty much everything else has crossed my path and to be fair, all this anointing has
not been in vain as my dermal layer is basically in pretty good nick.

So, it is with a certain amount of middle-aged mortgage-paying glee that I bring you news of a wunder-crème, part of a range of all-round pretty decent beauty products.  That of which I speak (drum roll please) is none other than Aldi’s Lacura Day and Night cream, each pot priced at the princely sum of £1.99.  No kidding.

I should point out that there are a number of different moisturisers in the Lacura range, but those of which I can speak with authority are the “Q10 RENEW [their capitals not mine] Anti-Wrinkle” day and night and the “Q10 RESTORATIVE [ditto] Mature Skin”, for ages 45 and up.  For the record, Boyf has been converted to the latter, tempted away from the £35 pot of whatever he was using before.  It might have been the tasteful matt gold lid on the night cream that got him.  I shall ask. Anyway…

First to RENEW Q10 Anti-Wrinkle

(note, Aldi don’t mess about with fancy names.  It is the Ronseal of face creams)

The day cream is lightish, but properly creamy to the touch with a really quite nice fragrance and lovely texture.  Recommended for ages 35-45 it claims to involve (and here comes the Science part) two types of fairy dust called Peptide Complex and CoEnzyme Q10.  To be honest, I’m not at all sure what all that means, but what I do know is that it’s a great moisturiser and I haven’t had a single zit or dry patch since I started using it.  Its Paraben-free status means that some of the arguably dodgiest preservative chemicals are nowhere in sight, which quite frankly is good news to me.

The night cream is unsurprisingly thicker, with a scent that’s different but not at all unpleasant – slightly nivea-ish, according to my nose.  Once on, it feels pretty light and I don’t really notice it when I’ve gone to bed, other than the fact my skin immediately feels really supple and nice.  If you’ve had a day in the sun, this stuff at the very least feels like it doing a good job.  Of course, the only real test for face creams is to slap some on and see how you go, but after a few days of experimental slapping, I’m holding.  Thank you.

Now for RESTORATIVE

(for Mature Skin)

Like it’s little sister, Lacura RESTORATIVE is Paraben-free and comes in heavy glass pots with screw on lids and an opening big enough to allow you to get the last bits out.  It is certainly richer than Anti-wrinkle, and the Night version feels quite luxurious when you put it on.  This one’s fairy dust includes Calcium-something, which sounds great although as far as I know you can’t prevent osteoporosis with a moisturiser.  Can you?  Answers on a postcard… Anyway, upon application of the latter, my scrubbed-bare physog took on that post-facial gloss and glow, so definitely not one for the daytime (hence being designated Night Cream I suppose) but when I woke in the morning my skin was really wonderfully dewy-soft and fresh looking.  Better than anything for which I would have needed a 2nd mortgage.

As for the day cream, it’s lighter and goes on more smoothly, sinking in pleasingly fast.  I think this makes a great base for makeup, or is fine just on its own.  With SPF6 (their SPF15 version, not reviewed here, has Parabens so I ruled it out) you do get gentle sun protection as opposed to a block, but I reckon this is fine.  After all, we don’t want rickets, do we?  Both day and night have a pleasant, clean, unobtrusive scent and after a few days of using both, my stressed-out skin really did feel restored.  Despite plumping for Anti-Wrinkle, I’m probably going to keep a pot of Lacura Mature Skin for when my face gets dry.  Or perhaps to meet the demands of my not insubstantial décolletage. I just thought of that. Good plan!

So, in case you hadn’t already gathered as much, I would certainly recommend the Lacura range, but if you care about Parabens, stick to the two I’ve reviewed here.  No idea why some of the others have them in, but there you go.  All in all, these products are great if you’re in belt-tightening mode; also great if you’re not.  They’re the real deal.

As a footnote, I’d also recommend their Miracle Oil for hair, used as a leave-in conditioner, particularly if you have very thick or curly locks.  Think Morroccanoil, but at £3.49 it’s literally a fraction of the price.  Also, have a look at Lacura serum.  This is allegedly as effective as Boots’s hallowed Protect and Perfect and once again comes in at just £3.49.  The eye cream is nice and similarly inexpensive, but I’m not convinced it’s necessary given the excellent job done by the main creams.

Still for the sake of a couple of quid, who really cares?

All Aldi products mentioned are 50ml £2.90