ALDI LACURA SKINCARE | THE HITS & THE MISSES

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Today we're talking Aldi's Lacura skincare line. Just as a bit of a disclaimer: some of these products are available online sometimes (I'll link them where possible), and the in-store availability is going to vary (I could not for the life of me find the Vitamin C serum despite visiting numerous stores). It is what it is! Unfortunately the INCI lists aren't available online and are only on the unit cartons, so I would personally recommend checking them out in-store if you have allergies or concerns around any ingredients, just so you have all the information before you make the purchase! All that being said: let's talk my hits and misses from the range...

First up, let's do the Hot Cloth Cleanser | £3.99. This looks to be unavailable online at the moment but there's a Vitamin C version of it you can check out here. I actually really rated this product. If you've not used a hot cloth cleanser before, the concept is: you get a cream-based cleanser and you use this as your first cleanse to gently lift makeup and sunscreen as well as moisturising it. Then you remove it with a cloth and this actually comes with one despite the £3.99 price-point - you have to pay extra for that with Liz Earle (the obvious inspiration for this product)! It's a little stiff but put it through the wash and it soon softens up. This is a little more fluid and lotion-y than Cleanse & Polish but I don't see that as a bad thing, and the scent is stronger, which I don't love but it doesn't ruin the experience for me or anything like that (and it doesn't sting my sensitive eyes). It's formulated with fatty alcohols and glycerin. This was great, effectively removing my makeup in a way that was gentle and left my skin lovely and soft after us but without any greasy excess, so I definitely recommend it.

Next, we have the Moisturising Face Wash | £0.99 | which reminds me a little bit of Simple, though I've not used their products for many years so can't give a very reliable comparison! This is a gentle, water-based cleanser formulated with ingredients like panthenol, Vitamin E and bisabolol to hydrate and calm the skin. This one does contain fragrance. The texture feels somewhere between a jelly and a traditional gel and has a mild lathering effect with water but isn't stripping. It's a pretty average cleanser for me, but if you're going through a patch where you just can't spend £15-20 on a skincare, or if it's a bit of an emergency and you need something that does the job but you can't spend a lot: this will definitely work as a second or morning cleanse (with the Hot Cloth formula being your first).

I also picked up the  Jelly Cleanser | £3.99 | which is actually pretty similar but doesn't contain fragrance. As you might have picked up on: it's quite reminiscent of the Drunk Elephant cleanser and does also contain marula oil. We also have glycerin and watermelon extract. This is fine, it's not drying so if you like a foaming formula: give this a go, they're just never my personal favourite products! I kind of felt similarly about the Drunk Elephant one too, if I'm honest: it didn't offend me but I wouldn't repurchase it. The main differentiator between this and the Moisturising Face Wash is really whether you're ok with fragrance in a cleanser or prefer to avoid it altogether.

I was not expecting to like the Pineapple Microdermabrasion Scrub | £3.99 | but here I am, liking a scrub... To be fair, this is really a micro-exfoliant, so it's not made with rough, natural scrubby bits but very fine, even, uniform particles, paired alongside pineapple enzymes to give a surface chemical exfoliation. This comes out like a cream and you just apply it, leave it for 2 minutes or so and rinse. I don't like that the word 'scrub' is in the title because you truly don't need to scrub at your face to get results; rinsing the product off is enough of a manual action. This gives me soft, smooth skin without any irritation and I'm very pleased with it!

Next, let's talk about the Nivea-looking Q10 Multi-Intensive Serum | £2.99. This is a nice, light creamy-lotion serum that's moisturising with ingredients like CoQ10 (a powerful antioxidant, neutralising free radical damage from our surroundings), peptides to plump and hydrate the skin, soothing allantoin, urea and lactic acid as natural moisturising factors, panthenol, Vitamin E, glycerin and moisturising macadamia oil. This does contain denatured alcohol, but I don't find it drying in the overall formula, and fragrance (which is a touch strong for my personal preferences). I find this a moisturising, softening serum with the added antioxidant benefit that's a great one-stop-shop morning option. For £2.99, this is just fantastic!

Also from the Drunk Elephant-esque product line is the Exfoliating Glycolic Treatment | £5.99. I liked this texture of this product; it's a kind of lotion gel and goes on nicely. This contains just under a 5% concentration of glycolic acid (an AHA chemical exfoliant for radiance and resurfacing) buffered with ingredients like glycerin and fatty alcohol, which makes it a product I think the majority of people will be able to get on with. This doesn't contain fragrance, but does contain flower extracts that some people may wish to avoid. I found that this product smoothed out my skin and gave it a nice glow. I personally used this 2 nights per week, which was spot-on for my skin, and it gave me no irritation at all.

A standout for me has to be the Intensive Eye Cream | £3.99. I have a bit of a love / hate relationship with eye creams; I don't think they're going to have an impact (or much of an impact) on most people's dark circles but I do still think it's beneficial from a well-ageing perspective to get some good ingredients in this area via a product texture you enjoy using. So, going for an affordable formula is one way to get some good stuff onto the eye area without false promises and inflated expectations. This contains so much good stuff! We have the classic moisturising ingredients of glycerin and fatty alcohol alongside 3-O-Ethylated Ascorbic Acid (a Vitamin C derivative that's an antioxidant and has a brightening effect), Vitamin E, fatty linoleic acid and some other antioxidants. There is denatured alcohol in here but it doesn't cause me any issues and there's no fragrance. This is a light lotion that feels hydrating but won't cause milia or anything like that and it works well under makeup, plus it has a lot of added benefits.

I think the top spot has to go to the Peptide Moisturiser | £6.99. I wasn't actually sure I'd like this when I picked it up because the Drunk Elephant formula it's 'inspired' by was just a little bit too light for me, but this was a pleasant surprise. This humectant-based jelly provides lasting hydration and makes my skin look plump, healthy and glowing with seven different peptides, which are short-chain amino acids, fantastic for skin hydration and they might even stimulate collagen production. The formula really allows the skin to breathe so I'd recommend this even if you're on the oilier side and I know this will be a great summer option for my skin. This is well worth taking a chance on for this price-point. 

Last, but not least, we have the Miracle Cream | £3.99 | which (as you might have guessed from the packaging) is near-enough identical to the classic Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream, right down to the scent! If you're not familiar with the oil-based balm, it's a multi-functional product that can be used on everything from a dry nose to cracked heels to adding a bit of gloss to your matte lip. You can throw it in your handbag for on-the-go nourishment, if you like. It's just a great thing to have in your arsenal.

Overall, I had a really positive experience with the Lacura skincare line, so I'm going to challenge myself to just pick a top 3 when it comes to my must-haves, because there wasn't really anything here that I strongly disliked. My #1 product will have to be the Peptide Moisturiser - it's a great day cream (or gel, really) with fantastic ingredients packed in, which is impressive for this price-point. I also really rate the Hot Cloth Cleanser as a functional product that works, so that's my #2. It's tough to choose between the Q10 and the eye cream for the bronze, but I'm going with the Q10 as my #3 purely because of all the superstar ingredients crammed into it, which make it a strong all-rounder for people who don't want a ton of steps in their morning routine.

Have you tried Aldi's skincare line?

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