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Back in the day, supermarkets used to sell only food. Fast forward to now and they sell everything and anything! That’s why going to buy your daily or weekly essentials can be dangerous and sometimes very expensive! BUT, having everything under one roof isn’t a bad thing and going to buy groceries sometimes leads to some new discoveries of the non food variety. I found some new bath and body products last week in my local Aldi store. What did I find? A selection of new shower gels, hand creams and hand washes, all Winter seasoned inspired. So me being me, I picked up the duo of Lacura’s Winter Candy Apple Shower Gel & Hand Cream. Each at a cost of £1.99.
Why did I buy these?
These were striking to look at! I tend to find the way products are laid out in Aldi a little confusing and sometimes difficult to see. But these shot out at me like a bow from an arrow! I couldn’t help but feel this new range were similar to Bath & Body Works which is a US brand now available in the UK. So how they looked pulled me in. The fact they were new and products I like and would normally use, triggered me to buy them. And the fragrances screamed Christmas so why would I NOT buy these? Oh, and of course the price!
Packaging.
Shower Gel. A fabulously shaped plastic bottle for 400ml of product. Not straight up and down in shape. This is tall with faceted corners on the top and bottom making it look interesting and different. The bottle is clear, so you can see the vividly coloured red shower gel sitting within it. Super cute labelling which is festive with a twist (see pic below). Eye catching to the fullest!
Hand Cream. Exactly the same colouring and design look wise as the shower gel, but the hand cream is housed in a plastic flip top lid. Pretty much standard for most hand creams available on the market. 100ml in size.
Fragrance.
The scent of these products is the same-ish and absolutely lip lickingly good! It literally smells of juicy, red apples. With a little sweetness but more importantly that tartness that some apple varieties have. I can honesty say at first whiff this is my favourite apple scented product/range ever!
Shower Gel
The shower gel is bright red in colour which of course is in line with the fragrance and the packaging/labelling. The consistency pretty much is the same as other shower gels, which is quite thick and gel like.
As you can imagine with me being the bath addict, I used this in the bath. I squirted two decent sized blobs of this under warm running water which immediately created bubbles. By the time my bath had been filled the bath was FULL of bubbles! Plentiful, soft, airy and white! The bath water underneath remained clear with no colour. It was a nice bath to be in. No better or no worse than others I have had before, but I was quite relaxed in it. In the morning I’ve used this in the shower. Lots of bubbles/foam, quite creamy and washed my not so little body like a dream! A great little pick me up at 5am in the morning if I do say so myself.
I could get the fragrance of the shower gel but it was quite soft. Pleasant, but soft. When I got out of the bath I did get the fainest whiff of this on my skin but just about. My skin out of the bath wasn’t dry or aggravated so I could continue with my body care routine as usual.
My only negative about this product is I think the fragrance should have been stronger. Its such a great scent, I mean, how many shower gels out there smell of apples? So make it stand out a bit more please, don’t be shy!
Hand Cream.
I assumed the consistency of this would be quite thick almost body butter like, but it was white, and more lotion like in consistency. It rubbed into my hands like a dream, very quick and easy. And it gave my hands an immediate look of moisturisation rather than greasiness. They didn’t feel tacky once I applied this, but I did feel a few minutes later they looked and felt quite normal.
Fragrance wise this stayed on my hands but it wasn’t overpowering. What I found interesting was the fact that I swear I could detect a hint of floral, which made this scent even more pleasurable and unique.
I think this hand cream is for those with normal hands. For it to be suitable for drier hands I think it would need to be richer, waxier and probably thicker. But for everyday use when your hands aren’t looking mummified I think this will do just fine. Or if you need to use your hands straight away after application this is good. I think I prefer a richer more nourishing consistency.
Are these dupes for Bath & Body Works products?
I’ve never seen in real life these products, used them or sniffed them so I genuinely couldn’t compare them. Do I think they are inspired by the range? Probably. Same fragrance name, the look of the packaging though is different enough but with a few similarities e.g colouring.
Recommended?
The fragrance alone grabbed me. It’s not a typical fragrance to have but it’s a very Autumnal/Wintery scent, but we just don’t see it really on the market! So scent wise it’s different. Packaging is striking and the price is affordable. Would I say the shower gel (used as a bath foam) was the best I have ever used? Or the hand cream in my top 5 of hand creams? No. But are they decent products and overall recommended? Yes they are. Good prices with good sizes to match. This screams a Christmas stocking filler to me. But if you grab the hand wash (I didn’t buy that), the trio would make a great stand alone gift for just under £6.00!
If this review is making you itch to buy this, I would suggest to check out your local Aldi store asap as I suspect these will fly out and being seasonal especially will probably be limited too. And if Lacura’s Winter Candy Apple isn’t your favourite fragrance, there is Gingerbread and Winter Cookies available too! Happy holiday shopping! Ho ho ho!