When you walk into a discount store, you’re never too sure what you will see. Yes, like any store, there will be items on the shelves you see week in week out. But there’s also plenty of products new in, that might be on a shelf for a day, a week or a few weeks, and then never to be seen again. New skincare products I spotted recently in Home Bargains was from the brand Nivea. 3 different moisturisers and a serum, starting from £1.49. So, what did I find?
Nivea moisturisers (and a serum!) in Home Bargains!
Nivea’s Tinted Day Cream
Slighted tinted in a light skin tone colouring, this moisturiser helps to even out skin tone, moisturises for up to 24hrs (is that really possibly?) and contains spf15. £1.49 for 50ml.
Nivea’s Tinted Day Cream
Nivea’s Soothing Day Cream
Aimed at sensitive skin, this moisturiser is fragrance free (fragrance can be irritating for some people). Helps to reduce redness, tightness and dryness, so this formulation should be soothing and comforting on the skin. Also contains spf15. £1.49 for 50ml.
Nivea’s Soothing Day Cream
Nivea’s Mattifying Day Cream
This moisturiser is to help those with an oily skin type. It’s designed to be light weight so not heavy or greasy on the skin, but still moisturises. Helps skin to appear and feel less oily and make the skin more balanced. £1.49 for 50ml.
Nivea’s Mattifying Day Cream
Nivea’s Post-Acne Marks Serum
This serum is aimed at specific skin concerns, which is dealing with acne skin and marks left by acne. This product aims to improve the look and feel of acne prone skin by smoothing it out and reducing the look of marks left after acne. Suitable for acne prone skin. This is a serum, so a moisturiser still needs to be applied after this product. £4.49 for 50ml.
Nivea’s Post-Acne Marks Serum
If Niveais a brand you use in your skincare routine, have a look in Home Bargains. Affordable branded skincare at its best!
Aldi don’t disappoint when it comes to skincare products. The only thing that can be disappointing is stock levels and availability when purchasing products for the face and body. But when they do have products come in that aren’t part of their everyday ranges, it definitely perks up the interest of skincare shoppers. So when I spotted their Ultimate range last week, I wasn’t sure if this was new, a repeat or products I simply missed, but I was still intrigued. So what products did I find and how much do they cost?
Aldi Lacura’s Ultimate Skincare Range
Ultimate Serum
This serum helps hydrate, smooth and soften the skin thanks to it containing squalane, hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C, Edelweiss and Pomegranate extracts. It should be easily absorbed as its light weight, so will leave skin feeling protected but not greasy. £8.49 for 30ml.
Aldi’s Lacura Ultimate Serum
Ultimate Eye Serum
This contains a similar set of ingredients as the serum, but also niacinamide (helps to hydrate, protect and repair skin) and centella extract (hydrating and soothing on the skin). So expect under eyes to feel lightly nourished, which will help the appearance and feel of lines and wrinkles. £6.99 for 15ml.
Aldi’s Lacura Ultimate Eye Cream
Ultimate Rich Cream
Containing squalane, peptides, hyaluronic acid and green tea extract, this formulation is all about delivering. Delivering hydration, protection and making the skin feel and appear to be firmer and plumper. £8.49 for 50ml.
Aldi’s Lacura Ultimate Rich Cream
Thoughts?
This range of products look like they’re aimed at an older, more mature person. The packaging reflects this and not geared towards a younger market at all. What these products are supposed to do to the skin and ingredients, sounds like it’s catering for skin that needs more help with putting things back into the skin that it’s lacking. Aged skin isn’t always down to the age of the person though. It could be down to lifestyle, genetics and other factors. I think if you want to use this range, these are for someone who needs help to get skin in better, general condition. Products for mature skin tend to come at a higher price point than ranges for younger skin. This may explain why these are a little more pricier than other skincare products Aldiusually sell.
This collection of products won’t suit everyone. So if investing in this range, it might be worthwhile trying out 1 product first and taking it from there. BUT with the colder weather here in the UK, this range might be nice to pop into your routine if your skin is feeling tight, dehydrated and needs a little life put back into it.
Good skin is important to most of us. We all can deal with the occasional spot. Or changes on the skin which are annoying but nothing major. But what happens when your ‘normal’ skin becomes uneven and marked? Well that’s been MY face for the last few months and something I’m working on. I hoped the purchase of CeraVe’s Resurfacing Retinol Serum would help. I bought this on sale from ASOS for under £15.00 but normally retails up to £22.00 for 30ml.
CeraVe’s Resurfacing Retinol Serum
Why did I buy this?
I’ve never had an issue when it comes to hyperpigmentation (darkening, marks on the skin) on my face. My skin has always been even in skin tone and any marks I had would disappear. But the last few years a spot would pop up and leave a mark, even without it being squeezed. These marks would fade but the amount of time it took was getting longer and longer with some not disappearing at all. I saw a post on this product on Instagram and thought this could be perfect because of what it’s designed to do so I bought it.
What is this supposed to do?
CeraVe’s Resurfacing Retinol Serum is designed to help lessen the look of marks which includes post acne scarring and hyperpigmentation. Skin should have a more even skin tone and smoother appearance thanks to ingredients such as retinol, liquorice root extract, niacinamide & 3 essential ceramides.
How to use
CeraVe’s Resurfacing Retinol Serum should be applied to clean skin at night time. Start off using once a week and build up the amount of times used depending on how skin is tolerating it. A high protection sun cream or lotion needs to be applied in the morning.
Consistency, Texture & Fragrance
Cream in colour, light weight, fluid but not too loose in consistency. Very typical in look to other serums. No obvious fragrance to this.
My skin before using this
Two areas of my cheeks were very spotty, raised and darks marks were on these areas, left behind from previous spots. At one point I applied foundation for a few days to make myself feel and look better as my skin began to upset me. This says a lot from someone who never wears make-up.
Before I mention how my skin behaved AFTER use it’s important to note of any other factors. I didn’t slot in any other significant skincare products into my daily routine. The odd sheet mask here, an exfoliator there was used during the weeks of using this product. But what I used at night time (not every night) was pure shea butter. Some people will be horrified some not, but I find this a brilliant product in it’s raw state. I use it because I’ve found it helps calm my skin down if it suffers bouts of break outs and bumpy textured skin. Hyperpigmentation can be caused after the skin becomes inflamed and the shea butter has helped calm mine down during the inflamed stage.
On the skin
This is a very simple serum to apply. I use one pump and gently rub it into my skin, avoiding my eye area and my neck (my neck doesn’t need this product). It feels very smooth, not sticky, and leaves the skin feeling hydrated. Not enough for it to be the only product on my face at night time, so a cream follows afterwards. It doesn’t leave my skin greasy or shiny in look, just normal but hydrated.
The instructions weren’t clear on the packaging so I went online. I started to use this once a week, then increased the amount of evenings I used this. My skin has never had an issue with this and tolerated it very well.
A few weeks later
Slowly but surely the areas of concern have become less spotty, less raised and smoother in look. The actual hyperpigmentation is less dark, less noticeable and getting smaller. I know my own skin. And I know how much these areas have improved so much that although I’m not totally happy with these areas, I hate them a lot less than a month ago.
Recommended?
For me, CeraVe’s Resurfacing Retinol Serum is working. I’m not the most patient person, especially where results with skincare is concerned. But if say this has improved the look of my skin within a month and I’ve noticed it, it’s doing something right! It looks better. This isn’t a cheap product, but if you need a specific result you will need to pay that little bit extra, but for me it’s been worth worth it.
CeraVe’s Resurfacing Retinol Serum is available from many places on the high street, such as Boots, Superdrug, and Amazon.
When you love skincare but don’t have a massive budget, you need to look at different brands with lower price points. Many stores have their own ranges, which most of the time are very affordable and can be just as good as bigger brands. One store that has their own range of skincare products is Superdrug, including their Naturally Radiant 2 in 1 Moisturiser & Serum. But is it any good?
This product, along with others from this range, regularly are on special promotions e.g half price, buy one get one free. When they’re half price and the products sound interesting, it makes buying them very appealing, so I bought this! It sounded good, easy to slot into my skincare routine and affordable. BOUGHT!
What is this supposed to do?
Naturally Radiant 2 in 1 Moisturiser & Serum is supposed to give the skin a natural radiance and even out skin tone. It also provides hydration in a light weight formulation the skin will love.
Packaging
50ml of Naturally Radiant 2 in 1 Moisturiser & Serum comes in a pump action bottle. Like the rest of the range, because of its colouring (green) and simplistic labelling, the appearance fits in well within the ‘natural’ skincare type niche.
Consistency & Texture
This reminds me of moisturising gels. This product is white but has a slight sheerness to it. Its very light in texture, and looks like a cross between a face cream and a gel.
Fragrance
The fragrance of this is identical to the other products I’ve tried in this range. Its quite fresh and clean in scent. There is a subtle flowery and sweetness to it which makes it very pleasant.
How to use
2 to 3 pumps of product applied to cleansed face and neck, using circular motions every morning.
On the skin
When applied onto my skin, I didn’t need much. It was easy and quick to apply and sank in immediately. This is one of those products that feels very light on the skin, almost as if nothing has been applied to it, but obviously there had been. My skin looked matt, but not dry, and felt slightly hydrated.
I can’t say whether this helped to even out my skin tone. At the time of using Naturally Radiant 2 in 1 Moisturiser & Serum, my skin was very even in colouring and texture. But as a product, I enjoyed using it, slotted into my routine well, gave my skin a nice feel but I didn’t suffer massive skin issues for me to see big changes.
Recommended?
This is a good product for a few different people, in my opinion:
Younger people ( teens to 30 ) who don’t have particular concerns with their skin and want a good quality product that’s easy and quick to apply.
Men. They want to use skincare but need something that sinks in quickly and no messing about with numerous products.
Budget. You’re on a budget and you don’t want to buy a face cream and a serum and overall don’t want to spend lots of money.
Multi purpose needed and time starved. Pretty much as above but you’re one of those people who has literally 5 mins in the morning to get dressed and out of the door AND sort your face out.
Summer. Lighter textures are great when the season is warmer and heavier textured products don’t sit as comfortably on skin as they do during cooler/colder times.
Would I buy this again?
Not sure. For what it is, its a decent moisturiser. And at certain times this would be very handy as mentioned in warmer weather. But I prefer to apply a separate serum and facial cream so I can tailor it to what my skin needs. I don’t think my skin would massively benefit from using this, or massively miss out.
If this sound like an ideal skin care product for you, visit Superdrugonline or instore . *At time of writing this post, this product is £8.99 and on buy one get one free promotion which can be mixed and match through the Naturally Radiant range.
