Bluewater buying the stuff) until her stockbroker husband had left her and she had to get a full time job to support herself and her daughter, plus pay a mortgage and that she had used the Aldi skincare range ever since and was really pleased with it. Almost at the stage where I was about to cut open my tube of Dermalogica skin soothing cream and order a new one, I was intrigued and thought I would give their anti-wrinkle day cream a try.
Yes I know I am someone who has only ever bought fairly expensive skincare since my early twenties, apart from the Protect and Perfect eye cream I got fairly recently as I had a money off voucher and that I am a huge lover of Eve Lom and Liz Earle cleansers (depending on what I can afford at the time) and insist on having Dermalogica facials when I do manage to go to a Salon, but I thought that at £1.99 it was worth a go, after all, what can you get with £2 these days anyway?
I am a huge believer that the most important thing is to cleanse, tone and moisturise and that nothing is going to actually take your wrinkles away if it comes out of a tube or jar, so all you can do as you march towards and through middle age, is look after your skin as if you were much younger and trying to keep the wrinkles at bay.
I noticed that the Aldi day cream had the words "Q10" on the label, something that bought a very well known skincare brand to mind and I realised that one of the most important things if you want to trade down and save money on your skin care, is to read the labels or box inserts and see if the cheaper brands contain the same ingredients as your favourite high end skincare. So I decided to check the well known brand's ingredients against the Aldi cream and found that they have the following in common (now I know this bit is probably boring, but it took me ages and is an essential part research, so please bear with me) :-
Aqua, Octocrylene, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Alcohol,Glycerin, Methylpropanediol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Glyceryl Stearate, Tocopheryl, Ubiquinone, Trisodium EDTA, Parfum, Limonene,Phenoxyethanol,
I might have missed some, my eyes were going funny reading all the small print on the Aldi face cream box, but I had to do it to prove a point and have to report that the Aldi cream actually contains many more ingredients which include: Soja Seed Oil, Albus Seed Extract, Vulgere Germ Extract, Persea Gratissima Oil to name but a few! Convinced yet? Nivea Q10 costs £9.99 as opposed to the Aldi £1.99.
If money is no object and you are happy spending over £200 on a jar of Revive, then fine, I know I would, but for those with much less to spend and who still want a quality product then a few minutes checking what your usual face cream consists of and comparing it to a cheaper brand may well be worth while. The most expensive moisturiser I have ever bought was Zelens and my skin looked no better for it by the time the jar was empty.
The Aldi range has featured in the Daily Mail, The Mirror, Marie Claire and lots of other publications where it is claimed to have out performed far more expensive brands. You can read more on the Aldi website and before you ask, no I will not be buying Barry M nail polish instead of Chanel or Max Factor lipstick in place of Chantecaille, its like handbags, I do have some strange sort of inbuilt snobbery that only applies to certain items (yes I know I am a weirdo) but I AM going to use up my jar of Aldi Restorative Face Cream for mature skin for sure!
What is your usual brand of moisturiser and would you switch to a cheaper brand if you knew it contained many of the same components as a cheaper brand?
As sad as it may sound I use Olay every day and have done for a long time. The only other cream I use is one my gran used for years. Its a medicated one called DDD cream and it smells loads, but my gran had the most amazing skin right up to the day she passed away aged 99.
ReplyDeleteX x
It doesn't sound sad, I remember the original pink bottle and used to feel so grown up when I used it! Olay has come a long way since being Ulay!
DeleteI agree, cleanse, tone, moisturize and sunblock! Ooh and I love Eve Lom cleansers. They are my favs. I was also using the Neutragena Rapid Wrinkle Repair day, night moisturiser and eye cream and I thought they were great value and my skin did feel really good.
ReplyDeleteCan't beat Eve Lom. I remember the first time I tried it I wasn't sure but it took me all of 2 minutes and I was convinced!
DeleteThis is really interesting - I've often wonder if the money I spend on expensive creams is necessary. As long as you have a regular regime, it should be enough, right? Just imagine how many shoes a year's supply of the pricey creams and lotions could buy?
ReplyDeleteExcellent article, as always.
Helena xx
Thanks Helena and agree we should put the spare cash in a jar for shoes or towards the chanel fund! x
DeleteI have heard good things about Aldi skincare. I only use things with salicylic acid in because of my acne (ageing skin with acne is no fun!)
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xxx
The only expensive face product I use is Creme de la Mer and I swear by it I originally brought it for my acne scarring and noticed a huge improvement so I would never not use it and to me is worth the money. Everything else I use is either Botanics or NO7 I use the protect and perfect eye cream too and love it. I am also using a glycolic acid peel at the mo from a fab ebay seller called Forever Young I am going to invest in more of their products as they are amazing value for money you should check them esp as you have that professional eye xoxo
ReplyDeleteI've heard FAB things also about Aldi. However, I still have that mind-set that you "get what you pay for". I know it is usually nonsense in the world of cosmetics, as most of what we pay for is marketing + packaging with the more expensive brands; but I am "trying". I always go for Eve Lom facials when I am in the UK and have been having them for about 15 years. However, my best moisturizers at the moment are the Yes to Carrots and Yes to Blueberries range. I also use Rosehip Oil which is working better than any night-cream I previously paid through the nose for ;-)
ReplyDeleteI recently switched from Lancome to L'oreal collagen re-plumper! I find my make up goes on great over it! I might try out the Aldi cream next time I am in one of the stores! Have a great week:)
ReplyDelete~Anne
OMG I love the Aldi range!!! I use their serum, eye cream - in the weird syringe looking tube and under eye roller. The serum especially is the best Ive tried and you know I spend shit loads on cosmetics! I also refuse to use any other make-up wipes than the Aldi ones they are the absolute best. The rest of the range wasnt for me but these products I use every day and have done for over a year. Bizarre tip the serum worn under L'orial pluming anti age cream has the most amazing results, I totally discovered it by chance and keep meaning to blog it, I swear try it, its like having new skin!
ReplyDeletep.s Yes no way would I buy cheap make up, Ive tried it and nothing compares to Chanel, new summer nail colours out this week btw xx
You've sold me, it will be make-up wipes and the serum next time I go in there! The serum had great reviews!
DeleteIts the LOrial collagen replumper just remembered its name I use the day and night, but the night is best x
ReplyDeleteI'm using a couple of the Aldi products at the moment and I think they're fine. My sister bought me a few (5) jars when they were on offer at £1 each so I'm just going with it for the time being but they do seem "moisturising" enough for my very dry skin. She's using the brand herself and seems very happy and she was on Lancome and Estee Lauder for the best part of 30 years. I have to say that despite everything says about the Clinique Dramatically Different moisturiser - that couldn't cope with my skin in the same way that the Aldi ones are doing. I can't complain especially at the price. I do want to check out the Liz Earle range though as we now have a store opened up in Leeds and I have heard excellent reviews about customer service and the products. By the way, I've not commented on your blog before but do love the articles that you write and I find they're very informative especially for another over 40 something :o). I do have to say that I do struggle with some of the Chanel nail varnishes though and it takes 3 or more coats of some colours for a good finish by which time I've got a headache after having my head down for so long to paint my toes. Phew finished. Got that all out :o)
ReplyDeleteSue thank you so much for your comment. It is so nice to hear that you always read and today felt you would leave me a comment to tell me so, I love that! After all, its people like you that make blogging worthwhile xx I have to confess I never use more than 2 coats of Chanel nor have I needed to. Are you using a base coat?
DeleteHi, I'm definitely using a base coat. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to nails - I only paint my toes because I can paint both feet with a steady hand and I never do a manicure because I can't get a good enough result with my left hand. My very first bottle of Chanel varnish was Berlingot - a limited edition colour - I remember it well because it did take 3 coats to get anywhere near a good enough finish. It cost £11 at the time and I nearly went back to the Chanel counter with it to complain. I have had good results with Particuliere and Paradoyxl though. So it's not all the Chanel varnishes - just a few. I was talking to someone who works on a Chanel counter and she said the varnishes can be a bit hit and miss sometimes. I currently have Models Own "purple grey" varnish on and this goes on lovely and is what I would call the solid version of Paradoxyl (minus the slight iridescence). And at £5 a bottle - it's one of my favourites. And I just wanted to say I read your article about being approched by a newspaper and not wanting to have your photo taken - I have to say I don't like having my picture taken either - if you check out my blog - I keep chopping my head off - then no one can criticise!
DeleteNever heard of this brand. Will have to check it out.
ReplyDeletewow thanks so much for this brilliant post, iv read every word twice, you have done so much work on it fair dues to you, iv often wondered about it as im in aldi often and see it but have never bought it, i most definitely will now, im actually going to head down now and have a good look at it and choose some products, thanks again for this post and all the research love and kisses from dublin xxx leonie
ReplyDeleteFab post! I used to use Lancome for the cleanse,tone and moisterise twice daily ritual until a couple of years ago when I decided to try Avene Antirougeur cream, Simple cleanser and finishing my Lancome alcohol free toner. My skin feels great! When I finish the toner I might do without and the other 2 products are so reasonably priced but I will spend more on the cream that stays on my face, not the cleanser. Will definately look for this Aldi! Thanks for sharing your research! xx
ReplyDeleteHi, New here :) Glad I found your blog (by some chance) I never actually care much about going the extra mile on my skin until I hit 40, you know the usual cleanse, tone and moisturize. Now I am into everything, the whole 9 yard :) Love reading your posts and don't be sad about the Chanel, your time will come. I never thought I would ever gotten mine, but hey when it happened, it happened!
ReplyDeleteCome read about my visit to Treviso and Venice here:
http://mrsjackofalltradesdaily.blogspot.com/2012/05/micro-break-from-heat-veneto-italy.html
thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI never like spending too much on skin care. This looks great, will defintely have to check it
ReplyDeleteThanks for this, will definitely buy the serum and the moisturiser when I find an Aldi store!
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