I remembered my mum telling me about some magic serum she'd got from Aldi, that contains the same ingredients as Boots Protect & Perfect, so I did a little investigating into this Lacura stuff. I have to confess, I'm not normally a fan of supermarket skincare. I generally steer well clear of nasty chemicals, sodium lauryl sulphate and anything that tries to mimic the smell of real aromatherapy whilst being nothing of the sort. I like my products reassuringly expensive and I'm a sucker for amazing natural smells. So Aldi is not usually my first port of call (I know I sound like a snob here!) for beauty products.

Lacura Multi-Intensive Serum, 3.49, contains shea butter, macadamia nut oil, and vitamins C and E to smooth out wrinkles. Amazingly, it came out first out of 2000 products in a series of blind tests. Boots Protect & Perfect intensive Serum came second.

The same survey also rated Lacura Shimmering Day Cream first place. And it only costs 1.99! That it beat other creams costing 10 times the price proves that expensive does not necessarily mean best.

Other products in the range worth checking out include Q10 Night Cream, about 3 pounds, and Double Lift, 4.99. Retinol is a key ingredient in both. A form of Vitamin A, Retinol is one of the truly effective things you can use to resurface and rejuvenate your skin.

Lacura also does make-up and lists plenty of lush-sounding, natural ingredients in its colour range: jojoba wax, avocado oil, seed oil and candelilla wax. I'm not so convinced.
Foundation that only comes in 2 different shades? Aldi, what rubbish! (Your fruit, cheese and wine on the other hand, is great).

I guess the only thing to do is to try it yourself. Don't expect miracles, and you might be pleasantly surprised. And perhaps bear in mind the words of one lady on a review site I found: 'These creams are aimed at German Women...and the ones near me in Southern Spain have skin like Chesterfield sofa's (sic) so I doubt they'll get a break out after using this cheap tack. Unlike us fair skinned rose petals from the UK.'