Aldi Lacura 'Wrinkle Stop' With Syn-Ake - My Thoughts.

When using this product, I found that the serum is actually creamier than I expected and has an opaque look to it rather than translucent, the smell is subtle but quite nice for the short time that I could smell it.

To apply it is fairly easy, although the cannula can take a little more work to hold in a comfortable and accurate position. I think this would be easily solved with either more of a rubbery texture around the whole tube to give it more grip, or larger 'winged' areas at the top where you could hold on to the tube better to stop it sliding through your fingers as you apply the product.

When applying you really need to remember that less is more so be gentle when pushing the tube as you don't want to waste any product as although it is a bargain price, money wasted is still money wasted at the end of the day! I apply the product only to the specific areas as directed, as this is not a serum or moisturiser for the whole face; the areas I apply it to are the forehead, around the eyes (where crow's feet are likely to appear) and laughter lines as I thought if this product did work as it said it would that I really didn't want to end up with a wonky face from applying it in the wrong areas.

As with all my face creams and serum I tend to massage/rub upwards as much as possible to try and counteract gravity (try being the operative word); I'm not sure if this makes a difference or not but I thought I'd throw it out there as I'd heard it can help either in a magazine or on a TV show. I do leave a bit of the serum to absorb naturally rather than rubbing it in to within an inch of its life too. On the skin I found this serum to be comfortable and non greasy, even when under make up.

I didn't see any immediate effect after applying the serum but after about 6 weeks of continuous use I do feel that my skin has improved in the areas I have been using the serum; however it wasn't quite the wow factor transformation that it had lead me to believe it would be on the packaging. I think I just looked a bit more rested, a bit fresher in the face you might say. I would use the product again though, as it is such a bargain and especially if there's even a slight chance of an improvement further down the line then it's worth giving a shot. I would also feel ok to recommend it to others to give it a try as I have no doubt that it does help the skin in some way, even if it's not quite botox in cream form that I hoped it would be... maybe I was expecting too much?!

For more information please take a look at these links: http://www.wrinklestop.co.uk/ and http://www.aldi.co.uk/

Festival Beauty - Learning The Art Of Travelling Light!

So with V Festival coming up this weekend it is now time for me to decide what beauty bits I will be taking with me. After previous festivals I have ended up taking everything but the kitchen sink, including most of my beauty items and been overloaded with things to carry every time - usually because I was in too much of a rush to sort through it all and choose key items that I would definitely need/use.

I have decided that this time I will be streamlining my luggage and taking only essential items, and items that have multiple uses. It’s also going to need to be something long lasting as I don’t want to be heading back to the tent all weekend to make sure I have some chance of looking the best I can do whilst there and also so that I don’t look like something out of a horror film at the first sign of the dreaded rain!

The first item I will need is a moisturiser and I have chosen to take my Eve Lom day cream, purely because I know it works well on my skin so won’t have to worry about it making me look shiny!

I’ll also need:

Primer – Lancome La Base Pro, Perfecting makeup primer with smoothing effect. This should hopefully ensure that my makeup stays where I put it.

Foundation - instead of taking foundation AND powder, I will be taking my Laura Mercier Mineral Powder which has a SPF of 15 which will remove the need to take both a dedicated facial sun cream and also a regular cream foundation too.

Concealer - Jemma Kidd I-Rescue Bio-Complex Cover as it's good for the eye area, and also general blemishes that had better not appear but I'll be prepared for if they do.

Bronzer – Benefit Hoola; it hasn’t failed me yet!

Blush/Highlighter – Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Gold as this is a very subtle ‘colour’ for want of a better word. I just want it to give my skin/cheeks a healthy sheen more than a definite colour and this is perfect for doing just that! I can also use it under my brows to give them a bit of oomph instead of having to take my separate highlighter.

Eyeshadow – Urban Decay ‘Ammo’ eyeshadow box! This is perfect as it contains a mix of colours all in one handy palette; and the colours in the palette are versatile enough to go with a lot of things I am likely to wear, so it saves me taking loads of my single pots with me.

Eyeliner – Urban decay 24/7 liner in black, nice and simple.

Eyelash Primer – Clinique Lash Building Primer to condition my lashes but also to boost the performance of my mascara.

Mascara – I would usually go with Benefit Bad Gal or Clinique High Impact Mascara but they are not waterproof, so I will be taking my Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara with me as it is waterproof and I don’t want panda eyes if it rains (as I do not intend to be crying haha)! I may also take a clear mascara for my eyebrows, if I find something that grabs me before I leave for V.

Lip Gloss – I will be taking 2 of these so I have 2 choices of colour. Lancome Juicy Tubes, in 33 ‘Pamplemousse’ and also Lancome Juicy Tubes, in 98 ‘Strawberry Funk’.

To remove my make up, I will be taking Lancome Galateis Douceur (gentle softening cleansing fluid for eyes and face) which should remove the need for me to take my Bi-Facil eye makeup remover, followed by their Tonique Douceur (softening and hydrating alcohol free toner).

I won’t be making a huge deal about my hair products whilst there as I’m pretty sure I am going to get rained on, if the weather forecast is anywhere near being accurate so I will just take a brush and some accessories to tie it up when it comes to that time. I’ve learned my lesson on that score and whilst it isn’t ideal, it is a festival so it isn’t the end of the world. Hopefully my make up will stay nice and deflect attention from the abomination that will/may be my hair! ;-)

Aldi Lacura Products...

I have been noticing a slight crease in my forehead over the last year or so, and this has sent me on a hunt to find something, anything that might help to stop it developing into a full blown wrinkle and also to stop/slow down any other surprise wrinkles that may currently be developing. I have been considering botox as a last resort, but if I can find something a bit less drastic (and cheaper) that helps then I would obviously rather use that - for now at least!

I decided that I would try 2 products from the Aldi Lacura range to start with as I have heard generally quite good things about the range in the media, and I was interested to see how well they do considering their bargain prices! The 2 products I am trying are:

  'Lacura Naturals Premium Anti-Ageing Day Cream' and 'Lacura Wrinkle Stop'

The Anti-Ageing Day Cream is in a 50ml jar and costs £4.99. It contains hyaluronic acid, silk proteins and liquorice extract to name but a few ingredients. The packaging states:

"LACURA Naturals Premium Anti-Ageing day cream is a special, lightly scented moisturising cream for women from the age of 30. The formulation includes valuable natural raw ingredients. They are obtained naturally, and prepared and processed with the greatest care. The combination of natural, traditional and modern active ingredients protects the skin against everyday environmental influences, and makes your skincare regime an extremely pleasurable experience.

Hyaluronic acid is produced naturally by the body, and is a highly effective moisturiser that plumps up the skin and so helps to minimise the first lines and wrinkles. It contains silk proteins to help counteract the physical signs of skin ageing and leave it feeling as soft as velvet.

Liquorice extract has been used for healing purposes in Asian countries for centuries. It supports the skin's natural protective mechanism, and is soothing and calming"

The Wrinkle Stop serum comes in a cannula tube with 10mls of product inside, it costs £6.99. This is the product I went looking for when I went into Aldi, as I had read about the active ingredient SYN®-AKE in it that promises great things. The packaging states:

"LACURA Wrinkle Stop is a highly effective form of facial care for minimising wrinkles in problem areas on and around the forehead, eyes, mouth and nose.

The patented active agent Syn®-Ake has been proven to help:

* Reduce forehead wrinkles by 52%
* Reduce crow's feet by 24%
* Restrict 82% of muscle activity

This is the result of many years of research in the field of snake venoms, for which the Swiss manufacturing pharmaceutical company won the Swiss Technology Award 2006.

If applied regularly, Syn®-Ake has the following specific effects:

* Smoothing of the skin thanks to tripeptides.
* Long-term anti-wrinkle effect by improvement of the wrinkle surface.
* Plumping out wrinkles from inside using biospheres.
* Relaxation of facial muscles.

LACURA Wrinkle Stop smooths your skin, giving it a relaxed, fresh appearance."

On the packaging it advises you to use it daily in the morning and in the evening, using the precision cannula to apply it to specific areas and then massage it in.

These are quite impressive claims, so of course I wanted to try them for myself to see if there was any substance in them. I'll update this post once I have used them for a bit longer (4 weeks so far), to see if there's any improvement in my skin.