Skincare Product Review

Hey everyone!

Thanks for checking back to Cyn & Sam tonight to see my Lacura Naturals and Protane Naturals product reviews! In this post I will be reviewing 5 products from the previously mentioned ranges and can all be bought from Aldi exclusively. Get in quick though as Aldi specialty products tend to sell out within a couple of weeks.

When you look up ‘normal skin definitions’, it would come up with my skin type. I hardly ever break out, my skin isn’t too oily or too dry and I have no allergies/almost never react badly to new products. The only times I have ever reacted badly was when the product was obviously old (used a 3 year old primer by mistake) or if the product is very low quality from $2 shops (courtesy of my pre-teen years). So basically, I feel that I am a good judge for these products as I am neither too sensitive nor too unreactive.

One last thing before we jump into the review, I used all these products multiple times before doing this review so I could give an educated opinion on them all.

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The first product I reviewed is the Lacura Naturals Anti-Fatigue Face Mask. This product is said to have orange and camu-camu extract and is paraben free. My first question with this product was ‘what is camu-camu?’. After looking it up, I found out that it is a type of tree grown in Peru and Brazil and is a rich source of Vitamin C. The package proclaims that this also contains high quality sea buckthorn oil. Sea buckthorn is a herb and is rich in vitamins and common in anti-ageing cosmetic products but also has so many other uses.

What I loved about this product was the applicator. As you can see in the pictures the product is tube shaped with a brush at the tip. This brush means that I didn’t have to find or dirty another brush from my collection. It is also really easy to wash. One other benefit of this applicator is that twisting the brush will turn the flow on or off, which is also really useful. One trick I found that helped was to continuously brush while applying so that you don’t end up with large amounts of the mask anywhere.

The first thing I found about this product is that it tingles when I first put it on and that feeling didn’t really go away the whole time I had the mask on. It also felt slightly warming on the face. The fragrance is not overpowering, remained even after I took off the mask and definitely has some orange-like aromas. The mask is not a hardening mask or a peel but sort of created a film on my face. They say to remove the mask with a tissue but this felt too abrasive for me so I used a wet wipe.

After taking off the mask I didn’t feel any major difference. My skin did feel smooth and clean but the tingly feeling was slightly distracting. My only issue would probably be that to cover my whole face probably took about ¼ or 1/5 of the entire bottle so I wouldn’t be surprised if I ran out in 2-3 weeks as they suggest applying twice a week. This isn’t that big of an issue though as the product was $5-7.

Overall: 7/10

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The next product I reviewed was the Lacura Naturals Premium Anti-Aging Eye Cream with Tiger Grass and Silk Protein.

One thing you should note before we start with this product is that both of the anti-ageing products reviewed in this post say on the packaging that they should be used for women from the age of 30. I am obviously not 30 but I have, in the past, benefited from anti-ageing creams because they are really refreshing for the skin.

The pump that the bottle comes with makes it very easy to dispense just the right amount. One pump is more than enough to cover both eye lids and under eyes. Instantly after applying I felt a slight cooling sensation which could be due to the hyaluronic acid. It felt very refreshing and not at all harsh or irritating. This eye cream is fragrance free which I think is very good for something that you are putting so close to a sensitive area. The cream absorbed into my skin quite quickly but you could still feel that something was applied there. I would be happy to apply this before bed or before putting on makeup along with moisturizer.

When I looked up tiger grass, not much came up in the way of skin products and so I couldn’t really write an opinion about its effect in the cream. However, silk protein did come up as being a moisture retainer when used in cosmetic products which would definitely add to the visual of younger looking skin. After a few days of using it, I wasn’t able to see any drastic changes but definitely enjoyed the feeling of the cream on my eyes.

This product was also within the $5-7 price range and I feel that it will last about 2-3 months of using it twice every day, based on the pump amount.

Overall: 9/10

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Next up, I have the Lacura Naturals Premium Anti-Ageing Serum with Ginger Extract and Silk Protein.

This bottle also came with a pump top and is double the size of the eye cream which makes sense as you would need to use it for your whole face. I felt that one pump was more than enough to cover my whole face properly and the serum (which is practically translucent) had a soft feel to it that was moisturizing but not too oily.

The serum made my skin feel very soft and was slightly scented but nothing overpowering and definitely likeable. I used this serum a few times and while I saw no major differences, this is probably because the serum is specifically designed for women over 30. However, I did enjoy the hydrating effects of the serum.

Being between the $5-7 price range, there is definitely value for money and I really enjoyed this product. There was no feeling of a bad reaction to the product and I would definitely buy this again. I feel like this product could last 2-3 months due to its size and the fact that you would only need one small pump for your whole face.

Overall: 9/10.

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My first product from the Protane Naturals range is the Coconut Water Hydrating Oil. This product comes in a misting bottle and is designed to be put on your hair.

I tried this product on both wet and dry hair and came out with mixed emotions. I like the size and shape of the bottle, which is perfect for travelling. Also I always prefer misting bottles for hair products as it is very easy to apply but a downside is it does not definitively allow you even coverage.

When I tried this product on my recently towel-dried hair I felt that, once completely dry, it had definitely hydrated my hair. My hair retains moisture easily but once hit with a blow dryer, turns out to lack moisture completely so this helped turn that around.

It smells delicious and I definitely enjoyed using it on recently towel-dried hair. However, it also says on the bottle: ‘For optimal shine and hydration, finish by spraying over dry hair.’ Now after a few different attempts I found the same conclusion. I sprayed from a distance and from very close, I sprayed once and sprayed multiple times and I even sprayed onto my hand then wiped part of it off before applying to my hair but no matter what it always turned out way too oily.

No matter what amount I put in my hair, it always looked like I hadn’t washed in a few days. It had a pleasant smell and texture and while it didn’t look as bad as unwashed hair, it definitely wasn’t appealing. Along with this, the hair tended to stick together.

So my conclusion is that this product is great for use before blow drying but not after as it makes the hair too oily. Also, this product is within the $5-7 price range as well.

Overall: 6/10. Would be 8/10 if it did not create such oily after effects on dry hair.

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The last product is from the Lacura Essentials page and is one that any beauty or makeup enthusiast will know about. Even if you aren’t into makeup or skincare, you most likely have heard of Micellar Cleansing Water. It is basically water than contains microscopic oil bubbles within it that, when in contact with dirt, dissolve it.

So this is meant to be very gentle on the skin and cleanse it perfectly. When I applied this Micellar water I felt that it had a strong fragrance, but not one that lingered. It was actually very pleasant to apply. I tried taking off my waterproof mascara with it and achieved the same results as with a wet wipe. It took off most of the mascara and left my eye feeling refreshed. However it was even better than a wet wipe as it did not sting my eyes.

One thing I would change is the packaging. I have a Nivea Toner that is in the same squirting bottle and I have switched that out to a mister/spray bottle. I think I will have to do the same to this as when you apply a bit too much pressure, the water is squirted very far and it can cause you to lose a lot of product.

I really liked this product. I was a bit skeptical about why I would use this branded water versus regular water but I can definitely tell a significant difference. This product takes off all makeup in a really gentle manner.

Overall: 9/10. It was about $7 for a big bottle and I was really happy with the product. I will definitely go and buy this again but I will put it in a spray bottle.

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Thanks for checking out my review post! I know it was a long one. I hope that you enjoyed it and either found a new product or confirmed your choice.

I really like these new ranges that Aldi have produced and will definitely go back and buy certain products before they run out. In total for the 6 products (I bought two hair sprays), I paid $42.

Check back soon for more posts.

Thanks,

Cyn x