Iseree day and night creams

Iseree creams are stocked by the budget supermarket chain Lidl, and in my view, they are every bit as good as creams three times the price.

Before trying these, I was using L'Oreal's AgePerfect range of day and night creams, which I think are very good products, aimed at women in my age band. Using them, I saw real improvements to my skin. But with them costing nearly 12 euros a jar, and the Lidl products coming in at under two euros, i felt I had to give the latter a try.  

In fact, I have a feeling that with the Iseree creams, Lidl is specifically positioning itself against L'Oreal's AgePerfect and Revitalift ranges, as they come in pots exactly the same size and shape as the L'Oreal products, and in exactly the same type of white cardboard box with gold lettering. In no way are they cheap and nasty, as you might expect from a budget range. 

I chose Iseree Beauty Cream Sensitive Q10 for daytime, Iseree Beauty Anti-Wrinkle Night Cream Q10 for night, and Iseree Beauty Aqua Hydro Intensive Gel for dry-skin days. There's also Iseree Beauty Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream Q10 and a range of other creams, eye creams, exfoliators and cleansers. 

Inside the box, the jar for my daycream is pink frosted glass, while the jar for the night cream is dark blue glass (just like the L'Oreal). The 'intensive gel' comes in a pale blue jar. All look nice on your washstand, if you're concerned about this kind of thing, though personally I couldn't care less. 

All the creams have a light texture and are easily absorbed and pleasant-smelling (not too perfumed). The intensive gel is a darker cream colour than the other two and has little bits of blue gel floating about in it for the days when you want to convince yourself you've done something extra for your face. This one doesn't mention Q10 on the literature, so I assume it doesn't contain this magical anti-ageing ingredient.

Since I switched to the Iseree range I haven't noticed any change in my skin at all - it feels exactly the same as when I was using the L'Oreal products, and since a jar usually last me about eight weeks, that could be a saving of over 60 euros a year. Not much, but I'd pick it up if I found it in the street.

I've given these products four stars - I've knocked off one star because there's no mention of a sunscreen, whereas the L'Oreal products have an SPF of 15. During summer, I've been content to use the Iseree creams because I was wearing a factor 60 sunblock underneath, but for winter, if I can't guarantee protection for my skin, I'll either switch back to the L'Oreal, at least for daytime, or try out the Iseree ranges of creams in tubes, which have sunscreen but not Q10.