Budget skincare is taking off in a big way at the moment. Fed up with paying upwards of £50 for a serum, people are instead looking for cheaper alternatives.
There's brands like The Ordinary whose £4 serum has had rave reviews across the board.
Now, budget giant Primark are getting in on the action with their skincare range. They've released an 'uplifting eye gel', a SPF day cream, a replenishing night cream and an anti-ageing serum.
Whether or not the range'll work over time is something that remains to be seen but, how did it fare initially? We tested it out.
Review: Primark PS Uplifting Eye Gel
This is supposed to 'revitalise and refresh your under eye area'. The gel is 'green tea infused'. Right now, my skin looks like dog shit. I've had flu for a week and I didn't think my under eye area could get any less attractive.
The cooling roller ball applicator therefore, feels really nice. I probably go overboard. It's like finding the cool side of your pillow over and over again. It's practically orgasmic. The eye gel says it takes effect after two weeks so I'm not surprised that I don't see a huge amount of de-puffiness straight away. Mainly it just feels nice. Check back in two weeks to see how the puffy thing is going.
Primark PS Uplifting Eye Gel, £3
Review: Primark PS Anti-Ageing Serum
Serums are notoriously bullshit expensive so at £4 for this, I am sceptical. However, this serum does contain hyaluronic acid, one of the wunderkind ingredients serum pushers are currently shouting from the rooftops about. This again shows that big companies are super duper over charging for their serums which contain similar ingredients. This serum's also got Kakadu Plum extract in which is 'reported to have the world's highest Vitamin C content'. Considering Vitamin C is another big buzzword in anti-ageing beauty atm, this addition isn't surprising.
Again, serums take a least a couple of weeks to see how well they do on your skin so this initial review is more about the initial smell, application and feel. It's a creamy serum with neutral smell. It spreads really easily, feels nice and velvety although it doesn't absorb into my admittedly quite greasy skin straight away. Nice, but perhaps not for oily skin.
Primark PS Anti-Ageing Serum, £4
Review: Primark PS Protecting Day Cream
Can I just take a minute and congratulate Primark on on seriously nice packaging for its day and night creams. Despite both of them costing just £4, they look a LOT more expensive.The Day Cream comes with SPF 15 (hooray) and claims to again have hyaluronic acid in it for anti-ageing, and a 'protecting complex of Q10, green tea and Vitamin E. It smells nice. And clean.
For me though, I have the same problem I have with all SPF moisturisers. It's just too oily for my already oily skin. However, I know that not everyone needs lighter-than-air, non-oily face cream. This Primark stuff is quite similar to how Nivea Q10's SPF day cream feels in consistency and I know a lot of people love that so perhaps if you're not cursed with a face that's slicker than a frying pan after cooking bacon, this could work for you.
Primark PS Protecting Day Cream, £4
Review: Primark PS Replenishing Night Cream
This stuff is lovely and thick. More of a whipped mousse than a cream and it's something I'm keen to get my face deep into. Especially since it has the same nice clean smell as the day cream. Despite being thick, it does absorb better than other night creams (I usually go to bed with a face that's equally sticky and slick from various products) and the shea butter in isdead nice to smooth on your skin. I like this. I like this a lot.
Primark PS Replenishing Night Cream, £4
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.