£1 creams that claim to get rid of wrinkles

That’s the alluring promise of Poundland’s new skincare range. Here, a biochemist gives her verdict on which of the bargain anti-agers actually work

FOR years, women have been led to believe good skincare should cost the Earth — and never is this more true than when buying anti-ageing products that will have an impact on the fine lines, sagging and pigmentation we associate with getting older.

But, this week, budget retailer Poundland turned that theory on its head by launching a range of anti-ageing skincare called #6, in packaging that doesn’t look a million miles away from the colours of Boots’s coveted No 7 Protect & Perfect.

So, can a ‘ cheap-as-chips’ anti-ageing range deliver? We picked seven of the cheapest around and asked formulating biochemist Nausheen Qureshi ( nausheen

qureshi.com), who creates skincare for some of the most well-known doctors and facialists in the UK, for her verdict . . .

POUNDLAND # 6

Six products — a day cream, a night cream, an eye cream, a serum, a collagen filler and a micellar cleansing water — designed to fight the signs of ageing. Every item costs just £1.

PACKAGING: Minimalist, although the tubs do feel a bit cheap.

FRAGRANCE: Reminiscent of bathroom air freshener, but not entirely unpleasant. INGREDIENTS: With collagen, ceramides, vitamins A and E, peptides, algae extracts and oils, they’re talking a good game. But the day cream has no SPF, which, for an anti-ageing range, is a bit of a black mark, as the sun is a major wrinkle culprit.

‘One reason Poundland can drive down prices is that the base for all the products is almost identical,’ says Nausheen.

‘That’s the case with most budget ranges, so you don’t get much variety of texture and product. They use a collagen molecule, which superficially tightens skin, rather than a peptide, which stimulates collagen production, and small amounts of other active ingredients.’ VERDICT: Good ingredients, but the amount won’t make a serious difference. Really, these are just cheap, decent moisturisers. 4/5

HEMA HELLO MIRROR GUESS MY AGE

DUTCH store Hema sells everything from cookery gadgets to towels, but who knew its antiageing skincare range had such a broad base?

There are products for the 60plus market and a range for 40plus, comprising a day cream, night cream, serum and eye cream. Hema also offers a wrinkle filler cream. Each is £6.50 or less. PACKAGING: Clean and modern, with boxes in shades of monochrome, red, white and silver. FRAGRANCE: Not unpleasant, but with a slightly sour note. INGREDIENTS: Pretty impressive. The day cream has SPF 10 and the day and night creams and serum also contain the collagenboosting peptide Matrixyl Synte 6, similar to those in Boots’s Protect & Perfect.

However, ‘it’s good that Hema is using peptides, rather than collagen, but at such low concentrations, i’m not sure whether it’s worth having them in the products at all,’ says Nausheen.

‘There’s quite a lot of silicone, which gives a more luxurious feel, but the base of the Poundland products is simpler, so any actives are likely to be more effective.’ VERDICT: At six times the price of the Poundland products, you’re definitely not getting a product that’s six times better. 3/5

SAINSBURY’S MY SKIN MATTERS

FOUR anti-ageing products: a day cream, night cream, serum and eye gel, costing £4 each. PACKAGING: Dated . . . turquoise

and purple makes it look like a range for acne-prone teenagers.

FRAGRANCE: it is subtly floral, but the night cream smells of Play-Doh. INGREDIENTS: SPF 15 in the day cream gets a big thumbs-up and the eye cream and serum both contain ingredients proven to be effective at anti-ageing, such as niacinamide (to prevent water loss and boost collagen production) and caffeine.

The day and night creams have ingredients which, it is claimed, boost collagen and elastin — but when Nausheen looked at the ingredients list, she struggled to see what would have this effect.

‘There’s an amino acid called arginine in the day cream, which might help,’ she says, ‘but i can’t see anything in the night cream that substantiates the claim of boosting collagen and elastin.’

She thought the niacinamide levels in the serum and eye cream too low to be effective. VERDICT: The glycerin and shea butter will moisturise, but don’t expect much more. 1/5

ASDA NSPA

THiS range is exclusive to Asda, but developed by The Mibelle Group — known for creating stem cell ingredients from apples that, a few years ago, were in almost every anti-ageing product. This age- defying collection includes day and night creams, serums and eye cream, all under £7. PACKAGING: Elegant cream and taupe boxes. FRAGRANCE: Subtle, but warm, spicy and spa-like. INGREDIENTS: ‘This range has very good actives in it,’ says Nausheen. ‘ There’s an interesting mix of peptides, vitamin E and hyaluronic acid, but again, i’m not sure they’re at high enough levels to make a significant difference. That’s not to say you won’t get any results — just that they won’t be as good as if you had used more.’ VERDICT: Little to choose between this and Hema, but Asda’s more sophisticated fragrance and packaging edges it. 4/5

ALDI LACURA CELLSATION

ALDi’S new range is ‘ premium skincare’ for the 50plus and includes a day cream, a night cream and a regenerating serum, £6.99 each.

PACKAGING: The bronze-and-gold bling resembles L’Oreal’s Age Perfect range. FRAGRANCE: A lot like Nivea. INGREDIENTS: SPF 15 in the day cream is a plus. The products all have Celligent, which, in lab tests, has been shown to protect skin’s stem cells and DNA from UV damage.

But Nausheen isn’t overly impressed. ‘if you protect your skin, you’re protecting your DNA,’ she says, ‘so i’d rather they’d used a credible peptide than Celligent. i do like that they’ve used different ingredients, such as olive oil.’ VERDICT: Almost good — swap the Celligent for peptides and tone down the blingy packaging. 3/5

LIDL CIEN

ANTi-WRiNKLE day cream (£1.45) and night cream (£1.69), both with the antioxidant co- enzyme Q10, hyaluronic acid (HA) and vitamin E. PACKAGING: inspired by Nivea Q10. FRAGRANCE: Harmless — a lot like inexpensive sun cream. INGREDIENTS: The Q10, HA and vitamin E are not present in huge amounts, but the day cream impressed Nausheen. ‘i’d spend the extra to get this. ingredients such as shea butter and algae are present at less than 1 per cent, but you get decent sun protection.’ VERDICT: if you can afford £20 for a day cream, buying this is a false economy, but if the choice is this 3/5 or nothing, then buy this.

PRIMARK PS . . .

PRiMARK doesn’t focus on anti-ageing skincare. But it does have some restoring and rejuvenating creams, serums and eye creams, all at £3 or £4. PACKAGING: The cream is in a glass jar with solid lid. i’m less keen on the night serum’s sparkly tube. FRAGRANCE: A whiff of bubblegum. INGREDIENTS: The packaging talks about Q10, kakadu plum (a source of vitamin C), green tea and more, but levels are minute. ‘i’d have trouble calling this “rejuvenating”,’ says Nausheen. ‘i can’t see anything that rejuvenates.’ VERDICT: Might work for teens, but not serious wrinkles. 1/5