A FACE cream costing €3.99 and containing the same anti-ageing properties as another retailed at €570 has just hit the shelves in branches of Lidl in Spain, after selling out in the UK, Germany and Portugal.
Cellular Beauty is described as a 'clone' of La Prairie's Cellular Radiance, which sells at 142.5 times the price.
Its main active ingredient is Myramaze, an extract from a shrub known as the 'plant of resurrection', which is able to survive extreme conditions of dehydration.
Used in skin cream, it helps protect lipids from oxidation and retains moisture, meaning the skin is constantly repairing itself, even during the day – despite the fact most skin regeneration happens at night, during sleep.
Lidl's version contains sun protection factor (SPF) 15, helping to filter out UV rays which cause ageing.
Both the Lidl version and La Prairie's version promise firm, moisturised skin and to improve the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
Despite this, British dermatologist Dr Andy Millward warns against comparing two types of face cream purely on the basis of their main active ingredient, since these do not work in isolation – their true power is in the complete formula and how all the ingredients work together, plus the percentage of each.
Also, packaging is important – the better the packaging, the better the cream retains its properties.
Luxury brands invest more money and time in research, development, marketing and packaging, because they have a much larger budget to do so – meaning consumers are not merely paying for the name, says Dr Millward.
But cheaper ones, such as supermarket own brands, are created off the back of this expensive research and development, meaning they do not have to plough the same immense resources into creating the product – they merely clone the original, or at least, follow broadly the same recipe.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com