Review: Aldi's Lacura Snapshot Ready Foundation Primer

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Aldi’s famous budget friendly skincare range Lacura released a primer, so I decided to give it a go. I find it amusing the way that Lacura products are so obviously modelled on more expensive products. In this case, Lacura’s Snapshot Ready Foundation Primer is clearly inspired by the popular Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. However, with Smashbox selling for £26 this Aldi copycat version is much cheaper, priced at only £5.99, but does it perform as well?

Lacura

Aldi’s Lacura skincare range is developed in Germany and are dermatologically tested. They are not tested on animals.

The Claims

On the packaging Lacura claims that this Snapshot Ready Foundation Primer is a silky smooth primer that created the perfect canvas for make-up. In addition, that it will blur the look of pores and fine lines to become photo-ready in a flash.

Ingredients

On the box, the product boasts that it is oil-free and contains vitamins A and E, grapeseed extract and green tea. The full list of ingredients is in the image below. Vitamin A is commonly known as retinol (which is how it is listed in the ingredients) and is highly effective in reversing sun damage and signs of ageing by stimulating blood flow and collagen production. However, the concentration is not listed, so I am unclear as to whether there is enough of it in the product to make any significant difference to skin. The fact that it is the third to last ingredient listed (ingredients must be labelled in order of quantity), would suggest very small amounts.

The vitamin E is listed as tocopheryl acetate and is commonly used in skin care as a skin-conditioning agent and antioxidant. It is listed about in the middle of the ingredients, so there may be a reasonable amount that could be effective, but again, difficult to know since it doesn’t list its concentration.

The grapeseed is listed as vitis vinifera (seed) extract and the green tea is listed as camellia sinensis leaf extract. Both products are known as antioxidants and are popular ingredients in skin care products.

Packaging

The packaging was almost identical to the Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. The Lacura Snapshot Ready Foundation Primer was packaged in a box and inside was a plastic tube containing 30ml of product. The package colouring is black with silver highlights. The packaging works well for this type of product and was easy to use. According to the label, this product must be used within 12 months of opening.

How to Apply

The directions on the box advises to use a pea size amount prior to applying foundation and to apply it starting from the centre of your face and blending out.

My Verdict

I was excited to use this Lacura Snapshot Ready Foundation Primer as I purchased it during winter, when my skin tends to dry out and get rough, flaky patches. During the colder months my skin seems to age more and gets that crepey look with my lines appearing deeper than ever. I use Estée Lauder’s Double Wear foundation, which I love, but during winter it does tend to show up my dry patches and can be harder to blend, despite using both a serum and heavy moisturiser.

This Lacura Snapshot Ready Foundation Primer is a gel. At first it felt quite slippery like vaseline. It doesn’t seem to have much of a smell and I couldn’t see any fragrance listed in the ingredients – something I was quite happy about. As I rubbed it on, I worried about the slippery feel of it and thought it might feel oily on my skin. However, the package does state it is oil free and it did seem to absorb well into my skin (my skin is super thirsty during winter) and left a silky finish. I made sure to apply it on my flaky areas and on my fine lines.

After leaving it to settle for a few minutes while I did my hair, I applied my foundation and it did seem to glide on much easier. My skin didn’t feel greasy at all. The flaky areas were still flaky – but as my foundation dried it didn’t seem to look as bad as it usually does. I don’t have a problem with large pores, so I can’t really say whether it helps with this or not. However, it did seem to soften my fine lines. After my foundation I added a bit of powder blush and bronzer. The primer did seem to be holding onto my foundation just fine, as I was worried about whether it would start to slip.

I was keen to see how it would perform over a long day at work in the overly heated office and outside in the cold winter air (I walk to work). I did check on it several times during the day and it seemed to be performing well. Despite having skin that’s prone to dryness, I can get oily in my t-zone, but that seemed in control even at the end of the day.

I’ve been using this Lacura’s Snapshot Ready Foundation Primer every weekday for several months now and I don’t seem to have had any issue with my skin breaking out or it causing any problems. It seems to be consistent in its performance. I’m not sure how it would perform on really oily skin and whether or not it could control a larger amount of oil. The primer was quite thin, which I liked, but others might not feel it is thick enough or that it mattifies enough. It also may not be as effective on deeper lines.

Unfortunately I didn’t have any Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer in my cabinet (it ran out some time ago and wasn’t keen to spend the money on another), but it would be interesting to put these on half a face each to see how they performed over the day. I think this one was slightly thinner than the more expensive Smashbox version, but I quite liked that as I don’t like to go too heavy on my face.

Missed Out?

This product was an Aldi special, but don’t panic if you missed it and its no longer being stocked, because if products are popular, they do tend to become available at regular times throughout the year. So keep an eye on for it when it comes back around.