Stiftung Warentest
Lidl dupes Lancôme – cheap face creams are better than luxury products
Dry skin requires special care. Stiftung Warentest shows which creams help best
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The skin needs special care, especially in the winter months. Face creams are intended to quench the skin’s thirst and protect it from drying out. But do expensive creams actually help more than cheap ones? Stiftung Warentest carried out the test.
Too much UV light in the summer or heated air in the winter months, poor nutrition, stress, genes or age – human skin is not designed to withstand greater stress. One in two people in the world have problems with dry skin, such that it becomes tight, flaky, itchy, red, ashy, lines and even cracks. Face creams can help compensate for the lack of moisture.
When it comes to the face, many people prefer to dig a little deeper into their wallets, believing that high price and quality of the product go hand in hand. But does it actually make a difference whether a discount cream or a branded product is put on your face? The Stiftung Warentest investigated this question and found a surprising answer.
Face creams for dry skin
14 day creams for dry skin were tested by 22 testers for two weeks and the results were then compared with those of a standard test product. Stiftung Warentest chose face creams with prices from 1.65 euros to 60 euros. Nice: the selection of good products is not only large, writes Warentest, the cheapest creams are actually superior to the most expensive ones overall.
The face cream from Lidl is not only the cheapest in comparison, but is also in the top three in terms of quality. The discounter product is therefore the price tip. Because the “rich day care” from Cien (grade 2.0) only performs a bit worse than the test winner. The “Hydro Boost Aqua Creme” from Neutrogena (1.9) is the only face cream in comparison that actually moisturizes the skin “very well”. Even those who prefer natural cosmetics are well advised to choose the cheapest one in comparison. Rossmann’s “Aloe Vera Day Cream” from Alterra is also “good” (2.1).
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Stiftung Warentest: Luxury cream is not worth it
What is disappointing, however, is what some expensive creams deliver. Lancôme’s “Nutrix” face cream (3.5) performs the worst. The moisture supply is only “satisfactory”, but at a price of 23.10 euros it is the second most expensive product in the test. And you can especially give yourself the “Fresh Cream Rich” from Ringana (2.3), which costs 60 euros. According to the test results, it is one thing above all: expensive. In terms of quality, however, many cheap products are inferior to the supposed luxury cream.
You can find out how the other face creams fared for a fee test.de