CHEAP AND CHEERFUL CREAM FOR 'CREASES'!! (Siana Moisturising Anti Wrinkle Day Cream)

Member Name: Wee_Jackie_163

Product:	Siana Moisturising Anti Wrinkle Day Cream
Date:	10/10/09 (178 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good quality product, bargain price...

Disadvantages: None for me...

Any regular readers of my reviews will be aware by now that I work as an Avon representative when my poor health allows. This means that I have access to a lot of the great offers and new products that are launched by Avon. For this reason, I tend to use an Avon product when it comes to moisturising my face, as I can usually pick up one of the offerings from the Avon 'Anew' range of anti-aging cosmetics easily and conveniently.

That said, the products from the Anew range of anti-aging creams and potions are generally quite expensive and I find this to be a bit off-putting at times. This fact coupled with the fact that I had two of my friends recommending a very cheap and cheerful anti-wrinkle cream recently, meant that I had reason to give it a try out for myself.

The cream in question is called 'Siana' and it is available from Aldi supermarkets in the UK. The cream had a bit of a publicity drive a year or two ago when the fashion guru Gok Wan recommended it highly on his Channel 4 television show, "How to look good naked". Apparently, this recommendation alone caused Aldi supermarkets nationwide to sell out of the cream, as ladies across the country desperately tried to combat their wrinkles for a budget price!

Anyway, a girlfriend of mine had been trying to convince me that I was completely wasting my cash by shelling out around £15 - £20 for a tub of anti-aging cream from Avon. She was adamant that she had been using this cheapo version for around 18 months and that once I had tried it I would be duly converted!

With that, I popped along to my local Aldi supermarket and picked up a tub of the anti-aging 'Siana' moisturising day cream. The product is also available in a 'night' version. Each tub of the cream costs just under the £2 mark, and is 50ml in size. The Siana cream is actually provided in a bigger tub than my current offering from Avon - which is the Anew Thermafirm cream - and is only 30ml in size.

The price is also much more competitive than the current Avon offering I had been using; the Avon Anew 'Thermafirm' as the 30ml tub of Thermafirm cream is currently priced at £20. So, with the Aldi cream I was getting a bigger pot of cream for a fraction of the price... Would the results be comparable? I was keen to find out...


** THE PACKAGING **

I thought the packaging for the Aldi Siana cream was very basic. Supplied in a little cardboard box, the tub or jar of Siana cream is made of frosted glass, which allows me to see the white-coloured cream quite clearly. The lid is made of blue plastic, and is a screw top design.

All in all, the packaging for the Siana cream is very robust, but I cannot deny that it is very basic looking in design, and is not particularly eye-catching or modern looking. In particular, when the Siana tub is sat on my bathroom shelf next to two or three Avon Anew products, the difference where image is concerned is indeed very stark and noticeable.


** FIRST IMPRESSIONS **

Upon opening the jar (by unscrewing the lid, of course) I could see that the cream was an off-white colour.

It also did look to be of a very good consistency, and was very thick and not at all gloopy. I could tell the first time I used this night cream that the tub was going to last me quite a while. This has been the case and I really find that a little goes a long way with this cream.

The smell was another thing that was obvious upon my first trial of the cream. Even before applying it to my skin, I am aware that the cream is quite heavily scented, although the scent is in no way unpleasant or overly 'floral' or anything.


** APPLICATION **

Ok, so I knew that this product was being marketed as an anti-aging cream. I will point out that I don't suffer from particularly deep-set wrinkles or anything but I do have one or two little wrinkles, and some 'crinkling' around my eyes, and I wanted to see if this product would make any difference to these areas in particular.

I have only turned 30 this year, so bear in mind that my skin is not heavily lined and like I said, I don't suffer from any really deep-set wrinkles (yet).

In terms of the product's instructions, the reverse of the jar informs me "Apply as required several times a day to the cleansed skin, neck and décolleté and gently massage in. Ideal as a make-up base."

This sounded fine to me, as I generally DO moisturise my face at least twice a day, and always after removing my make up and cleansing my skin. I was quite happy that the Siana cream appeared to be able to just 'slot' into my skincare regime easily and I wasn't having to do anything new or different when trying out this product.

When it comes to applying my anti-aging cream I like to take my time and be fairly generous with the amount of cream used. I use circular motions around my cheeks, working up to around the sides of my face and up to my forehead, where I will usually apply a further little blob of cream and work this into my forehead. My forehead has one or two little lines on it, although nothing too major, but this is the main reason for me applying a further little blob to ensure I have enough cream on this little problem area of mine!

I then work my way back down to my 'crows feet' area (sigh) and then down to my face and concentrate on the area around my mouth, before working down to my neck and again using a further little blob of cream on my neck area if needed.

I find that by taking my time (if and when possible) and massaging my face using this technique really makes a difference in terms of the cream being absorbed into my skin. I use this technique regardless of which cream I am using, and I was happy to see that the Siana cream seemed to respond quite well to it, and had a good enough consistency and thickness that it could be rubbed into my face with ease.


** MY OPINION **

The first thing I need to comment on is how pleasantly surprised I was when I realised this cream was actually that of a half-decent quality. I had pretty much expected it to be a 'cheap and nasty' product that provided pretty much nothing for my skin. I am quite concerned about my skin aging, and for this reason I do tend to buy good quality anti-aging products to use on my face. I could tell that the Siana cream was of a fairly reasonable quality which is not what I expected when I purchased it, if I am being honest.

I have had no problems with the Siana cream leaving any sort of 'slick' on my skin, which is just as well because I hate that feeling of using a 'heavy' cream that really just seems to sit on top of your skin without being properly absorbed. The Siana cream is actually quite easily absorbed, and is surprisingly 'light' feeling when applied. This was completely unexpected!

I do suffer from one or two patches of dry skin on my face and this cream really helped with these. I found that these flaws were kept sufficiently moisturised when using the Siana cream, and I suffered from no 'flaking' on these patches.

Furthermore, I always experience'tightness' to my skin after I have used a cleanser on my face. I did find that the Siana cream helped alleviate this problem and made my skin feel more comfortable as a result. Believe me when I say that not every 'cheaper end of the market' facial cream or moisturiser can achieve this feeling when it comes to my dry skin, so this was another fairly obvious plus point for me personally.

I did find the cream's claims regarding using it as a base for make-up were quite true. I have had problems in the past with make-up 'sliding' after using a moisturising cream, but the Siana cream seemed to work quite well under make-up which was a bonus for me too... I do think this is down to how well the Siana cream was absorbed into my skin, and I do think that the fact it CAN be used as a make -up base does prove that the cream is of a fairly reasonable quality... Cheaper creams just usually can't cope with this!

I am happy to note that there were no signs of discomfort in terms of my (extremely) sensitive skin, nor my eczema, even though I did experience a sort of gentle 'tingling' sensation on a few occasions after applying this cream to my face - I would point out though that it was not an unpleasant sensation and it caused me no pain or discomfort. I do think that the tingling is courtesy of some of the ingredients in the cream and to be fair most anti-aging or anti-wrinkle creams in general do cause a bit of tingling to my skin.

As for the appearance of the wrinkles...

Well to be honest, I cannot say that I have noticed any stark differences to the 'crinkling' around my eyes or any of the little wrinkles that I have. I do have this opinion about every anti-aging product that I have tried - expensive and cheaper products included - and I have kind of therefore come to the conclusion that wrinkles cannot really be removed with a cream. I do feel that once the lines are there all we can do is try and prevent them from getting any bigger or deeper, and I think the best way to do that (for my face at least) is to moisturise my thirsty skin.

The Siana cream certainly lets me do that sufficiently. I have found that my skin has responded AS well to the Siana cream as with (much) more expensive products and the overall effect is the same. My skin looks fresh, moisturised and is without dryness or that horrible 'tightness'. For all of these reasons, I can only say that it works as well as my other moisturisers.

For these reasons, I will admit to being somewhat converted to the Siana cream. I will buy it again (my tub has just run out) and would definitely recommend it. I think (as long as you don't expect miracles in terms of wrinkled or heavily-lined skin) that most ladies would not really find too much to find fault with, in terms of this cream.

I am going to award the Aldi Siana cream top marks as I feel it really deserves it. I can't believe that I got change from £2 for this anti-aging cream... It really deserves full marks and full recognition for being a really good product.

The Siana cream is only available from Aldi stores.... I recommend giving it a try!

Summary: A cheap and cheeful face cream that gets top marks from me...