With a blog name like mine, you’ll understand that I’m a big fan of Aldi. An Aldi opened in Ely in March last year, so now it is even easier to shop there. Their skin care and beauty products have a great reputation, so I was thrilled when they got in touch to ask if I’d like to test out some products.

I was sent the Lacura Anti-fatigue face mask, Lacura Nutri Build-up face mask (both £3.99), Lacura CC cream (4.99) and the Lacura Body Butter in Coconut (£1.99). The packaging of these products is nice – it certainly doesn’t scream “budget brand” to me, and I’d love to receive these. I decided to try the anti-fatigue face mask first – it promises to deliver intensive moisturising treatment which counteracts the signs of tiredness, refreshes the skin and gives a bright and radiant complexion. The past two weeks have really taken their toll on me with lots of stress and very little sleep, so this was the ideal time to give it a try. I’ve also been suffering with flaky skin on my face for about 2 months now, so I was attracted to the moisturising features of this.

The Lacura Anti-fatigue face mask smells divine – very fruity and I had to resist tasting it. You apply it using a brush and it glides on easily – you can apply it as thickly as you want. It doesn’t dry on the skin and doesn’t get crusty, it’s more like a thick moisturiser that the skin doesn’t soak up. After 10 minutes, I rinsed it off using warm water and a face cloth, and my skin felt soft and most importantly to me, moisturised!

The CC cream promises to banish dull, red and sallow skin. It’s a little too dark for me (MAC NW20), but mixed in with some moisrusier to lighten it, it looks great. It provides good coverage as a base for my foundation – I’ve used it for 4 days now and I’m looking forward to seeing more changes to my skin.

The coconut body butter is absolutely divine – I’m a sucker for anything coconut scented, and this is a luxurious body butter without the hefty price tag. I’m looking forward to writing a post comparing this body butter to The Body Shop’s famous body butter – I really do love it. My elbows are particularly dry and after two uses of this body butter, they were fine. The body butter is also available in shea butter and raspberry – I’ll be picking up the shea butter one with this week’s shopping.

All these products will be available in Aldi stores now – great for Mother’s Day presents.

Have you used Aldi’s skincare? What do you think?

Tragedy struck the From Aldi to Harrods household on Monday night. Tony is working a solid 7 days before Christmas, and I’m working right up until 5pm on Christmas Eve, so we decided to use our only night together to put the Christmas tree up. Except it wasn’t to be, as, due to some confusion, we no longer have a Christmas tree. Or any decorations.

Bear in mind that we’ve just been in Florida for 3 weeks, money isn’t exactly flowing, so I resigned myself to the fact that we can’t really justify buying a tree, decorations and lights this year. We’re off to family for Christmas day anyway, so I tried to get over it. But what is Christmas without a tree?! Asking on Twitter, Zoe pointed me in the direction of Homebase, and I am so glad she did.

You see, Homebase have this beautiful, £300 Christmas tree (WHO pays £300 for a tree?) for just £20. And it was available for me to collect on my way home. There was a bit of an issue collecting it – despite being told that my order would be ready by 5pm, I was left waiting 30 minutes because the store hadn’t been able to pick my order yet. If you’re planning on using Homebase’s Reserve and Collect, I suggest you ring the store to ensure your items have been picked.

Christmas tree found, I scoured their other items, and they are some amazing bargains to be had!

Assorted Vintage Bauble Decoration – 10p

Shiny Silver with Black Glitter Moustache Bauble – 10p

Pack of 12 Red Glittered Hearts – £1

Lily Christmas Rose Wreath – £1

Pack of 24 gold (assorted available) decorated shatterproof baubles – £2

Lily Christmas Rose Pot – £2

Bag of 100 vintage shatterproof baubles – £3

5ft violet tinsel tree – £1. I came so close to getting this – who can resist a tree for £1?

Here is a handy link to all the Christmas lights, arranged from lowest price first. There are some great bargains to be had, many of them being less than half price. Such as the above lights (380 Bright White Multi-function LED Cluster Lights) for just £10 down from £99.99.

There are more offers in store that aren’t online, such as tinsel for 50p. Don’t forget that you can also get 1% Quidco cashback for reserve and collect orders via Homebase, and earn Nectar points.