Catch it while you can! Lidl Macadamia Oil Extract range is a good’un

It’s well known that many of the new “oil extract” beauty products, whether it’s argan, jojoba or macadamia, are more silicone than golden oil. However that doesn’t mean that they don’t work well for their purpose! It just means that you shouldn’t be paying megabucks for the latest and greatest natural oil toting elixir. Save your euros and head down to Lidl this week, as they have a dupe of the Macadamia Oil range just after hitting the shelves! Read on to see what I think of it.

First of all I have to give a buladh bos to the packaging design for this range. Sleek black bottles/tubs with arabic-style designs picked out in colour. The look of this range certainly doesn’t match the budget price point. In fact I think it’s nicer than the green and brown of the original Macadamia products!

Believe it or not the shampoo and conditioner are the highlight of the range for me. The shampoo cleanses my oily hair very effectively without stripping it, while the conditioner moisturises and smooths just enough for a daily use product without leaving me lank. These two take two day old hair full of dry shampoo, backcombing, rats ends and knots and turn it into a sleek mane Olivia Palermo would be envious of. Love.

Whereas you would think that the hair treatment oil/serum thing would be the star of the show, I found this not to be the case. For me, even the teensiest amount left my hair ends sticky and clinging together in rats tails. Maybe this would be different for someone with veeeeery dry ends. But beware if your hair is anything but sahara-parched.

The Hair Mask fortunately is a much lighter affair than the Hair Treatment. It’s almost indistinguishable from the conditioner, except that it has an extra dollop of silicone for extra smoothing powers. Not a must have, but definitely a nice to have, especially if your hair is frizz-prone (which mine isn’t, fortunately).

The Body Butter is another nice product from the range. It’s not quite the texture I’ve come to expect from a body butter; ie. the formula is less buttery and much lighter. Margarine vs real butter is a good way to fathom the comparison I’m trying to make. However that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it’s oooooooh sooooooo spreadable and soaks in in seconds.  Plenty of glycerin in the formula acts as a humectant, helping to trap much needed moisture in the skin. It falls somewhere between the moisturising power of a body lotion and a body butter, and so is perfect for everyday use on most skintypes, being not too heavy for oily skin and not too light for drier types. I quite like this!

All in all there’s been some big hits and one measly miss for me from Lidl’s Macadamia Oil Extract range. The price however, at only €1.99 for each product, is sure to be a hit! Especially since the forumlations are not too far off its “big sister” the original Macadamia range. Would you try it yourself?