Meet a new breed of moisturiser that’s proven more effective than some pricier brands, yet sits on your supermarket shelf with a price tag that’s a welcome surprise, writes Beauty Director Kate Mahon.

Anyone addicted to high-tech skincare may baulk at sacrificing their favourites for something packing less power, but with a more appealing price tag. Yet what if you could find a supermarket bought cream, priced at just under $50, that ticks all the boxes when it comes to hydration, lifting and firming?

Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, 50ml, $49.99, is redefining not just facial contours, but the entire skincare category. With its launch, a new skincare niche has been created – the supermarket “super creams”. In a segment traditionally reserved for budget-priced, mass-market products, this latest beauty blockbuster raises the bar not just on performance, but also on price tag and pampering. So extraordinary are the results compared to cost, this cream has the world’s beauty cognoscenti in overdrive.

“The success of this cream was not just about having a mix of brilliant ingredients, but launching it in tight economic times, when many people were seriously reconsidering their spending habits, including beauty purchases,” comments Nadine Baggott, health and beauty editor of Britain’s celebrity magazine, Hello!.

So while Olay’s Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream may appear pricey by supermarket standards, when lined up next to similarly targeted, big-name creams, it’s not only comparatively cheap, but just as effective and pleasurable to use.

“There are enough ingredients in just one pot of Micro-Sculpting Cream to literally sustain three separate creams,” says Paul Matts, research fellow for Procter & Gamble, London.

“But by putting the maximum amount possible of these three ingredients into one cream, we aimed to target the three areas most difficult to treat – the eyes, neck and jawline.”

Any woman 40-plus will understand the dismay when they begin to see the skin sag around their jaw and neck, and she’ll also appreciate that there appears to be precious little on the market to effectively deal with these concerns.

“We looked at all the major prestige products and worked to create a similar pampering feel with the cream,” says Emma Kohring, scientific director, Global Personal Beauty Care, at P&G Beauty.

Additionally, the company took the product to the next holistic level by calling on the expertise of UK celebrity facialist Anastasia Achilleos, renowned for treating such stars as Kate Moss, Sadie Frost and Naomi Campbell, to come up with a massage application technique.

“As you age, skin tissue can become puffy, congested and slackened, but my massage technique is designed to move this stagnant fluid, making the skin appear tighter, firmer, revealing more clarity and definition,” Anastasia says.

“When you combine this technique with supercharged anti-ageing ingredients, you have a cracking combination for a cream,” Paul says.

Try this DIY facial

To try Anastasia Achilleos’ massage technique, take a scoop of cream and warm it between the palms of your hands, then apply in sweeping movements all over the face, massaging these three key points:

1. EYE CONTOUR AREA: Place the tips of your fingers under each eye, sweep down the side of your nose to the base of your cheekbones, then move your fingertips up past the temples.

2. JAWLINE: Put your hands together as if in prayer and gently push your fingertips upwards, then part your hands on either side of the jaw. Continue to move the hands up your face, past the jaw, over the cheekbones and beyond the outside corners of your eyes to your temples.

3. NECK: Begin with your arms crossed over and your hands flat against your jawline – your right hand will be on your left jaw and vice versa. Using a full arm movement, sweep down your jaw and onto your neck, then down on to your décolletage, allowing your arms to cross over to their rightful sides when your hands reach the base of your neck.

On the supermarket shelf

Other dollar-dazzling supermarket creams to consider:

1. L’Oréal Paris Wrinkle De-Crease Collagen Re-Plumper Day and Night creams, 50ml, $34 each, contain collagen to help promote plumper-looking skin.

2. Nivea Visage Oxygen Power Reviving Day Cream, 50ml, $16, contains 15 per cent oxygen and vitamin E to refresh skin for a brighter complexion.

3. Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture SPF15, 115ml, $13.95, contains vitamin E to protect against stress, glycerin to moisturise and dimethicone to smooth.

4. Garnier UltraLift Pro-X Re-Plumping Day Cream, 50ml, $22, is enriched with Pro-Xylane, a patented molecule to stimulate cellular renewal and boost the production of collagen.

5. Dove Pro-Age Rich Night Cream, 50ml, $20, contains a mixture of 35 per cent emollients to deeply condition the skin and glycerin for effective moisturisation.

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Note: all prices are approximate.