.:. n@tural beauty meets 21st century .:. (Boots Botanics in general)

Member Name: Redhead23

Product:	Boots Botanics in general
Date:	08/03/01 (3183 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large selection, nice packaging, lovely scents, natural (organic!) extracts, no animal testing

Disadvantages: You may end up wanting to buy the whole range!

DISCLAIMER: I shall update my favourite Botanics list as soon as I have tried some more of the products for a suffciently long time

.:. Go n@tural - at a price you can afford .:.

For a start, you have to know that I've always been a sucker for *natural* smellies and beauty products - after all, my Mum has been working for an alternative-medicine hospital ('Ita Wegman Klinik' in Arlesheim, Switzerland) for quite some time, so 'Weleda' bottles and tubs have always been around in our household.
Of course when you get staff discount (the hospital works closely with the company, as it is located next to the 'Weleda' headquarters in Switzerland) it is rather hard to resist the great ranges of natural beauty and health products, but my Mum is still in Switzerland and I am now here in the UK - I simply can't afford spending £10 on a small bottle of facial cream!

So what is a *natural* girl to do?

For me, Boots Botanics were a welcome solution - natural, effective, stylish and most importantly (I am a student after all!): AFFORDABLE!

.:. Boots Botanics - What is it? .:.

As we all know, plants, fruits, herbs and their extracs have been used for centuries, and many of them have proven to have a positive effect on both our health and appearance - but fully natural beauty products have always been quite a bit more expensive than *ordinary* products. With that in mind, Helen Bowering (Boots Product Manager) and her team created 'Boots Botanics' - a wide range of beauty and health products made using 100% organic plant extracts.

Mainly aimed at women between 25 and 45 (oops.. am I too young to use this? ;-p ), the Botanics range also includes more and more products for men and like all of Boots' own ranges, the products have not been tested on animals :-)
The products are sold under the name 'Boots Botanics - the Pure Power of Plants' and are available in mos
t Boots stores as well as through their Internet shopping site.

.:. The Range .:.

The 'Health' part of the Botanics range mainly consists of aromatherapy products, for example the 'Pure Essential Oils' (to put into these small stoves), aromatherapy baths or the 'Time for Bed Calm Balm' with relaxing aetheric oils.

The 'Beauty' range is divided into different categories, the main categories being Face, Body, Men's Body/Face, Bath and Haircare.
All products contain natural plant extracts in the right dosage to work gently on your skin and hair as well as provide a very pleasant light natural (*planty* as someone so appropriately called it in another op) fragrance.

.Face
These products include cleansing products (like facewashs, cleansing wipes and toners) as well as facial creams for different skin types and face masks.

.Body
Here, you can find body creams, gels, anti-perspirants (both sprays and roll-ons), foot- and body scrubs, body sprays plus hand- and foot treatments.

.Men's Body & Face
This range caters for everything a bloke could want in the way of smellies (not that they usually want much!), in particular shaving products (such as shaving foam, -gel and aftershave balms) but also shower gels (deodorising!), body spray and facial beauty products.

.Bath
Be it a relaxing bath or a quick, refreshing shower you're after - there's something for everyone!
You can buy moisturising, refreshing, exfoliating or relaxing bath oils, crystals, creams or shower gels, foams and creams.

.Haircare
Apart from hair sprays, gels, mousse and hair treatment products, you can also pamper your hair with shampoos and conditioners especially developed for your hair type - volumising for thin/fizzy hair, protecting for coloured hair and so on...

.:. The Prices .:.

All products in the Botanics line are very reasonably pri
ced, especially compared with most other plant-based/natural health and beauty products, but also in relation to conventional *smellies* - most items are priced between £2 and £5!

.:. The Packaging and Design .:.

The first time I noticed the Botanics range was in an interior design magazine (yup, it was an article about bathrooms - how did you guess?), which might already give you a clue that this line - in spite of being based on traditional values and recipes - is designed to please the modern eye.
The labels are kept in natural green/brown shades, with a simplistic yet pleasing design that looks good in any bathroom.
Most shampoos, toners and conditioners are sold in plastic bottles with screw tops or pumps, the tubs and tubes are made out of 'frosted' plastic. My only complaint is that the spray bottles (for anti-perspirants) don't seem to work all that well - even after minutes of shaking the bottle, hardly any of the product ends up coming out of it! (I should've bought the roll-on!)

.:. My Top 5 Favourites .:.

.Essential Oil Wash Off Cleanser - ~£3-50/250ml
(with petitgrain and lavender extracts)

This was a bit funny at first - it has an oily consistency, yet it is supposed to get RID of oils!
You rub it into a moist face and wash it off - and with it, all the oil and grime on your face!
It works great, smells lovely and is easy to use.

.Balancing Shine Control - £3-99/100ml
(with seaweed and liquorice extracts)

A relatively thick, pleasantly-scented cream that rubs into your skin easily and absorbs sweat for hours - great if you suffer from oily skin (I do!).

.Smooth-Skin Shower Gel - £2-99/250ml
(with meadowsweet and cucumber extracts)

Unlike body scrubs, this shower gel exfoliates your skin but is gentle and moisturising enough to use every day.
Your skin feels more supple, smooth, firm and refreshed.

.Firming Body Gel -
£4-20/250ml
(with soybean and wheatgerm extracts)

This gel is best massaged into your leg-, hip-, bum- and bust area after a shower.
It soaks in quickly, leaving the skin feeling firm (I can use all the firmness I can get my hands on!) without getting dried out.

. Shampoo / Conditioner - Colour Protection - ~£2-99/250ml each
(with ginseng and wheatgerm extracts)

If you dye your hair regularly, it is important to give it all the protection and nourishment it needs!
I have tried many different shampoos and conditioners that are supposed to keep your colour fresh for longer - they usually do, but very often you also end up with a lot of residue in your hair.
A combination of these two products though has so far (3 weeks) left my hair shiny and colourful without clogging it up.

.:. The Verdict .:.

All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised with this range.
Unlike many products that claim to contain *natural ingredients*, the Botanics products actually have the look, feel, scent and effect of much more expensive organic products, such as Weleda or Dr Hauschka.
The range has something for everyone and covers just about all aspects of beauty products (apart from makeup, they have a tinted moisturiser but it only seems to be available in an icky beige).
Thanks to the neat design, gentle natural fragrances (minimal allergy risk), and great quality, the Botanics range will please anyone, from bio-freak to modern city slicker!

.:. Additional Information .:.

The '3 for 2' offer on Botanics products is now over, but as the products are relatively cheap anyway I will sure keep buying them :-)

http://www.nottscc.gov.uk/econdev/invest/magaz ine/Issue3/retailing.htm

This is the official Nottinghamshire County Council website, and as the Boots company have their headquarters there, the website provides information about their products and history in connection wit
h the website's 'Introducing Nottinghamshire' feature.

http://www.boots.co.uk and http://www.wellbeing.com

These both lead to the brand new Boots website, created in cooperation with the Wellbeing channel.
In addition to health and beauty information, you can also browse through all their products and shop online, although not all their products are featured on the website yet.

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