jillmurphy has corrupted me! (Boots Botanics in general)

Member Name: SueMagee

Product:	Boots Botanics in general
Date:	23/10/02 (857 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I used to be all pure., I'd never have put an opinion about a specific product in a general category., I'd have waited for a new item.

Disadvantages: Then I met Jill

My friend runs the local hedgehog sanctuary. It sounds rather romantic doesn't it? Well, it isn't. Hedgehogs are filthy little devils and when you have a couple in a hutch together their evening's entertainment is a "who can poo highest up the wall" competition. We've tried to persuade them to go out clubbing, or to annoy the neighbours by playing loud music, but no, they know what they want.

You're wondering what this has got to do with hand cream aren't you? Bear with me, there is a point. The hutches get cleaned out daily and once a week we give them a really good scrub. After you've finished you then go and give yourself a really good scrub. During the summer there were a lot of babies and I find it impossible to handle them wearing gloves, so the scrub afterwards had to be a bit vicious so far as the hands were concerned.

Afterwards I used the hand cream at the side of the sink. A week or two later I realised that, instead of looking the worse for the savage treatment they were getting, my hands were actually looking a lot better than usual. The skin looked smooth and felt supple. I had none of that annoying dry skin at the sides of my nails and my nails were actually growing instead of splitting.

Now, my hands have always been the sort that are used in the "before" pictures in adverts. My left hand isn't a lot of use after a major operation and short of having rather expensive manicures I find it difficult to make them look good. In fact they generally look as though I've been digging the garden without using any tools. Some of the nail beds on my left hand have been injured and for the last ten years I've been unable to grow the nails beyond the quick.

The hand cream at the side of the sink was Boots Botanics Overnight Hand and Nail Treatment. It contains "cell renewing bilberry and relaxing lavender". Certainly when you put the rather thi
ck, gloopy cream onto your hands there is a strong smell of lavender. My hands are dry - dry enough to use what is said to be a night cream on several occasions throughout the day - but I'm sure that a lot of people would find this too oily for regular use. It is though a splendid tonic for hands that have been mistreated.

Boots claim that the cream "hydrates, nourishes and softens". Pinch the skin on the back of your hand. Go on, pinch it; I won't look. Does the skin immediately flatten out again, or can you watch as the wrinkles slowly disappear? If you can watch, then your skin is dehydrated and might well benefit from this cream. My skin pulls back into place just about immediately and it didn't do that a few months ago. Certainly the skin is softer to the touch too.

My nails are stronger. The nails that had consistently split for the last ten years are now grown to level with the end of my fingers and I've recently had to cut them because I felt they were getting too long. The skin around the nails looks a little more plumptious (I think I've just invented a word!) than it did and I've none of those ragged pieces of cuticle which can be so painful.

How can I be certain that Boots Botanics hand cream is responsible for the improvement? Well, a few weeks ago I managed to cut my hand quite badly. (Note for future reference: when slicing vegetables, keep fingers out of the way!) It was quite heavily bandaged and I was excused hedgehog duty for a couple of weeks. I used my normal hand cream. My nails split, the skin around my nails dried out and my hands looked old. I bought in a supply of the Botanics hand cream and there was an immediate improvement.

You'll find the hand cream with the Boots Botanics range. Look for a semi-opaque flip top tube about six inches high with a lime-green label. Don?t even think about trying to squeeze the dregs out of a tube ? resort to cutting
the tube in two with a pair of scissors. The standard price seems to be £3.99 but I have been lucky with 3 for 2 offers and you can use Advantage card points to purchase it if you wish.

It is intended that this cream should be used before you go to bed at night and that you pay particular attention to the cuticle area. My feet have benefited from a nightly application too. One added benefit that I?ve discovered is that the smell of lavender is very relaxing and helps me to fall asleep!

It?s better than counting hedgehogs!

For the purists the ingredients are: Aqua, Glycerin, Paraffin, Helianthus annuus, Isopropyl myristate, Dimethicone, Glyceryl stearate, Cetyl alcohol, Steareth-2, Lactic acid, Steareth-21, Theobroma cacao, Glycolic acid, Phenoxyethanol, Panthenol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Lavandula angustifolia, citric acid, Methylparaben, Sodium citrate, BHT, Butylparaben, Malic acid, Tartaric acid, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, CI 14700, CI 42090

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