Good for perfecting and protecting against dry skin (Boots No.7 Protect & Perfect Moisturising Body Serum)

Member Name: I-tried-this

Product:	Boots No.7 Protect & Perfect Moisturising Body Serum
Date:	20/01/09 (273 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very easy application, nice to hold bottle and apparently it will make me look younger...

Disadvantages: Expensive and quite bulky in size

Just to inform you, this product is currently available at Boots stores at around the £18 mark at the time of writing this review (January 2009) please correct me if I am wrong as this came to me as part of a gift set and I did not pay for it!

Well I was given this product as part of a gift set from a well meaning mother- I actually have more then a life times supply of freebie creams and body lotions, so when I was given this set, in fact I took a while to paste on a grin instead of a "but the Mac make-up...- you could have got me the Mac make-up..."! (For the past few years my mum has given me Mac make-up for Christmas, not this year however).

So I began using this already disappointed, which is not the correct way to approach anything in life. But I figured, it was non-returnable now- I would only get 50% of the products cost back (it was in the Boots Sale). I decided to use it as it was basically huge compared to what I am used to: its 200mls, I am used to 50 or 100mls, (or samples). It comes in a creamy white squeezable upside down type bottle- where the lid is at the base, the bottle itself has a matt finish so feels quite nice to hold.

I tend to use things where a little goes a long way and usually the bigger the bottle, the more you need to use.... I was having a dry skin moment- on my back- I think I had the heating on too high as my back was itching and felt like very dry, so I began with a small blob, rubbed it in, and was pleased to find it actually did go quite a distance! It would seem a little can also go a long-ish way with this product too. Its not a dense heavy cream though- its definitely got its fare share or serum in it- which is probably why it spreads over skin so easily, and also sinks in remarkably quickly too. I had a dry back, normally on applying any cream, I have to wait a good 5 to 10 minutes for it to sink in, but with this product? It took way less time, in fact I could pretty much get dressed straight away (well, maybe 2 minutes waiting).

It also left my skin with the same matt sort of finish that the bottle has, very smooth and definitely no longer dry- I didn't think a serum would do that, but it did. It didn't rub itself off on my clothes, it didn't need reapplying and it even smells quite nice too- very sweet, with a touch of the scent of vitamin E lotion.

Now, I have heard the stories about Boots Protect and Perfect- it was on a Horizon programme by the BBC a few years ago, they claimed it "worked", it what they basically said was it did actually reduce the signs of ageing. Well, I watched the programme and was then in a lot of doubt, they had tested one lady with the cream, and asked for her opinion. Hmm, so much for rigorous testing! So for me, the jury's out on that one. They only tested about 4 or so different creams and there was little difference in the results from what I could understand of the show anyway. But I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and if this stuff is promising to help me stay looking young - or younger then my 27 years, I'm all for it. This product also promises this: "day by day, it helps perfect your skin's surface, evening out skin tone, giving a firmer appearance and restoring its youthful radiance in just 4 weeks" Hmm mm, cleverly worded marketing me things- no real promises there aside from the 4 weeks, its not actually saying it will be doing anything that a normal moisturiser doesn't already do. So though I will still use this, personally I do not expect any real difference, I am not the sort of person who uses a body moisturiser unless my skin gets too dry, which happens maybe twice a week? so cannot myself comment on this.

The good thing with this is that its just one cream- unlike the face creams where you need a separate serum and cream, with the body range, its just one product and your done. Very much easier (I wish they would do this with the facial care stuff too!).

I like this stuff- and despite all the vague promises, I may well buy this again. Its not for me gym friendly as its not easy for me to carry around in my very small gym bag, but it would be very useful for me at home. (I don't want to decanter it into a smaller bottle as I worry about the hygiene by the way) it would be excellent if Boots made smaller travel portions of this larger then the 10mls they give away in the gift with purchase sets- then I could actually give this 4.5 stars. Why not 5? well its still pricey, £18 is a lot of money, though I can understand why, its still a lot of money.

Summary: A good moisturising cream which seems to do a really good job.