I'm going to start this review with a confession. Well, maybe confession is a strong word given that I'm just going to reveal my conclusion about the product in question before I get going, but given how universally loved said product is, it feels like a confession.

I do not like Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Serum. It doesn't work, and in fact had negative effects on my skin.

There, I've said it. Now I'll review it properly. My mum loved the Protect & Perfect Serum from the get-go, and some time ago she bought me a tube of it, hoping that I would like it too. In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure what the aim of the serum is - probably smooth, well moisturised skin.

I used the serum after cleansing and before moisturising. You really only need to use a tiny amount, and smooth it gently over your skin. The serum is pleasant to use, with a nice fragrance and silky feel to it. It absorbed into my skin easily, and left my skin feeling soft even before I had moisturised. I found I had no problems using my moisturiser afterwards, it absorbed as easily as ever.

However, the problem with the serum came in the long-term. A few weeks after I started using it, I started to notice dry patches of skin on my face, which I needed to re-moisturise during the day. I didn't think a lot of it at first, but this continued for a few months, therefore over a couple of seasons meaning I couldn't blame the weather as I tend to for dry skin. After a while I realised that the only thing which had changed in my skin routine was that I had started using the Protect & Perfect Serum. It seemed odd that such a popular product would give me dry skin, but nonetheless I stopped using it - and within a week or two, my dry skin had cleared up.

So for some reason the Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Serum, which has been hailed as a miracle product, disagreed with me. It gave me dry skin, which is something I absolutely loathe and can get a bit paranoid about, therefore I really don't like the serum.