***** A Thoroughly Modern Vanishing Cream ***** (Boots No.7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum)

Member Name: malibu_jenny

Product:	Boots No.7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum
Date:	09/02/08 (1107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clears spots and scars at a good price.

Disadvantages: Not 100% sure it can really help prevent skin ageing.

It was a sunny Saturday and I rang Cool Friend to see if she wanted to meet up for lunch. I bounced around the kitchen looking at my new suede pixie boots and listening to the phone almost ring out.
"Whhhhat time is it?" She asked, in a tone that suggested I'd woken her up not just from sleep but straight into a hangover. She's an amenable sort and in no time at all I convinced her that she should get to the pub pronto for some hair of the dog. It was a time for doing; with no regard for how that doing might affect others.

Before leaving, I danced into the bathroom for a quick once over, hair - yep, coat - check (or indeed checked as is fashionable), skin - surprisingly okay. Just before I went back to work after Christmas, I popped into Boots. Fed up of seeing the ads for that Protect and Perfect serum, I thought it was time to give it a try. I was a bit shocked at the £16.75 price tag for 30ml, but we all know it was hailed on some science programme as the 'only anti-ageing cream that actually works' and I've spent a lot more on stuff with much less credibility. My problem is not really the fine lines that this claims to target, it's greasy skin. I'd heard that Protect and Perfect worked well for that, and if it was anti-ageing too then that was a bonus.

The first time I used it I was disappointed. My skin felt a bit dry and papery and no smoother than it had before. I persisted, following the instructions almost to the letter, using it after cleansing and before moisturiser morning and evening. The only step I ignored was the 'toner' bit. I don't like toners, they just smell of alcohol and I have no idea what they do.

Bit like The Boyfriend. And speaking of The Boyfriend, he frequently complains that my skincare and make up reviews appeal mainly to girls - I must insist otherwise. No 7 do a Protect and Perfect for Men, the same stuff in a 'man bottle' for the same price! Good to see a bit of equality for the downtrodden male shopper. I can't imagine The Boyfriend as a consumer though, I think he washes his face in petrol and washing up liquid and his mispronunciation of serum doesn't bear repeating!!

Anyway, this little jaunt to the pub was a good few weeks after I began using the serum and Cool Friend noticed the difference. Not that she had a choice. We sat down at a table near the too draughty door, me with a pint of Coke and she with a morning Guinness. I preened, leaning into the light from the window over our heads. She yawned, one hand supporting her head from flopping onto the table, the other gripping her pint. I angled my face towards to look at the shivering smokers outside and she surveyed the effect of the serum.

"Yes, looks good" she said convincingly. That's the great thing about real mates, they put up with you doing things like that. I said it was 'not drinking' that had cleared my skin up and went to the bar to order us some lunch. I got Cool Friend the swordfish as she needed brain food and another pint, which she needed more than she probably needed the pounding brain itself. I ate some pie-thingy that tasted of nothing but had lots of vegetables and we talked about the things we'd done since Christmas.

It's not sitting in and eating chocolate that triggers my spots, I'm doing that right now. It's the following factors; pollution; hormones; drinking. And these are fairly unavoidable.... Since Christmas, I've regularly travelled into central London for work and to see Best Friend. They say that living in London advances skin ageing by four years and I can believe that. For some reason, it used to be that 10 minutes on the tube made me break out, (remember my Total Turnaround review?) but I think that this might have some sort of barrier effect. I haven't had to grumble about train dirt or scrub for ages when I get home. With regard to hormones, I've made it through the last 4 weeks with just a spot on my chin which only lasted a couple of days - this is a marked improvement compared to 20 spots which last for around ten days. The final test was drinking....I went out for a quick drink with an old friend last week and instead had several drinks in quick succession. I'm pleased to report that the results since haven't varied.

Still, not keen to test that last one too much, I got a cup of tea while Cool Friend ordered an Irish Coffee. We both had huge slices of Tiramisu and debated whether it would be wrong to have two puddings each. As I said before, it's not sweet foods that cause spots.

Although this month long experiment is not completely scientific, it's been enough to convince me. I have the squeezy tube (rather than the cumbersome glass alternative with pump) and am still on that first tube despite using the stuff to draw stars and smiley faces on my cheeks. This is the better packaging for me as I can make precise application and when that runs out I can still cut the tube in half and get the final remains out with a cotton bud.

This lasting a month with the recommended twice a day usage really brings the price into focus at 54p a day or £197.10 over a year. This is not a moisturiser though and No 7 are very keen that you put a moisturiser over the top of it. I think that the reasoning behind this is the very same reason that it's good for spots - it contains retinol, which has a drying effect on the skin. They did try to flog me the No 7 brand moisturiser, but I was of the mindset that one expense was enough and have stuck instead to my very creamy Body Shop version.

It was time for The Boyfriend to give us a lift home and as Cool Friend and I wandered out into the dark street and across the busy road to Superdrug, we chatted about skincare. She was feeling the hangover blues and wondering if life was catching up with her. Did she need to use something? Did I think she needed to use something? I told her about this, but to be honest she has great skin and if she's not doing anything at all, it works for her!

Since using this, not only have I had fewer spots and felt less like I live in a chip shop, but the old spot scars have cleared a lot. To sum up, it's a bit of an effort to put this on twice a day and then apply moisturiser over the top, but like a good friendship, you have to put the effort into skincare to reap the rewards.

Summary: Spot on for me, anyway!