Wake up with Gorgeous Skin (Boots No.7 Essential Moisture Night Cream)

Member Name: blonde_girl774

Product:	Boots No.7 Essential Moisture Night Cream
Date:	29/08/08 (252 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reasonably priced & Works well.

Disadvantages: Slightly greasy.

Since graduating from University last summer there are a few little perks I've let myself have. One of these is the fact that I've started using the Clinique Three Step skincare regime which is something I've always looked at longingly in the past. While on a visit to my Clinique counter to stock up I mentioned that I was suffering from dry skin on my face to which the very clever assistant then tried to sell me a night cream for about £35 in addition to what I was already spending as apparently in addition to the Three Step cream I should have been using an additional moisturiser!

Now even I have to put my foot down somewhere and felt that to spend around £100 in one go on skincare products was a little bit excessive, especially when I'm not too stable in my career at the moment and actually don't really have one. So I kindly declined her offer and instead wondered off into the beauty counters in Boots to try to find a cheaper alternative. I ended up looking at the No 7 counter and if I'm honest I hadn't bought anything from No 7 for a good couple of years, despite it being the first skincare brand I really got into when I was a teenager all those years ago.

After chatting to the girl on the counter who seemed much less assertive than her Clinique counterpart I settled on the No 7 Essential Moisture Night Cream. This offered to do pretty much the same as the Clinique night cream, obviously without a few of the technical adjectives, and looked pretty much identical really. It was also priced at £8.75 for a 50ml pot of £12.50 for a 125ml pot. As I was trying to watch my spending and also had a £5 No 7 skincare voucher from my previous purchases I opted for the 50ml tub which cost me the grand total of £3.75 - what a bargain!

The Cream

The night cream comes in an ivory coloured plastic tub which is circular in shape and has a pink tint to it in the light. The lid has No 7 imprinted onto it while the front also has the No 7 logo and the product name on it. The lid is a screw on lid which isn't always the best to get back on when you've got greasy hands from using the product but overall the packaging suits the product even if it is a little dated looking now.

The cream itself is baby pink in colour although from reading previous reviews I think it used to be white, they've obviously altered it slightly. The cream is un-perfumed but does have quite a fresh and rich scent to it which is lightly fragranced. It smells a bit like a beauty salon if I'm honest, quite luxurious and really nice. It's quite thick in consistency - if you tip the tub upside down without the lid it won't fall out!

It's recommended that you apply the cream after you've cleansed and toned your skin to make sure there is nothing on your skin that would stop the cream from getting to your pores. To apply the cream you simply need to dip your fingertip in, less than a pea sized amount is sufficient to cover my entire face so you won't need much. It's best to just gently rub the cream into your face as you would do with any moisturiser.

After applying the cream my face did feel quite greasy for a good five minutes after the initial application. It also had quite a shiny look to it when I glanced in the mirror, a bit like the look you get when you sweat! This disappeared within about ten minutes and my face just felt generally soft and as if it had a very light coating on it as well. I tend to put it on about half an hour before I go to bed to allow it to fully soak in and this way I never seem to get any grease marks or stains on my pillow case either.

The next morning my skin always feels really smooth and soft although that light coating feeling is still there. You definitely need to wash your face the next morning otherwise it does feel a little greasy. It washes off really easy and I'm always left with really soft and supple skin that feels much more moisturised. I don't use this cream every night as I don't want to risk greasy skin and tend to use it about once every three nights, more often if my skin is very dry as I find that if you use it two nights consecutively it will banish any dry skin.

The cream contains elderflower, Vitamin E and Vitamin F. The former has an astringent property and it's mild and healing so is really effective against dry skin. Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant so can protect the skin from damaging elements and it's also a really good moisturiser which is often used to treat skin blemishes or scars. It's also been found to play a role in anti-aging of the skin which is surely a bonus. Finally Vitamin F brings suppleness and a youthful appearance to the skin as well as being used for its anti-bacterial functions.

The Conclusion

I've been using this for about two months now every few nights and it's certainly made a difference to my skin. I find it best to only use it every few nights to avoid my face becoming greasy or oily due to over-moisturising it. I do tend to suffer for some reason with a dry chin so find that some nights I just need to use it on my chin and as I mentioned it seems to sort out the problem with about two applications. I'll certainly be buying this again as it's really improved the moisture level of my skin and is a much cheaper alternative than the Clinique one.

I imagine my pot will easily last me about eight months with my usage pattern, if you were to use it every night this will probably lessen to about five months. There are two different size variations available and the larger pot is certainly better value for money so I'll be investing in that in the future. My only warning would be not to replace your day cream with this as if you wear it in the day it can result in your skin going quite oily during the day - not a good look! So if you're looking for a cheap moisture burst overnight then look no further!

Thanks for reading.

Summary: An overnight moisturising cream from No 7 at Boots.