Can a new £18 ‘miracle’ cream turn back time?
Boots’ top-end masks
THEIR miracle beauty creams, wrinkle busters and anti-ageing fixes have flown off the shelves, some selling at a rate of one every seven seconds.
Now Boots’ own-brand No7 range are expanding into the high-end cosmeceutical market, with fans expected to clear the shelves of their two products launched tomorrow.
Their Resurfacing Skin Paste has the same effect as a chemical peel and the Rescue Skin Paste can reduce redness and blemishes.
Both contain powerful ingredients to deliver life-changing results.
In salons these treatments would set you back anything from £50 to £100 but these are masks you can apply at home for £18 each.
Boots’ first major foray onto the own-brand beauty scene in 2007 – the No7 Protect & Perfect Serum – sold out in store and online.
Sales soared by almost 2,000% after the BBC2 science show Horizon praised it.
Their last product launch in April was so hotly anticipated there was an online waiting list with 17,500 names on it across the UK and Ireland.
The No7 Line Correcting Booster Serum was the first product to launch from the Laboratories range. It caused a stir because it was their most concentrated age-defying solution to date. It promised to turn back the clock five years in 12 weeks. Customers said it was better than Botox, a wrinkle reduction treatment that is way out of most people’s budgets. Now they have focussed on the beauty industry’s obsession with face masks.
Few masks used at home contain high enough concentrations of key ingredients to make significant or lasting improvements.
But Boots want their customers to be able to achieve professional results at home at a price that they can afford. Dr Ravi Jain, founder of Riverbanks Wellness & Anti Ageing Clinics, has praised the product, saying: “There are more sophisticated products available from top-end medi-spas and clinics, but these masks are affordable to many and Boots should be commended for introducing people to a simple skincare routine that produces results.”
The masks have been formulated to deliver the type of results you would have needed to seek from a professional skin specialist.
It is too early to say whether products such as these could signal the end of the professional facial but what exactly do they promise?
Boots claim the No7 Laboratories Resurfacing Paste, £18, has been proven to refine skin texture and reduce the appearance of pores.
It contains AHA/PHA peel complex, fruit acids and liquorice to exfoliate while being gentle on the skin and is as effective as a peel.
Apply an even layer then leave for 15 minutes before washing off with the muslin cloth provided.
The mask is recommended for use two to three times a week to reveal brighter looking skin.
Boots say their No7 Laboratories Rescue Skin Paste, £18, is proven to reduce the appearance of redness and reveal healthier looking skin.
The formula contains centella asiatica, a herb known as tiger grass that has been recognised for centuries for its restorative properties.
It also has bisabolol, a skinsoothing ingredient, and ophiopogon japonicus, a plant extract known to help boost skin hydration and strengthen its protective layer.
Wear overnight two to three times a week for calmer, flawless skin.