Boots Deep Moisturising Foot Cream

RRP: £3.86 for 100ml pot

--What does the promo say?--
"A soothing, medicated and antiseptic foot cream with natural extracts of mint, lavender and marshmallow to nourish and soften hard dry skin. Suitable for all skin types. Lanolin free."

--Packaging--
A slightly-smaller-than-palm-size glass pot, which allows you to see the green lotion within. Simple green label detailing the key ingredients and with a clearly-placed Boots logo. White plastic screw-top lid. It's a bit big to take in your hand baggage on holiday, but it would be easy enough to decant out what you need. If you did want to take it on holiday, the lid closes securely and there are no problems with leakage.

--Application--
Slather onto dry feet and rub in thoroughly. Wear moisturising socks to make absorption more effective if desired. Unfortunately the cream does not absorb really quickly as compared to its Body Shop and Efasit competitors.

--Appearance--
A pale mint green colour that perfectly matches the label and evokes the key ingredients. Nicely done. On the feet there is no visible residue.

--Scent--
The lavender and mint combine really nicely to create a unique fusion scent, although both scents are discernible separately if you concentrate hard enough. It's a little disappointing that the sweetness of the marshmallow isn't really detectable, but I suspect it's more there for softness and smoothness than for the scent, which is fair enough.

--Texture--
A bit too runny for me really, although not to the point of unmanageability. I think it's because of its runniness that it doesn't absorb too well, which is a bit of a shame. I also found it slightly greasy to rub in.

--How does your skin feel afterwards?--
Even with the help of moisturising socks, I wouldn't say it's as effective as creams I've used in the past. It does moisturise feet a little bit, but there just isn't the wow factor and repeated applications are definitely needed more than with the other creams I've used.

--Longevity--
No/few noticeable long-term effects.

--Does it do what it says it will?--
While it does smooth out hard skin, the effects are so short-term that the repeated applications hardly seem worth it. The addition of marshmallow also puzzles me: why put it in there if it will have no effect? According to wikipedia (the fount of all knowledge, of course), mint and lavender have proven antiseptic and medicinal qualities, while marshmallow has none. So is it just to seduce customers with images of softness and bounciness? Who knows? However, as promised, this product contains no lanolin, making this product suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

--Value for money--
While you can't argue with the price, it's no good to have a product at a lower price if it doesn't stand up to its competitors. Sorry Boots.