No7 Lift and Luminate Day and Night Serum

RRP: £24.95

--What does the promo say?--

"No7 Lift & Luminate Day & Night Serum 30ml targets the most common signs of ageing in 45+ skin. Clinically proven to lighten age spots and visibly lift skin to reduce the appearance of deeper lines and wrinkles.

This powerful day & night serum duo work together to effectively target the 3 key signs of ageing in older skin:

1. Uneven pigmentation
2. Lines & wrinkles
3. Lack of firmness.

After the very first application, skin feels smoother & looks more radiant. After 4 weeks skin looks younger & more attractive: it is more even toned, age spots are faded, deep lines & wrinkles are less visible and skin feels firmer & looks lifted.

Both these light, silky serums contain our advanced lightening complex to help prevent & fade uneven pigmentation plus the highest level of our clinically proven Protect and Perfect anti-ageing technology to help restore skin structure.

The refining night serum also contains targeted, L-carnitine, which helps boost skin renewal to even skin tone & fade age spots.

Renowned for offering pioneering clinical proof for their products, Boots experts have developed No7 Lift & Luminate Day & Night Serum 30ml with one of the world’s leading experts in pigmentation, Professor Ortonne, Head of Dermatology at Hopital L’Archet in Nice.

Professor Ortonne commented: “This has been a very exciting and innovative trial to be involved with. The results are exceptional, better than any other cosmetic product I have tested for the fading of age spots, with similar performance to the gold standard prescription only treatment after four months use.”

Hypo-allergenic: Because all skin can have sensitive moments all our products are hypo-allergenic so they are kind to even the most sensitive skin."

--Packaging--

The day and night serums are presented in two separate tubes, with the night serum tube being blue while the day serum is white. The different colours are aesthetically pleasing and the tubes are easy to use too. Information is kept minimal and both fit in well with the No7 brand. Although a pump-action mechanism is perhaps preferable for cleanliness reasons, it is recognisably advantageous for such thick creams to be contained in tubes rather than in bottles. This also makes the serum stand out against competitors which do have their serums in bottles, such as Olay and Lancôme.

--Application--

Rubs in well all over the face and never fails to be easy to use.

--Appearance--

The day and night serums look the same (a pale off-white colours), and despite the luminescent effect that the creams have on the skin, the creams are not pearlised themselves. They leave no visible residue on the skin once applied.

--Scent--

The creams have a pleasant fragrance that is mildly floral and slightly powdery. Very soft and mild scent; not nearly strong enough to offend.

--Texture and consistency--

While thicker than normally expected of a serum, the day and night serums both still rubbed in easily. However, the day serum seemed thicker than the night serum, which could appear incongruous to some.

--Effects on skin--

According to the Boots website, "after the very first application, skin feels smoother & looks more radiant". Our tester found this to be true without doubt; however, the claims that "after 4 weeks skin looks younger, more attractive, and more even toned" and that "age spots are faded, deep lines and wrinkles are less visible and skin feels firmer and looks lifted" were far less easily noticeable. No drastic changes really took place in our tester's skin during the trial period; there was a slight improvement in terms of radiance and depth of existing lines, but ultimately the main observation was that skin condition did not deteriorate, rather than that there was any massive improvement. Ultimately the claims made are so subjective ("younger and more attractive") that it would be difficult to say if they really did stand up or not.

--Value for money--

The £24.95 price tag seems reasonable given that the serum tubes lasted a long time (several months) and given that a small amount of improvement was noted (even if not the drastic changes predicted by the promotional material). This is also just about in line with market prices in some cases (prices are similar for products intending to achieve the same purpose made by brands like Avon, Olay, and Yes To Blueberries) but seems to push the company's luck in another way (is No7 really "worth" the same as similar products by brands such as Caudalie and Nuxe?). It's therefore really worth bargain hunting, so try to buy this product when there's an offer on at Boots (currently this product can be purchased as part of a 3 for 2 deal across selected products). Worth a try for minor short-term results, even if significant and longer-term results are less obvious.

perfect partners

Lift and Luminate Foundation, £15.50 

Lift and Luminate Eye Cream, £16

Lift and Luminate Day Cream, £23

Lift and Luminate Night Cream, £23

Lift and Luminate Regime Bundle, £47.95