Boots Botanics skin calming cream with SPF15...

What Boots say:

This easily absorbed cream helps to reduce skin reactivity, leaving skin looking healthy and radiant. Even delicate, sensitive skin is comforted. 

Used day and night this blend of moisturisers and shea butter help improve your skins protective barrier. 

Marshmallow: Rich in natural sugars which help to soothe, hydrate and protect the skin.

I'm actually really liking this. It's quite thick and really not ideal for morning use as it makes me wonderfully shiny for a good while after and isn't a good base for makeup (it does that annoying thing of kind of flaking off your face if you apply anything on top of it- like primer) which is a little frustrating as the SPF 15 is not a whole lot of use when it's dark! 

The jar is gorgeous, frosted glass, and it feels nice and chunky in my hands and despite being glass I wouldn't be afraid of taking this with me in a make up bag if I was going away. The lid is metal and fits well onto the jar- no problems with having to jiggle it about and rotate it to make it fit on, which I find SO irritating- and gives a lovely overall finish to the look.

I really love the skin calming side to this, I quite often end up with a sore face if I've just taken my make up off with a face wipe as my skin can be slightly on the sensitive side. This is so wonderfully soothing and does a really good job of moisturising my skin well and totally getting rid of any dullness to it. 

Any smell isn't immediately apparent, but once you've put it on you can tell that it's there, it's not strong, which is just as well really as to be honest I don't think it smells particularly great but you're not aware of it for long and the positives far outweigh niggles like this in my opinion.

Overall I think this really is a night-time moisturiser, unless you've got half an hour and the inclination to let it sink in before you put your make up on in the mornings, which personally I haven't!

Available at Boots for £5.99 this is something I may well repurchase! 

Boots Botanics Skin Brightening Toner...

Boots Botanics toner is.. Nice. I like it. I just don't know yet quite how much I like it... How much can you like a water-like substance that stings when it gets in your eyes?! It smells really nice, not too strong, but strong enough that you don't mistake it for water.

What Boots Botanics say:

Even after cleansing skin can look a little dull. This gentle toner sweeps away every last trace of cleanser and brightens your complexion while also working to refine pores and minimise excess oil. 

Equisetum: Equisetum is an ancient plant that was used for it's purifying properties. Mildly Astringent, it tones the skin and refines pores.

My biggest problem with it is this...



That, is a SUN ALERT. Warning me that this toner increases my (already mahoosive) chances of getting sunburn. I am probably one of the palest people on the planet, I don't tan, I just burn. I burn wearing factor 50+. Once I burn, it stays red, starts to fade and then suddenly jumps back to white, missing out the tanned stage all together. It is a great source of amusement to everyone but me ;) I am so pale that little thunderbugs land on my arms, like they do on any bright colours... Except mine is blinding white. (I currently have Avon's Skin so soft gradual tanning lotion on, which I've decided I don't like, I'm feeling pretty orange inside, and then outside you can hardly tell I have anything on. Suggestions of any tanning products I might get on better with on a postcard please!)

Please Botanics, take out your stupid burn ingredients, so that everyone can use your toner without fear! It's unfortunate that I bought this online (where they didn't mention the SUN ALERT ooh noo.) as had it been in store I'd have practically thrown it back to it's place on the shelf and chosen something else.

I've not had much of a chance to burn yet, I've been very careful so far, as the sun's only just started coming out; it's a month or two down the line where my brain tells me not to bother, that it'll be fine, the sun's not even out, there are clouds in the sky.... Then I burn horrifically through the clouds and my brain screams arggghhh, what did you do that for?! I told you to wear sunscreen!

Anyway, enough of my conversations with myself I think...

Basically this is.. nice. Nothing overly special, it's cooling, smells good, not noticing that much difference in my skin (I was using Lush's Breath of Fresh Air before this, which was good, I was just fed up of the spray getting clogged in every single one I bought, and it was £3.25 for 100g, which isn't hugely expensive, but my local lush is also 40 minutes away and I don't care for their £3.95 p&p charge!) though it makes it feel fresher, can't really see any refined pores, maybe that'll take more time. However, the SUN ALERT completely ruins this for me. I'd not repurchase and will be looking carefully for SUN ALERT's forever more.

If you don't burn like a... Rachel, then this is available at boots for £3.99. Just remember your sunscreen!

Rachel xx

Boots Botanics Eye make up remover- all skin types

I was somehow convinced that this was going to be really lovely, I like the packaging, it smells of nothing- therefore nothing not to like!- and the consistency seemed great, nothing gloopy to get in your eyes or leave them stinging.
 
Oh so wrong. The consistency seems fine when I first put it onto cotton wool, and when I put it to my eye and pressed and wiggled my fingers too. It was when I took it off swiping gently as I went that I discovered a horrible feeling of it being sticky and greasy. The kind of sticky that makes you want to grab at the nearest thing just to get it OFF MY FACE! As well as that my eyes were verging on being stinging, but not quite at full on ouch level.
 
What boots say:
 
"Plant extracts at levels that really work, combined and forumlated for unbeatable product performance. Naturally.   

To keep the delicate skin around the eye in good condition you need to remove make up gently but thoroughly. This cleanser effortlessly removes eye make up- even waterproof mascara- while also comforting and soothing the eye area.
 
Iceland Moss: Used for centuries for its soothing benefits. The high sugar content of the moss can help hydrate and calm skin."
 
It did remove every last trace of my makeup admirably, and it didn't leave the skin around my eyes sore as removing eye make up sometimes does, but whether this makes up for the horrible feeling of it on my skin, and on my eyelids no less- probably one of the worst places to feel sticky!- I don't know..
 
I'd definitely not buy this again, but because I do so hate to waste things a quick swipe with a fresh cotton pad and the remaining oil slick is nearly gone bar a slight residue, but at the cost of my eye area feeling a little sore. It cost just £2.99 and with the current boots 3 for 2 skin care promotion (that ends on the 13th April) it was actually free, which makes a little less annoying!