Boots No 7 - Calm Skin - Redness Relief Gel/Balm

Until recently I'd never really looked at Boots No 7 skincare, as to be honest I tend to stick with what I know works for my skin (mainly Clarins, although recently Liz Earle).  I have combination skin, that can be very sensitive.  I find that if there is any excuse for my skin to go red then it will, leaving me walking around looking rosy/flushed the majority of the time!

To be honest I can't remember what lead me to this product, all I remember is finding it on the Boots website, and reading almost all of the reviews on it.  That sums me up quite well - I like researching things before I buy them, to make sure I'm not wasting my money!

Boots No. 7 Calm Skin Redness Relief Balm

Boots No 7 Calm Skin Redness Relief Gel (mine says Balm) gets glowing reviews on the website, so I decided that I would pop into store and get one for myself!

Pump Bottle

The bottle itself is glass, with a gold and white plastic pump.  I started off using 3 pumps of the gel, but found that I was getting through it way too fast, so decided to use two instead - but this is still plenty.  I wouldn't really describe this as a gel, its more like a lotion.  It's light and is easily absorbed into the skin, leaving the skin feeling soft without blocking my pores.  As it's a gel, it also has a nice cooling effect, which feels soothing on irritated skin.  

The box and the bottle both say: "With ceramides and liquorice to help strengthen and soothe easily irritated skin".  Having used this morning and night, not exactly religiously, I would definitely say I have seen an improvement in my skin.   I apply it before my moisturiser, and have already noticed that I have a more even skin tone, and the pigmentation is a lot less red.  I don't look as flushed any more, which is great, and some days my skin feels so good I can get away with wearing any foundation without worry of looking too red.

At £18 for a 30ml bottle it is a little bit expensive, but has so far lasted me three weeks, and I'm about half way through the bottle.  So maybe it's not something I would buy all the time, but I reckon in winter this will be a saviour, so worth maybe spending my Boots Advantage card points on!

I did a quick bit of research on the ingredients list, just to see what they were and why they were there!  

Ingredients

So the following is a very brief summary of what the ingredients do, and why they're there.  I hope it's of some help to some of you?

• Octydodecanol - emulsifier, prevent foaming, lubricant on skin surface
• Squalene - component of oil, lubricant
• Butylene glycol - solvent - reduce viscosity
• Dimethicone - anti-foaming, protects skin from harmful stimuli, may provide relief, slows the water loss from skin
• Cyclopentasiloxane - delivers other silicones, anti-foaming, evaporates
• Phenoxyethanol - prevents product spoilage
• Butyrospermum parkii butter - shea butter - soft smooth appearance, slows loss of water
• Dimethiconol - smoothing, anti foaming agent
• Ammonium glycyrrhizate (liquorice root) - reduces flakiness, improves suppleness
• Polysorbate 20 - helps other chemicals that would not normally dissolve
• Castanea sativa extract - sweet chestnut extract - anti-oxidants
• Acrylates/vinyl isodecanoate crosspolymer - forms a film on skin
• Methylparaben - preservative
• Sodium lauroyl lactylate - moisturiser - delivers active ingredients
• Butylparaben - preservative
• Ethylparaben - preservative
• Potassium hydroxide - control pH
• Propylparaben - preservative
• Tetrasodium EDTA - prevents product from going rancid
• Isobutylparaben - preservative
• Lupinus albus extract - antioxidant
• Cholesterol - skin conditioning - also prevents separation of oil and water components
• Ceramide 6 ii - restore skin's barrier system
• Phytosphingosine - anti-inflammatory
• Carbomer - emulsifier
• Xanthan gum - skin conditioning agent
• Ceramide 3 and 1 - skin hydration

Has anyone else tried anti-redness creams and serums and had good results? Let me know!