Sunday Sample - No 7 Protect and Perfect Day Cream

I've been collecting samples again, so I thought that I'd start up my Sunday Samples again.  Today, I picked out a little tube of No 7 Protect and Perfect Day Cream - there's probably enough in the tube to last me for a week, which helps stretch out my budget as well (which you may have noticed from my recent posts, I've been hammering recently).  I think I got this in a gift with purchase pack.

I've not used this cream before, but I have regularly used the 'wonder' serum from the same range.  Although I generally like the serum, I've not been wowed by the results, and I do find I get through a tube of it very quickly.  I used to use No 7 creams years ago, before this cream was on the market, but about 5 years they changed this formula and they stopped working for me, causing break outs and was horrible under makeup.  I switched to Olay and Nivea and stuck to these brands until I had my 'beauty ephiphany' a year ago!  So, given my past track record, I wasn't that keen on trying this, but I gave it a go.

Looking on the Boots website, they say:

"Smooth fine lines and help delay new ones with this protecting & revitalising daytime formula, your first defence against the early signs of ageing. Created to be used with our Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum to help deliver even better results than the serum alone.
The unique triple protective power of SPF15, 5 star UVA technology and our patent pending antioxidant complex gives your skin advanced protection from the ageing effects of the sun and the environment, while our skin firming pro-retinol complex containing Lipopeptides works to boost and maintain elasticity."


Makes lots of familiar claims doesn't it?

I used it on top of a serum that I find more moisturising than the No 7 one - I suppose I should've tried the matching serum to really test this out - maybe I will tomorrow.  The cream itself is fairly light and I didn't need much of it.  It smells just like the serum, which is slightly medicinal, but nothing offensive.  It absorbed well and hasn't irritated my skin so far.  My skin feels really good, well-moisturised and not at all tight, and my makeup went on well on top of it.

So, it's a so far, so good result for this moisturiser.  I'll give it a week to see if it makes my skin break out, but I have changed up quite a few of my skincare products recently, so if it does, I won't be pinning the blame solely on this! 

At £21, I find this quite expensive for a moisturiser, even with all the whizzy bits it claims to have, but it is currently available on a 3 for 2 offer.  My philosophy when it comes to skincare is to use a really good serum, and then I'm less bothered about my moisturiser, particularly in the summer - I do splash out in the winter on more nourishing moisturisers!  I'm quite happy to use a sub £5 moisturiser in the summer, and I'm not that bothered by SPF protection, as I always wear foundation with this in.  So although this No 7 moisturiser does have SPF 15, I'm not that impressed by this. 

So would I buy this?  Well, although I really like it so far, the answer is no, unless I see some brilliant anti-ageing results in the next week!  At £21, it's almost the same price as some of the more premium branded skincare, so I'd rather buy something from Origins or a similar brand than No 7.  It can't compete on value with lower-end brands such as Nivea and Olay that do a good job at a much cheaper price. 

What's more important to you - serum or moisturiser?

Thanks for reading! xx