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Anti-aging Cream in the News Again: Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Intense – Scientifically Tested, Proven to Increase Demand

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 | Beauty and Science, Photos, Skincare

Beauty & Science News! from Meilily

Scientifically tested, and proven to…  increase demand?

Boots No 7 skincare is in the news again!   New research apparently confirms the efficacy of yet another Boots No 7 anti-aging product, and reminds us of what happened the last time Boots skincare was in the news…

Boots is the UK beauty product manufacturer that fueled the desire of women everywhere two years ago when their extremely popular Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum (a.k.a Restore & Renew in the US) was shown to increase the youthful appearance of skin. [Remember how that very same Boots anti-aging serum sold out everywhere immediately following a BBC television show announcing its positive anti-aging results?]

This time it won’t be Boots’ Protect & Perfect serum flying off the shelves. Instead, the mass-market product at the center of the latest scientific study is the Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum.

Results from a new year-long scientific double-blind study funded by Boots and published online today in the British Journal of Dermatology showed the anti-aging efficacy of the Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum, demonstrating “for the first time, that a commercially available over-the-counter ‘anti-ageing’ product improves the appearance of facial wrinkles when used in the long term.”

The same research team has apparently found that both the original Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum and the Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum can stimulate production of a protein that promotes skin elasticity called fibrillin-1. The latest study links the improvement of facial wrinkles in photo-aged skin to the serum’s ability to restore this fibrillin-1 protein, but does not specifically breakdown the particular contribution of key ingredients to this effect.

Meilily’s Thoughts on the Study Results and  Product Comparisons

Meilily posits that the new scientific results may be part of an extremely smart marketing strategy for Boots… 

Existing Product, New Name?

Apparently already sold for some time under the name Refine and Rewind, the Intense version of Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum featured in the study is supposed to contain some of the same ingredients as the original Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum (but apparently with slightly different effective ingredients).

Meilily tried both the original Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum (in the form of Restore & Renew in the US) two years ago and also the Refine and Rewind product, which supposedly is now re-marketed as the new scientifically-proven Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum.

Meilily recalls that the original Protect & Perfect formula contained Vitamin A (commonly used in anti-wrinkle creams), some kind of peptide, and white lupin extract as the supposed effective anti-aging ingredients, though the new Intense formula (a.k.a. the old Refine and Rewind product) is supposed to include peptide pairs and the addition of alfalfa extract. Does the difference in these ingredients really matter?

Marketing strategy aside, Meilily won’t deny that the original formula Protect & Perfect did provide a noticeable improvement in skintone and in elasticity around the eye area in personal testing, and that the serum felt silky and light. Unfortunately, Meilily also found that the Refine and Rewind formula, now the Intense formula, felt much more silicone-y and slightly heavier compared to the original formula. It’s too bad that the latter formula was the one at focus in the latest study.

So, while the recent scientific study looked at the efficacy of the new Intense Boots No 7 formula, Meilily would really like to see a study comparing the efficacy of the original Protect & Perfect with that of the Protect & Perfect Intense formula.  Also the published study indicates that “[f]urther work is underway to elucidate the relative contributions of the individual ingredients.”   In the meantime, Meilily suggests just trying the original Protect & Perfect if the Protect & Perfect Intense ends up selling out!

*A copy of the anti-aging study results publication in the British Journal of Dermatology titled “A cosmetic ‘anti-ageing’ product improves photoaged skin: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial,” is available online at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119881892/issue.

The latest Beauty & Science News! from Meilily

P.S. If you’re more than a little confused by the Boots No 7 serum names and the country-specific use of names – Was it Protect and Refine or Rewind and Confine? – then you’re in good company.  Boots, if you’re listening, please re-think the product naming scheme, unless you’re trying to confuse us! (If that’s the case, then your work is done!  Meilily is thoroughly confused.)
P.P.S. Boots No 7 products are widely available in the US at Target and CVS stores.

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Tags: alfalfa extract, anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, Beauty, Beauty and Science, Boots, Boots No 7, Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect, Boots No 7 Refine & Rewind, Boots No 7 Restore & Renew, British Journal of Dermatology, clinical trials, cosmetics, cosmetics ingredients, peptides, photo-aging, retinol, scientific research, Skincare, UK, Vitamin A, white lupin extract, wrinkle creams

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