You may have read my earlier article explaining more about the Lift & Luminate products. If you missed it you can catch up HERE Week One of the No7 Lift & Luminate Challenge Another No 7 serum that’s mostly made up of filler ingredients and low concentrations of key ingredients. For example, the highest concentration ingredients in this formula include water, dimethicone (a silicone), glycerin and butylene glycol (humectants), aluminum starch octenylsuccinate, and isononyl isononanoate (emollient). While we absolutely loved this product, and how it left our skin feeling, we didn’t see a noticeable difference in the appearance of fine lines after a month of use. Alcohol denat., Phenoxyethanol, Potassium cetyl phosphate, Bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine, Overall, over a month-long period, we found this to be one of the brand’s best daytime products, due to the moisture it gave to our skin and its price point.

Like we mentioned above, vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects against free radicals, helps to fade dark spots, evens out skin tone, increases radiance, and promotes firmer skin.Hibiscus abelmoschus extract, Retinyl palmitate, Phyllanthus emblica fruit extract, Hydrolyzed rice protein,

Gluconolactone provides anti-aging, antioxidant, and gentle exfoliating benefits without sun sensitivity. In addition, gluconolactone strengthens the skin’s moisture barrier, thereby leaving it more resilient. While Matrixyl 3000 is an excellent ingredient, the rest of this formula is rather simple. It mostly consists of humectants, aluminum starch octenylsuccinate, and polyacrylate crosspolymer-6. The Boots No7 skin care line debuted in 1935 and positioned itself as a prestigious but affordable collection. It launched with 11 products and the tagline “the modern way to loveliness”. Although a daily moisturizer may be used at night as well, if you want to take your skincare routine up a notch, you can use a product specifically formulated for nighttime use. Enter, No7’s night cream.Have been happily using No7 lift & Luminate day cream and restore & renew night cream as I need something richer overnight. Was thrilled with the results over a few months so decided to try the restore & renew serum. The Lift & Luminate Serum slips easily onto the skin and creates a smooth almost primer like finish. It does contain dimethicone which gives it the slip and helps soften lines and smooth the skin. If you are against silicone in products then this might not be for you but it can be good for wound healing and the visual effect on the skin is quite appealing. There are low concentrations (less than 1%) of beneficial ingredients like vitamin C, hibiscus extract, sodium hyaluronate, ceramides, and Matrixyl 3000. But in such low amounts, we doubt these ingredients will provide much, if any, benefit. SAP (the vit C derivative, not the enterprise software, obvs) is a promising derivative that has great stability up to pH 7. The challenge with it thoughis skin penetration. Unfortunately, it seems to be limited, or to quote a great article from theJournal of Cosmetic Dermatology "topically applied ascorbyl phosphate salts are, at very best, poorly absorbed in comparison with AA". Regarding conversion to AA, there seems to be no data about it, so we can neither deny nor confirm it.

Bottom Line: The No 7 Retinol serum combines 0.3% pure retinol with the peptide complex Matrixyl 3000, which both works to reduce the appearance of lines, wrinkles, uneven skin tone, and more. By week four my breakouts were over and the most noticeable change in my skin was that a stubborn small patch of pigmentation on my cheek had practically gone. This is really impressive because nothing else seemed to shift it. My skin looked smooth and felt slightly firmer to the touch. I didn’t see a big difference to the lines on my face but I think that I started from quite a good place. I get to try lots of innovative products, so I would be very disappointed if my skin wasn’t pretty good before I started the trial. No 7 Lift & Luminate 4 Week Challenge Conclusion Inactive Ingredients: Aqua (Water), C12-15 alkyl benzoate, Glycerin, Tribehenin, Alcohol denat., Butylene glycol, Aluminum starch octenylsuccinate, Dimethicone, Mica, Cetearyl alcohol, Butyrospermum parkii (Shea) butter, Ammonium acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP copolymer, Cetearyl glucoside, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium cetyl phosphate, Methylparaben, Dimethiconol, Ascorbyl glucoside, Propylene glycol, Xanthan gum, Ethylparaben, Pentylene glycol, Tocopheryl acetate, Sodium hyaluronate, Hibiscus abelmoschus extract, Retinyl palmitate, Simethicone, Phyllanthus emblica fruit extract, Tetrasodium EDTA, Cetyl alcohol, Stearyl alcohol, Hydrolyzed rice protein, Sorbitan laurate, T-butyl alcohol, Potassium hydroxide, Panax ginseng root extract, Carbomer, Dimethylmethoxy chromanol, Polysorbate 20, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Acetyl dipeptide-1 cetyl ester, Morus alba leaf extract, Sodium benzoate, Tocopherol, Palmitoyl tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7, CI 77891 (Titanium dioxide). No7 TRIPLE ACTION Day Cream combines the protective power of SPF, our unique Double Defence technology and our No7 age defying actives to reduce 3 key signs of ageing: wrinkles appear visibly reduced, skin feels firmer, and skin tone looks more even. Because No7 Lift & Luminate works #BetterTogether Boots invited 9 other beauty bloggers to also take the 4 Week Challenge, you can read how they got on by following the links below.Tocopheryl acetate, Sodium hyaluronate, Pentylene glycol, Ethylparaben, Diethylhexyl butamido triazone, And there is even more regarding SAP and acne. A nice double-blind study from 2009 showed that 5% SAP reduced the inflammatory lesions by 20.14% and 48.82% within 4 and 8 weeks respectively and when combined with 0.2% retinol the results were even better. With this combination treatment, the improvement was 29.28% after 4 weeks and 63.10% after 8 weeks of application. This daily moisturizer includes SPF 30 for sun protection, along with “collagen peptide technology and a unique brightening complex,” which is said to “visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles, target the appearance of pigmentation, and brighten for an even-looking skin tone and a radiant glow,” according to No7. As if that wasn’t enough, research suggests that when vitamin C is applied to the skin, it significantly reverses aging-related structural changes by influencing collagen and elastin synthesis. Although, as our in-house biochemist, Elle MacLeman points out, most of the research on vitamin C’s benefits comes from the ingredient L-ascorbic acid.