Boots Fragrance Free Cleansing Lotion

Author's product rating:   

How does it affect your skin?
Does it dehydrate your skin?
Value for money

Advantages:	Fragrance Free, creamy, smooth, gentle but still works well .
Disadvantages:	Can't think of any except that its gone and I can't get more until I'm back in the UK again .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have very sensitive eyes - partially because I wear contact lenses, and partially because I’m just that way - a very sensitive, delicate, little thing <G>! So when I look for a product that will remove my make-up, I don’t usually look for your usual make-up removers. This is because these products are often way too strong, and more often than not, the perfume in the product will end up stinging my eyes. And since almost all of the make-up I wear is on my eyes, I have to think very carefully before I’ll put out my precious pence for a product. That’s why I was drawn to two of the Boots “Fragrance Free” products (which they seem to have re-named as “skin kindly”) when I was visiting the UK about two years ago.

(I’m glad you all liked that paragraph. You won’t see it again unless I find another product where it applies. Now, on to the op itself!)

On the same adventurous shopping trip that I purchased those horrid make-up remover pads, I also saw a little* bottle of this cleansing lotion. The white, semi-transparent plastic bottle had the familiar Boots logo in dark blue while phrases like “Fragrance Free”, “light cleansing lotion” and “for sensitive skin” appeared alternately in dark blue and a lovely light turquoise. This bottle was topped with a rounded, screw-on, turquoise stopper that pulled the whole thing into being a quiet and elegantly presented item. Its no surprise that the pleasing look of the product made me reach out to take a closer look. Aside from the small size (which is good for traveling when you want to pack light), the nice price, of course, was actually what made me buy it. At what seemed a very reasonable £1.70, it went straight into my shopping cart (again, see the note below).

After my bad experience with the make-up remover pads, the next night I decided to give this product a go. I know, I’m a brave woman, but my search for a good eye-make up remover had not yet ended, and I’m not one to drop a quest in mid-battle! I was ready to get right into the fray again.

So, I put some of this product onto a dampened wad of toilet paper (well, I wasn’t home, so I didn’t have any cotton wool balls at hand), and noticed that this lotion wasn’t in the least bit runny, but also not thick. Well, it is called a lotion, and that’s the exact texture of this - lotion-like. (DUH!) I then began to smooth this over my eyes. The lotion was cool (do you thing that my trying this in October had anything to do with the temperature?) and felt really lovely on my eyes. After only a few seconds I noticed that practically every trace of make-up had come off of my face. I then took some more damp toilet paper and wiped the rest of this off. Wow! My face was clean.

But that wasn’t all. I also noticed that the skin around my eyes felt soft and moisturized. Furthermore, it didn’t feel in the least bit greasy or oily. Just a nice pleasant feeling where I had used the cleansing lotion. Well, with the eyes being the biggest test since they are the most sensitive area of your face - if not your whole body - I figured I should clean my whole face with this. And I proceeded to do just that. But this time, I decided to put some of the lotion onto my fingers and spread it around my face. After doing that, I took some more of the dreaded toilet paper and used that to remove the product. I was pretty shocked to find exactly how much dirt was still on my face, sans make-up. And now my skin felt really lovely.

Yes, dear readers, I had found a real winner in this product. And being fragrance free, there was no stinky scent to keep me awake at night or irritate my eyes and sensitive skin. A real thumbs up product.

But we all know that nothing is perfect, right? Well, sort of. In my case, the problem with this product is that its too good. Yep, that’s the problem. I brought this home with me, and only a few months had gone by when my daughter came home with a face full of make-up. I tried to get her to use those pads, but she wouldn’t have any of it (smart girl). She then tried this cleansing lotion instead, and she loved it as much as I did (and its even better when you use it with cotton wool instead of dampened toilet paper). Since my daughter was experimenting with make-up for a Jewish holiday, she ended up using no small amount of this little bottle. Then a bit later she had her ballet recital and she wore make-up on stage for that. Of course, she used more of this lotion to remove it. After that there was the year-end party where she had to wear make-up and yet again… I think you’re getting the picture here.

A small aside, and then back to the important stuff: I have this really lovely fellow in to clean my house once a week. He’s a marvel but he does have one problem - he is overly zealous when it comes to throwing things out. Now, I’m the type of person who will squeeze the last drop out of anything - toothpaste tubes, ketchup bottles, shampoo containers, whatever. But my cleaning guy doesn’t completely understand me in this area. Now there was still a small (OK, miniscule is probably a more apt description) amount of this lotion left in the bottle when - horror of horrors - I suddenly found it was GONE! This had two negative results. One being that I cannot tell you what lovely ingredients are in this product, nor if there are any warnings or instructions on the bottle, nor give you the exact measurements of the bottle itself (I feel so inadequate here, and I hope you all won’t mark me down because of it. Mark my cleaning guy down instead, OK?). The other being that I’m now back to rubbing my eyes clean with my bare hands. Pretty sad, huh? Yeah, I know. And trust me, I’ve been suffering for it. But what can I do? Absolutely nothing! Gone is Gone, as they say.

That is, until I get back to the UK at the end of this month and into the first Boots I can find so I can pick up more of this - possibly in multiple bottles (see below), if I can. Yes, that’s what I’m saying - this is a really excellent product and I’m not ready to give up on it, and I’m not willing to even look for a substitute. I’m going back for more - and what could be a better recommendation than that, right?

Thanks for reading.

* Remember, this was in Oxford at the time. I believe that some companies like Boots will sell smaller and less expensive versions of their products in university towns, knowing that students often live in cramped quarters and are also often traveling back and forth between school and home. I know that this is the case in Israel and in the US. So I’m assuming that this is the reason why I was able to find a smaller product than what I can see is generally available from the Boots website.

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From their web page http://www.wellbeing.com this is being sold today in a 200ml bottle for £2.55. I purchased mine in a smaller bottle that I think was only about 100ml and it cost me (if I recall correctly) £1.70 at the time. I see from their web page that right now the 200ml bottles are on a three for two special. Hope that special lasts until I arrive in the UK at the end of the month! (But I’m going to need a second suitcase for this and all the Lush products I’m thinking of buying!)

This product is Fragrance free, Lanolin free, Hypo–allergenic and dermatologically tested. I wish I could tell you what’s in it, but I can’t - sorry.
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