Botanical Birmingham

Advantages: Plenty to see, a relaxing escape from the city.
Disadvantages: Expensive for a one-off visit. Disappointing restaurant.

...Every city need its green spaces. The architecture may be spectacular and the shops fantastic, but finding a place to escape the traffic and bustle is a necessity for most city dwellers. Picture Birmingham and what do you see? The Bullring, New Street Station and Spaghetti Junction would be the first things that come to my mind. Although I've never lived in Birmingham itself, I worked there for several years. During that time I went to the Botanical Gardens regularly, but for the purposes of this review I will focus on my most recent visit which was August 2008. A Brief History Celebrity gardeners are not a new phenomenon. In the nineteenth century J.C Loudon was an influential writer on gardening and became part of London's high society. He designed the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in 1830 to provide a place where keen...

JoannaPiano 31.10.2008 (02.11.2008) · Read review
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Review of Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Botanically brilliant!

Advantages: It does what it says it will. I'll trade in any man but Colin Firth for a tube of this any day!
Disadvantages: Can be a bit too shiny alone on the face

...As a fan of anything boasting that natural feel and promising me I'll use it and look like a fresh faced beauty, like a lamb to the slaughter I found myself once again in the queue in Boots waving my advantage card around like a loon. I'm a fan of Boot's own products such as Time Delay and recently have found myself drawn to the Botanics range. After purchasing all of the Time Delay products I'm interested in I've started to make a collection of Botanics goodies! Boots Botanics Radiance Beauty Balm with it's power of plants and apple extract says it is a silky moisturising serum that contains diffusing pearls to add instant radiance to my complexion. That the apple extract is a rich source of anti-oxidant which helps to protect against damaging free radicals. I still yearn to learn what the heck a free radical is! Don't you just hate...

xxfoxyredxx 04.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Boots Botanics Beauty Radiance Balm

Beautiful Botanicals

Advantages: smells nice, non-drying, natural ingredients
Disadvantages: expensive

...A while ago I bought a big set of Liz Earle products from QVC, one of which was the Orange Flower botanical body wash. This product contains organic oats and yarrow, rose-scented geranium and natural vitamin E. It contains 7 different essential oils including geranium, patchouli, rosemary, sweet orange and lavandin amongst others, as well as other things. It also contains no lauryl or laureth sulfates or animal extracts. The body wash comes in a pale blue bottle with grey writing, which tapers towards the top. It's pleasant enough to look at, but perhaps is not quite as luxurious looking as you may expect for the price tag. The opening of the bottle is at the bottom, and the flip cap is easy to open. The benefit of having the opening at the base of the bottle, is that you don't have to shake furiously to get the last of the body...

pink_champagne 09.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Liz Earle Orange Flower Botanical Body Wash

Botanic Bonanza

Advantages: Competitively priced
Disadvantages: Not all Boots Stores have full range of products

...I like several other opinion writers discoved Botanics courtesy of Boots 3 for 2 offers, as I am always at the front of the queue for a supposed bargain. My first forays into the world of Boots Botanics were cleansing tissues (under a fiver), face renewal cream which was about £8 and night shift moisture cream, also about £8. The reason for the last two items was a glowing report in one of the Sunday colour supplements which got a number of guinea pigs to test various face creams without telling what they were and the Boots Botanics came out tops and everyone thought that they must be top of the range creams costing vast sums of money. As I am old and decrepid and need every bit of help on offer and I'm a sucker for a bit of advertising these had to be top priority purchases. The day cream was wonderful, not too...

patriciat 02.02.2003 · Read review
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Review of Boots Botanics

Boots Botanics

Advantages: leaves skin soft
Disadvantages: the pump keeps sticking!

...I love shopping in Boots- it's all the lovely stuff they sell, I can't help myself - and I often get free £5 skincare vouchers which can be spent on one of the Boots ranges. A few months ago I got one of the aforementioned vouchers for the Boots Botanics range, so I decided to treat myself to their face wash mousse. This was the first Botanics product I had used, and also the first cleansing mousse, as I usually use either a plain face wash or a cream cleanser, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. WHAT THEY CLAIM If the label is anything to go by, then this mousse should 'deeply cleanse the skin to eliminate impurities, excess oil, and dead skin cells.' And also as it contains rosemary and willowbark extracts, it should 'help clear and prevent blemishes whilst promoting a brighter, smoother complexion.' Hmmm? sounds good, but...

pink_champagne 08.03.2006 · Read review
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Review of Boots Botanics Face Wash

Have you felt the Botanics bubbles?

Advantages: Botanical fragrance, effective and enjoyable cleanser
Disadvantages: Might not suit those who love lather

...Botanics is one of Boots' "own-brands" - I know it's been going for quite a while - which is designed to incorporate extracts from natural sources (plants, seeds, herbs, wild flowers etc) in sufficient quantities to benefit the skin. The body wash I am reviewing was part of a gift set recently bought for me (which also contained the Luxurious Bath Elixir and Nourishing Body Butter) so the item I have been using is a 50ml travel-sized version of the larger product. I searched Boots' website (as they usually have the treat-sized ones listed for sale) but could only find the 200ml item, which is priced at £3.49. The Botanics branding - currently white, slate grey and a muted jade green - is featured on the label, with a leaf shape in the background and a flowering stem that are picked out in shades of grey, like a black and white...

KateHurst 09.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Boots Botanics Softening Body Wash

Botanics Nourishing Body Butter

Advantages: i like thiss
Disadvantages: none

...****Botanics Nourishing Body Butter 450ml **** I have to say that unfortunately i suffer from dry skin and therefore i am forever trying out different body lotions and butters. Since i am not that loyal to any particular brand i ended up trying this one when it was on offer a couple of months back. **The range** As the name suggests this is a boots own brand product. There are quite a few products in the range and it is meant to be very natural. **Product** This comes in a 450ml tube-this will last you forever!!!(well not really but still a really long time).The average body butter/lotion tube i normally buy has about 200ml in it so i think getting this for under £6 is great value especially compared to the body shop butters i normally get. This doesn't have much of a smell to it-it smells natural like plants. I cant really smell...

katie22008m 09.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Botanics Nourishing Body Butter

Glossy Brunette hair by Botanics

Advantages: Leaves hair shining and soft
Disadvantages: The look of the product

...I have long natural dark brown hair and I tried the John Freida Brilliant Brunette shampoo and conditioner but I found they made my hair quite lank as I believe they are aimed at dry hair and my hair is normal to perhaps slightly greasy. I really liked the shine that the Brilliant brunette gave to my hair and so went on a quest down the conditioner aisle in Boots looking for an alternative. I looked at quite a few but a lot seemed to be made for dry hair and then I saw Botanics own brunette brand and thought that for £2.93 it was worth a go and also they use plant extracts which I figured has got to be good for my hair too. The Brand Botanics is a brand made especially for Boots, which claim to use plant extracts at levels that really work, combined and formulated for unbeatable product performance. Naturally...

starjen 26.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Botanics Hair Glossy Brunette Conditioner

Boots Botanics

Advantages: Good for the sink and really works
Disadvantages: Expensive

...Boots Botanics is a very nice range I am talking specifically about their face - lift firming cream which I have been using for the past 6 months. O.k it's slightly greasy at first espescially to the touch, but when you rub it in it applies easily and makes your face feel soft instantly. However I do feel it has a slightly greesy feel to it. I can see it working well for older skins that are dry and need some moisture to them, but skins that are already greasy or soft then I think it would make them greasier. It does add elasticity to the skin which is great. It smells slightly strange and I would say it's a mixture of sun tan lotion and maybe Nivea. It looks like cream, but is a bit of a yucky colour of off white. The pot is small and made of glass at 50 ml. It is a special blend of plant extracts that are pure enough...

Mickie26 08.02.2004 · Read review
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Review of Boots Botanics

Edinburgh Botanic Gardens

Advantages: beautiful and tranquil
Disadvantages: none

...A short bus ride from the centre of town in Inverleith, the 'Botanics' (as Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens) is known locally is a green and lush haven that is well worth a visit. Even in its busiest periods you can lose yourself in its verdant nooks and crannies amongst exotic blooms. The air is fresh in this, its latest location (originally founded in 1670 it occupied sites near Holyrood Palace and on the road to Leith before moving to its latest, greenest pasture in 1820.) When the sun shines simply wander through its extensive outdoor gardens where thousands of plant species flourish. 'The Botanics' is the second richest plant collection in the world (after Kew Gardens, which it is older than) and contains examples of just under 10% of all known flora. This gives it an important global role in maintaining biodiversity. But for me this...

snowbird123 16.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Royal Botanic Garden