Review: Boots No 7 Lifting and Firming Foundation

I found a foundation that I consider holy grail, this doesn't happen often, I try a lot of foundation. Some of my favourites include NARS Sheer Glow, Clinique Even Better, Chanel Pro Lumiere, Dior Skin Nude and now, Boots No 7 Lifting and Firming. But the love affair will be short lived because I cannot find this foundation anywhere in Canada anymore. If you remember from my earlier post, I actually got this foundation on clearance for $3 at Shoppers Drug Mart last month, and it was expired. I haven't heard back from head office but, I believe Shoppers has stopped selling Boots No 7 makeup and is now only focusing on their skincare line only, if you know anymore, please leave me a comment below! I tried looking it up on makeupalley and it's listed as discontinued, so perhaps it's totally unavailable now?

I have never tried anything from Boots No 7, it's a UK brand, in the US it's sold at Target and in Canada it was sold at Shoppers Drug Mart. Lisa Eldridge has mentioned this foundation before along with some other beauty youtubers as being great. I was interested in it, but alas my list of products that I want to try is never-ending and this foundation was forgotten, until I saw the terrible clearance rack last month. I say terrible because all of the products on it were expired, so that only meant one thing, final clearance, we want to get rid of this stuff and will sell it to you for next to nothing. I should of picked up more items, but all I got was this foundation.

The packaging on this is a thing of beauty, it looks quite expensive, it comes in a heavy frosted glass bottle, with gold pump ring and a very nice pump, and a heavy lid. I think this packaging even trumps Chanel packaging. This foundation retails for $14.99 US at Target I believe, I think it was selling for $20 ish in Canada. Much much cheaper than Chanel and to me, the quality is very similar.

Despite being a "lifting and firming" foundation I wouldn't say I noticed much of either, but I did find a very nice foundation that worked wonderfully for my skin. Foundations geared to old ladies tend to work very well for those with dry skin (me). The texture is very smooth, it applies like a dream and gives medium-full coverage with a satin finish (neither matte or dewy). Those with oily/combo skin beware, I like to powder this to control how shiny it gets throughout the day so I am not certain how it would fair on oily skin.

Here is a close up of the expiry label, this product expired March 2011, so 3 months ago. Since it has an SPF 15 I assume that's the only thing that's really "expired" about it. I know expiry dates on cosmetics are more guidelines than anything else. I used it and it seems fine, no weird scent, doesn't break down, in fact it looks amazing on me. I would gladly pay $3 for another expired bottle, or 2 or 3 of this foundation!

The shade selection in the clearance bin was very limited, I picked the lightest shade they had. And of course all the packaging had "do not open" on them, so you couldn't see what you were getting, however I did manage to sneak away and check the colour of the bottle anyway. Vanilla 25 was the lightest they had. The shade is a tad too dark for me, it's a smidge darker than Chanel 10 Limpide/Nude, which is already too dark for me. The shade that I am more looking for is the one on the far right, Clinique's Even Better in 01 Alabaster, which is pretty close to my perfect shade. Vanilla 25 is very yellow, which works for me since it neutralizes redness very well. Judging by what others bloggers wear, I think New Ivory would be a good match for me in this.

Compared to Chanel Pro Lumiere, which I think is very similar to this, Boots No 7 Lifting and Firming is less dewy, gives better coverage and is less of an oil slick at the end of the day. I have heard it's a dupe for Chanel Lift Lumiere, but I haven't tried that one, so I cannot comment. Lifting and Firming is a fantastic foundation, and not only does it beat all drugstore foundations that I've used, but it's up there with my all-time high-end favourites.

Would I recommend this product? A hundred times over, yes! If you have dry skin you will surely love this foundation, if you can manage to find it.