Review: No7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream For Normal/Oily Skin

Hello again! So I am now completely sorted when it comes to moisturisers. Last week I revisited my beloved Uni town (Aberystwyth) and popped into Boots there intending to just get the Nivea Daily Essentials Sensitive Night Cream, having quite liked a sachet sample of it I tried recently. It's also currently half price - £2.24 instead of £4.49, which makes it extremely good value. I only use it every other night at the moment because it's quite rich and I don't want to overload my skin, but I'm really enjoying using it (I may do a full review soon!)

I spent over £5 getting other stuff (including reduced-but-still-tasty creme eggs, oh yes) and was given a £5 No7 Skincare / £3 off No7 Makeup voucher, which came out very soon after I missed the last ones! This particular batch expired last Sunday unfortunately but I'm sure it won't be very long at all until the next ones. I always like to take advantage of at least one voucher, even if it's just getting their £7 Face Wipes for £2, which are quite nice but definitely overpriced. At the time of writing, there's a 3 for 2 on selected No7 offer.

So, again having tried out a sample and really liked it - I bought the Beautiful Skin Day Cream for Normal/Oily Skin, so I now have a moisturiser for day and night. It is normally £13.50 but with the voucher I got it for £8.50, meaning I got another voucher which I actually didn't want because I didn't want to be tempted into buying anything else!

This is what No7 promise about it on the box:

It seems like a thick, rich lotion in the jar but when you actually apply it on your face it sinks in incredibly well (especially if you do a gentle patting motion) leaving skin smooth and happy, and you can't feel that it's there. This means it leaves a great base for makeup, which is my favourite thing about it. 

The SPF of 15 is also a big plus for me as I rarely wear an SPF out and about in normal weather unless it's in my foundation - the same factor is also in the No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation which I purchased recently and will do a review on soon. Does that mean than when wearing both I have a factor 30 protection?!

Anyway, this addition of SPF does mean that that's mainly what this product smells of. I find it an acceptable, inoffensive scent but if an SPF smell in your moisturiser bothers you then you probably won't like this. Also, part of the packaging warns that this isn't suitable for sunbathing so it might not be a good idea to rely on just this for sun protection.

It works quite well for me at keeping oil at bay and mattifying my skin but it doesn't mattify all day long and I don't think it would work for very long if you are very oily.

This product does have a few downsides - firstly there's the jar packaging. It does look good and I know this only really means you need to wash your hands before applying; which is something you should probably do anyway no matter what the packaging of your moisturiser is, but to me it's still a bit unhygienic and annoying. Please can we have a pump packaging, No7? 

I'm not sure why No7 added Fragrance as it pretty much smells like sun cream!

My other bugbear is the fact that this has alcohol denat. This moisturiser, as with all No7 products is hypo-allergenic and it doesn't irritate my skin at all, but I'm still not keen on the inclusion of this irritating and drying ingredient. 

My skin is quite oily but on less oily days I find myself applying quite a bit to make my skin feel thoroughly moisturised. No7 also do a Day Cream for Normal to Dry Skin so if you have combination skin you may well feel unsure as to which one's best suited to you. I'd say that it would be a good idea to try a sample out of the one you think you're more suited to. I don't think this would be suitable for someone whose combination skin leans more towards being dry.

Overall, this moisturiser is really good (despite the dodgy packaging) and I'd recommend it!

Have you tried this product? What's your favourite moisturiser?

Sabrina xx