Skin and Beauty

End Of The Range Review: Boots Essentials Cucumber

I love Boots. Mostly I love collecting Boots Advantage points. I know I’m a sucker. But they do have one of the best loyalty schemes on the high street. They also stock a huge range of products, high-end, low-end, the middle ground. Everything. What they also have is a very decent own brand range of products. In fact, almost everything they sell has a Boots own equivalent. Like this Boots Essentials Cucumber skincare range. This is the value range. But with it being Boots, surely it’s still pretty good, right?

I thought so. I’ve tried a range of Boots products before for the blog but this time I was going VALUE. My previous go-around was mostly positive but not the cheapest. When I say value, this stuff is cheap. Each item is £1.50 (around $2) on its own but is usually on offer for 3 for £3. So everything in the picture above cost me £7.50. And don’t forget that I earned some Advantage Points too. The total is pretty impressive because a similar haul of Soap & Glory products cost me about £40 and that was when an offer was on. That’s a vast difference and for that £7.50, I was able to get the Boots Essentials Cucumber Micellar Water, 3-Minute Clay Mask, Moisturising Cream, Eye Gel, Facial Wash and Scrub.
I will admit upfront before I get into the nitty-gritty of this review that I did not have the same consistency of use as I’ve had when testing other products. Luckily my skin hasn’t suffered but it’s not in as good a state as it was after the Soap and Glory run. I also fell off a little with my water intake at the end of last year. Actually, all things considered, my skin is looking quite good.
snapchat filter woeful to frofull face mask
Thank You Snapchat!

Anyway, less about me, more about this stuff. The star ingredient of this whole range is Cucumber. Picture to the left is what I think of when thinking about cucumbers and skincare and I think about this exact topic all the time. I don’t really but I am right now.

Cucumber is good for your skin, according to Cure Joy for the following reasons:
Keeps Acne, Lines, And Wrinkles Away
Protects Against The Sun
Removes Sun Tan And [Lightens] Skin
Soothes The Skin And Heals Scars
Heals Swollen Eyes, Burns, and Dermatitis
Tones The Skin And Tightens It
This makes the whole putting it on your eyes make complete sense, if it lightens skin, it’ll help with dark circles. If you have puffy eyes, it’ll reduce that. If you’re feeling a bit peckish after some pampering, you ‘ve got a snack. Cucumbers are awesome. And in general, makes complete sense as a skincare ingredient. Good choice Boots!
My favourite product that I bought was the moisturising cream. It’s lovely and thick, although I don’t necessarily like how it feels just after its applied, I guess as it’s seeping into your skin. But my face feels as moisturised at the end of the day as it does at the beginning. I also like the clay mask quite a lot because who doesn’t like a good face mask. With all the great qualities of cucumber and the benefits of clay, such as absorbing oil on the skin, it’s a nifty little product. Plus you only need it on for 3 minutes, making it easier and more manageable to use multiple times a week.
boots cucumber essentials woeful to frofull moisturiser
I liked the face wash but I’ve never used a face wash that hasn’t left my skin feeling clean. So it’s hard to recommend one over another. Something I can say, and this includes body washes, is they give differing levels of squeak. All you need to do is gently rub your face with your finger and you’ll hear it squeak (if you’re clean), this face wash gives moderate squeak.
My least favourite product is probably the eye gel. It stings quite a bit which I’ll tolerate to some extent as the eyes are quite a sensitive area, but this was just too much. In the mornings after I wash my face, I put on my moisturiser, eye gel and sunscreen. I’ve noticed when all three go on it stings more. I’ve tried different combinations of products and no matter what, it stings. I don’t like it. But you can’t love everything. And what stings me, may not sting you.
 eye gel woeful to frofull boots cucumber essential
Now because I’m not made of money, I wasn’t able to buy every product in this range (I’m kidding, this stuff is cheap, I just don’t have the space), which along with the products I listed above, also consists of Cleansing Wipes, Cleansing Lotion, Facial Toner, Eye Make Up Remover Gel and Eye Make Up Remover Pads. I was happy with the Micellar Water to replace the wipes, cleansing lotion and toner which I think was a good swap. I don’t routinely wear makeup so the make up remover didn’t seem necessary. But since I had such a rubbish time with the eye gel, that was a fortuitously good decision.
The whole range is mostly inoffensive, if you get past the stinging eyes, as is the scent. I suppose cucumber is quite plain and harmless but also has fantastic benefits for your skin. And when you take into account its properties listed above, I’m not sure why more products aren’t cucumber based.
I tried a 7th Heaven Cucumber Mask which was great and I want to explore Cucumber products more after using this. I don’t love the range but I definitely like elements of what I tried. An honourable mention for the scrub being my favourite kind of scratchy. I have to weigh  it up against the Soap and Glory range I really liked. Price wise, this range makes more sense but overall, I had better results for my skin with the pricier option. However, I am quite happy to have a few pots of that moisturiser around because it’s damn good. But as a whole, the range doesn’t quite make the cut to get onto my Holy Grail list.
Let’s keep glowing together!
xx Lee xx
Please note I am not sponsored by Boots nor have I been gifted or paid for this post.
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *