Wrinklies slow on the uptake

Published on Thursday 30 April 2009 22:55

IT IS the first anti-ageing face cream scientifically proven to reduce wrinkles.

When Protect and Perfect Intense Beauty Serum went on sale in the high street for under 20 a pot yesterday, branches of Boots the chemist were braced for a shopping stampede.

Two years ago, after a television documentary showed that the original No 7 Protect and Perfect cream really worked, shoppers queued from dawn and Boots had to limit purchases to one per customer.

But when the flagship store in Princes Street, Edinburgh, opened its doors at 8am yesterday, the pavement was deserted.

By lunchtime, the 30ml product, which contains extract of alfalfa, still wasn't flying off the shelves – even on a three-for-the-price-of-two offer.

Business seemed brisker in Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow, however. "We sold around 70 serums in the first hour of the store opening," said a spokeswoman.

Stores in Inverness reported a "steady stream" of customers, while the branch in Bon Accord Centre, Aberdeen, was reported to be "very busy, with non-stop sales of Protect and Perfect Intense".

A study funded by Boots and published in the British Journal of Dermatology found that seven out of 10 women and men had fewer lines and shallower wrinkles after using the serum.