No7 is responsible for some seriously huge skincare moments. Remember when the feral frenzy after a BBC Horizon documentary praised Protect & Perfect serum’s anti-ageing powers? So when the brand announces its “biggest ever science innovation” in the form of a new range “proven to reverse” lines, wrinkles and sagging, you know exactly what’s going to happen.
No7’s Future Renew line has landed this week with queues outside stores, website crashes, yelps of “Botox in a jar” and a waitlist of nearly 90,000 people desperate to get this “world first” onto their face. So what’s it all about, and should you join the stampede? Here’s our lowdown on what it does, and what it’s actually like to use (yes, lucky us, we got it early.)
Future Renew is the result of 15 years of research with the University of Manchester, and features a totally new super peptide blend made to “biohack” the skin’s own regenerative processes. In other words, it’s designed to take what the skin does already and give it a turbo-charge by renewing more than 50 key proteins found within skin.
“The new peptide blend effectively tricks the skin into thinking that it has been damaged which leads to renewal of key proteins such as collagen and fibrillin,” explains No7’s head of science research Dr Mike Bell. “We believe it is going to be a game changer.”
If science wasn’t your strong suit at school, and we lost you at “peptides”, let’s skip to the cheat sheet which summarises the promised end result. The four Future Renew products have been put through their paces in No7’s biggest-ever testing programme, involving over 4,200 testers (more than 50% with skin of colour), and shown to reverse skin damage signs including fine lines, wrinkles, lack of luminosity, dryness, uneven skin tone and loss of firmness.
An impressive 97% of women in the clinical study had improvements in the appearance of three or more of these “damage signs”. Interestingly, No7 is steering away from the word “ageing” – partly because damage can happen at any age. And partly, we assume, because it doesn't want sales of Protect & Perfect to collapse! However, Dr Bell has said that trials where Future Renew was put on one half of the face, and a regular SPF on the other, gave “five years of wrinkle reversal” on the lucky No7 side.
You’d normally associate those kind of claims with ingredients such as retinol and vitamin C which are undeniably potent but can often trigger sensitivity. Yet No7 says that Future Renew is able to deliver visible results while being incredibly well tolerated and suitable for even sensitive skin.
What’s in the Future Renew range?
No7 Future Renew Damage Reversal Serum £42.95 here for 50ml or £34.95 here for 25ml
The serum is “proven to reverse visible signs of skin damage in four weeks,” says No7. Benefits seen by testers included improvements in fine lines and wrinkles, uneven tone and dryness. The serum combines the new super-peptide blend with niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, mulberry and hydrolysed rice proteins.
No7 Future Renew Damage Reversal SPF40 Day Cream £34.95 here
The day cream combines its super-peptide power with high levels of UV protection to deliver results on issues such as dryness and loss of elasticity. After a week of use, testers reported brighter, healthier, more supple skin.
No7 Future Renew Damage Reversal Night Cream £34.95 here
The super-peptide blend is combined with nourishing ingredients including shea butter, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid to improve the appearance of uneven tone and texture, dry skin and lost elasticity. Testers reported their skin felt supple and texture looked more even after one week of sleeps.
No7 Future Renew Damage Reversal Eye Cream £24.95 here
The big "damage reversal" results really kicked in at the eight week mark with this super peptide eye cream but testers did see an improvement in fine lines after just a week. After four weeks, wrinkles and puffiness were both reduced too.
No7 Future Renew: a beauty editor’s honest review
OK! beauty editor Lynne Hyland gives her verdict on the new No7 products
Full disclosure, No7 is preaching to the converted. I test a lot of skincare products, but No7’s Protect & Perfect range is one I often come back to, and whenever I do, I always think “Why did I stop?” So when I heard about this new addition to the No7 line-up, I was eager to try it.
No7 talks a big talk but ultimately it invests in the science to back it up. The studies behind Future Renew are clearly impressive, and a pretty excellent use of academia I’d say. The fact that dermatologists are paying close attention, and the research is about to be presented at three of the most prestigious skincare conferences in the world speaks volumes.
However, let’s not get carried away here. Future Renew is not “Botox in a jar”, whatever any attention-seekers on TikTok may claim. That’s plainly ridiculous. Almost as odd as No7 trying only to talk about products reversing “damage signs”. (Come on No7, call it for what it is! I’m fully content with being in my 40s, but I want signs of ageing reversed, thank you very much.)
I’ve only had the range for a week now, so it’s too soon to give my full opinion on its 'biohacking" abilities. I will say though that the textures alone are enough to ensure I will be sticking it out for the full eight weeks and reporting back.
By a stroke of good/bad fortune my skin was in a minor sulk over an AHA incident when the No7 products arrived, but it made no objection when I introduced Future Renew to my regime. A big tick for the “suitable for sensitive complexions” box then.
The scent (if you can even call it that) is very, very light, and the textures feel comforting. I especially like the day cream which feels very nourishing, and betrays no visible trace of its hefty SPF40 protection.
As I say, it’s only been a week but that’s when No7's testers saw first results. Right now my undereyes look… quite good, I guess? A bit smoother, I’d say. And my skin does generally feel softer and a bit more bouncy. Whether that’s a hydration thing at this stage, or an early super-peptide bonus I can’t really comment but I’ll take it either way. Protect & Perfect, you may well have competition in my affections.
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