Garnier Intensive 7 days Soothing Gel Cream

It's that time again - trying to find a body moisturiser that my skin agrees with, this is truly becoming a bore!
Up until recently I swore by E45, used it every day and absolutely loved it but, upon noticing an unusual breakout on my shoulders, I began to scrutinize the ingredients and, lo and behold, what did I find?
Paraffinum Liquidum i.e. Mineral Oil.
Now, I'd heard that Mineral Oil is an acnegenic ingredient and could clog pores, etc etc, but had never really payed much attention so, when looking for skincare products, I never knew what I was looking out for on the ingredients list. I'd never actively avoid mineral oil based products either, because I don't honestly believe that mineral oil is a problem - I've read various articles, blog posts and other such materials disproving the mineral oil myth and, I've gotta say, I no longer believe that mineral oil is a product to avoid.
Having said that, E45 is specifically designed for very dry skin and, although it's light and non greasy, it's still a heavy duty lotion that contains specific ingredients to lock in moisture, paraffinum liquidum being one of them and, in short, I think that mineral oils and other similar ingredients are just a tad too heavy for my skin, which is likely why it broke me out. On the other hand, I'd been using it for months without any issues and the breakout was only around my shoulder blade areas, maybe I've ditched a totally innocent product, we'll never know...

Anyway, I've now decided that I have to make a choice when it comes to body care - avoid fragrance or avoid mineral oil and other heavy ingredients? I have searched, searched, searched and searched for a body lotion that omits both ingredients but can't find anything purse friendly, I'm certainly not gonna spend over 20 quid for a product that I'll be using every single day and will need to regularly repurchase. So I picked this up the other day in Boots -

I decided to throw caution to the wind with this one and buy it, despite it containing parfum and I must say - my skin doesn't seem to mind, yay! I still use unperfumed shower gel and a very soft ramer sponge, I have no intention of going back to harsh cleansers and scratchy sponges (I don't think my skin will ever be happy with me if I did...)

So what do I think? Well, this product claims to keep your skin feeling moisturised up to 7 days after last application but I can't comment on that because I never go a week without moisturising, my skin needs to be moisturised after every bath/shower or it feels tight and uncomfortable. 

It also claims that it'll stop dry and sensitive skin becoming dehydrated throughout the day but, again, I can't comment on this because once I've applied my moisturiser in the morning my skin feels fine until my next shower. What I can comment on though is this products effectiveness as a regular moisturiser and it's claim that it'll 'absorb instantly' - the gel-cream texture does feel cooling when you apply it to your skin so if, like me, your skin feels hot and sensitized after a warm bath or shower, this product works well at cooling it down. Secondly, it does absorb almost instantly, so it's very handy for a rushed morning when you need to get dressed and go, although it doesn't dry so quickly that you're left without time to properly rub the product in.

It has a pleasant peach smell although it's a very synthetic smelling fragrance, but doesn't keep you smelling like a perfume shop for the whole day. My only gripe with Garnier Gel Cream is that, because it's a gel based product, you are left with what feels like a 'film' on your skin for most of the day, this is something I find with all gel based products though, so it's not a huge complaint.

Ultimately, this product leaves your skin feeling very soft and smooth, which is a huge plus and it definitely does the job of leaving your skin feeling suitably moisturised - what more could you want from a moisturiser?

Would I buy this product again? Probably not at it's full price, I picked this up as it was on offer. I am most certainly more of a lotion kinda girl when it comes to body moisturising.