When No7 launched in 1935 its advertisements featured real women in liberating poses. Society still hadn’t fully accepted women wearing trousers in the 1930s, so this representation helped to promote social freedom and advancement.
In 1937, when Boots took its first tentative steps into colour cosmetics, it was the No7 consultants who the male-dominated Formula Committee turned to for guidance. Their recommendations were adopted and became the brand’s first make-up products.
Phyllis Digby Morton, a well-known journalist and broadcaster, was the face behind the brand’s first re-launch in 1952. Morton was one of just a few successful women in journalism and her supportive advice columns aired taboo subjects such as grief and loneliness. During the Second World War, she provided insights to the Ministry of Labour to help recruit women into the workforce.
In 2011, No7 made the decision not to airbrush or photoshop any images used in its marketing campaigns. Instead, models and products were shown as they really were. This, of course, holds true today as part of the brand’s True Beauty Promise.
In 2021 No7 launched Unstoppable Together in the height of the ‘she-cession’ to give every woman the support, confidence and momentum to live life on their own terms. The brand collaborated with fantastic partners, including Allbright in the UK and Hello Sunshine in the US, to create the No7 Academy which gives women exclusive access to tools and resources to help support in their working lives. In the UK No7 also worked with The Female Lead to host industry leading conversations, including the cultural effects of the menopause and ageism in the workplace.
We are the allies of brilliant women everywhere. We embrace life together with confidence and self-belief.
Together, we’ve come too far to only come this far.