On Sunday 25 April 2021, the story of No7’s rich beauty heritage was told in a four page feature published in the Mail On Sunday supplement, You magazine.
With the headline “The 125-Year-Old Beauty Icon” the feature was inspired by a visit to Boots UK Nottingham archives by the paper’s Beauty Director Edwina Ings-Chambers. The story begins with Florence Boot and the impact she had on high street beauty, calling her “Boots’ original influencer” and how her constant championing of women and inclusivity led to the creation of No7.
Edwina Ings-Chambers also dives into No7’s brand history, noting where the name came from and how “even then, adverts focussed on the idea that the same rigorous testing went into [No7] products as [Boots] medicine”.
Senior No7 Beauty Company Archive and Records Manager archivist Sophie Clapp is quoted extensively and many archive images help to bring the story to life.
Highlights include:
- References to Florence’s beauty plans making Boots a destination and “urban spaces for women to meet”
- No7 adverts through the ages that “show what a beauty trailblazer it has been”
- A timeline of No7 products through the ages entitled “How a beauty star was born” – with a mention of Macmillan and BBC’s Horizon (featuring Protect & Perfect Intense ADVANCED Serum), and calling out that as far back as 1935 “the same rigorous testing went into their beauty products as their medicine”
- Heritage No7 adverts and product shots
- It quotes letters and poems written by Florence to / about the Boots’ trailblazing female workforce and details her commitment to equal opportunities and staff welfare
- “It’s been our favourite high-street chemist for more than a century” and references to Jesse being “all about making healthcare affordable to everyone”
You can read the full article here.
