Boots Expert Hair Lightener - Discontinued

Start here! Share your feelings
#1

I rely on this product quite heavily and have been told it’s being discontinued. It’s already out of stock in all stores and in their warehouses.

For me, there is no alternative. I used Jolen in the beginning and it’s a hassle for anything more than a small area and it’s tricky to get the mixture perfect. I also prefer the way the hair looks and feels after Boots Hair Lightener - it either bleaches or it doesn’t, never had the problem of hairs being semi bleached turning brown or orange.

I bought VEET and tried it today. I have to leave Boots on for about 30-40minutes for complete bleaching but that’s fine since it doesn’t burn/itch/irritate. VEET really itches with slight burning. I took it off after 5 mins on the part of my face I was trying it out on because it had got too irritating but it had worked. I wouldn’t use it on my face again, especially on the upper lip where the skin is delicate. On my body, I took it off after 10 mins and the hairs weren’t completely bleached but my skin was! So is the patch on my face slightly.
I really thought this could be a back up for body bleaching but I dare not leave it on longer and I don’t like the fact that it so noticeably bleaches my skin.

If you use Boots Expert Hair Lightener, or sympathise with people in my position, I urge you send an email to Boots Customer Care. The more people that complain, the more likely it is we can get it back:

http://www.boots.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContactView?storeId=10052&type=

In my opinion, the low sales they claim of are because of poor advertising. Many, many, women bleach. Most just use Jolen because it’s the same product their mother used. I’ve converted quite a few of my cousins to Boots brand because it’s so convenient, especially for the body.
Boots Expert Hair Lightener was always found tucked away in a bottom shelf and never even tried to compete with Jolen or Veet. It’s a real shame because it’s a superior product.

This is the reply they sent me:
"Thank you for contacting us about our Expert hair lightener. I can understand your disappointment that this is not available in our stores & online. I appreciate the time you have taken to contact us.

I have spoken to our product team and they have confirmed that it has now been discontinued. We are always reviewing our products to make sure we’re selling those that our customers want to buy. We will only ever discontinue items to introduce a new and improved range or if the products have not sold as well as expected.

If you would like some help finding an alternative product please speak to one of our people in store. They will be more than happy to help you.

I appreciate this is disappointing for you and I have forwarded a copy of your email to the product team. They have reassured me they will consider your feedback during their next product review.

Thank you once again for contacting us. If you need to contact us again, please quote your customer reference number 7409390. Attached is a questionnaire, which will help us make sure we have provided you with the very best customer care. If we can help you further at all please contact us on 0845 070 80 90.

Kind regards

M------- S---------

Boots Customer Care."

#2

That sucks! It sounds like a really great product… I would love to have tried it after reading your review!

#3

oh NO! no wonder i couldnt find it when i was back home at xmas.

luckily i still have quite some tubes left, though they are about 8 years old now! that stuff is brilliant, a case of slowly slowly, but it doesnt burn.

jolen- yuck- i bleached my fringe with that stuff, its that strong… awful for my skin.

veet- a good way to embarrass yourself in public! how red can you go?! takes me back to being 13 at school. just as irritating as their stinky hair removal cream.

so what now? i live in the netherlands now and was looking for something similar last week as i wanna start doing my arms so need industrial-sized portions. found nothing, but a lot of veet crap. think its actually rebranded immmac.

im gonna write to boots too. it was the only own-brand product from them that i liked! and you know new and improved means crap.

#4

Hey miss_m,

Do write or email! I’m writing another letter with a comparison table against my experience with Veet and Jolen to show them in detail that they have a far superior product. They just needed to market it better.

I dunno what I’m gonna do without this stuff. I just have the tubes I’m currently using. I bleach my whole beard and neck area with this, weekly. Even though I have had electrolysis and am still having it, I never expected to stop bleaching.
Take for example, my upper lip. I am now content with the reduction electrolysis has granted me but I still bleach as my hair is black and even though what’s left is short and fine, it will be noticeable if I don’t. I don’t want a completely hairless face!
I was going for the same on the rest of my face - acceptable reduction of hair, continuing to hide what’s left which bleach.

Veet is out of the question now, so back to try Jolen once again. I hope it’s better than I remember. Sigh.

#5

i wrote to them telling them it was a flawless product but they said they couldnt help and didnt know when it was coming back into production. i mentioned it was a far superior product to its competitors. who knows?

you never expected to stop bleaching even after electrolysis? well, i did! id rather have no fuzz on my upper lip and it look weird, than to have these horrible fine black hairs that reach upto my nose. under bright light i look like a yeti. for me they also dont bleach well for some reason.

i cant find my camera, i wanted to post some pics to see what people thought my chances were of getting rid of them. i am just back from a session, and the area swelled per normal, and little white bumps came in the places where those super-fine hairs were. now they have sorta crystalized, if that makes sense. again the electrolygist (?) said you can better bleach or wax them, they are too fine and your skin is reacting, i cant turn the machine down any lower as it wont get the hairs out.

this is so disappointing for me. especially as i have finally found a tech i am happy with. many i spoke with said they wont treat fine hairs, its even this companys policy, at least she is trying but im so worried as the fuzz is turning dark, and most likely into terminal?? hairs.

as it was only a half hour session there is still a lot of hair there, even though shes fast. and i have to pace my sessions as only so much is covered by insurance and i dont wanna go over and pay from my pocket.

also i dont like to bleach inbetween sessions as i feel the techs have less chance of seeing the short, troublesome hairs if they are blonde.

sigh…

#6

Check out eBay. I was buying a mousse and a tinted moisturizer on eBay for 2 years after they were discontinued.

#7

I emailed Boots after seeing your post last week & at first all they said was that they had spoken to their supplier & weren’t sure when it would be back in stock. I sent a reply pointing out how my question was actually about whether it had been discontinued & not asking when it would be back in stock, & also saying how disappointed I would be if it was true. I got a response from a different person confirming that it had been discontinued due to it not selling as well as expected.

I’m gutted this has happened as I too rely on it heavily, obviously me buying at least 1 pack a week wasn’t enough of a boost to sales!

I’ve tried Veet in the past but seem to remember it not being a pleasant experience! Jolen is a nightmare to prepare compared to the Boots version & I also find it breaks up on the skin very easily. Having said that I’ve had a bit of time on my hands this week & have found that mixing a some light moisturiser in with it helps improve the consistency, making it easier to prepare & apply. Also, I don’t think you need to use quite as much powder as stated in the directions if you’re prepared to leave it on for longer.

Let’s hope we see a new product on the market soon.

#8

Hey kopkrusader, I’m glad you emailed. I really want to see this product back as well.

The replies are indeed frustrating. I emailed more than once and received different replies both times. Is the expert range just be rebranded or is this particular product disappearing for good? Still don’t know for sure.

As I mentioned, I’m going to try out Jolen once again and fill in the rest of the comparison table I have made for Boots Expert and Veet so far. This way it’s easy to see that on every point (except perhaps time needed on the skin), Boots wins. I’m going to post this directly to head office. Along with a links to all the reviews online.

I think it would help if more people did this - highlighting exactly why it’s so good.

I believe, if they did rebrand the product - package so it seems less low budget, advertise to its strengths (safe and effective, gradually achieves desired results), actually put it next to jolen rather than on the bottom shelf, get it in some magazines in their usual ‘prepare your body for this summer’ section, they would see results.

You have some tips for the Jolen, which I intend to try this weekend. Thanks a lot :slight_smile:

#9

Nopes, I didn’t. I never intended to go that far with electrolysis. It’s a combination of reasons.

I don’t think I want a completely hairless face. If I stopped bleaching, I would have to remove it all since my hair is very dark against light skin. I know what difference bleaching the tiny hairs makes - even if you can’t see the hairs very well, when they are black they cause a greyish tinge to the skin. For example, when I used to wax my arms, there was always a shade difference between my shoulder area and arm because of the tiny hairs, bleaching eliminated this.
I have achieved the desired results on my upper lip with electrolysis. What is left is short, fine and bleaches very well. From a normal distance, I can’t see it in the mirror, only if I’m a few inches away and even then it’s not offensive to me. I want to get the same results on the rest of my face and I will be happy.

I also do not want to unnecessarily (for me) spend money and time removing these hairs which would be hardly noticeable when bleached, when instead I could put my money and time towards electrolysis on my stomach, chest, hands, arms, feet, finish my thighs - places that I can’t bleach or are still more noticeable post bleaching.

#10

I tried regular Jolen yesterday on one cheek. It’s just as difficult to apply as I remember, due to the thick consistency. Also, it’s hard to tell if you the right amount of activator.
It kinda worked on my face but not as well as Boots. I think it’s partly because it dries very quickly and I’m sure it is no longer effective once it dries… hence keeping it on longer didn’t make any difference. It also itches a fair bit but not in the burning way Veet does.
I would have to use a lot to do my whole face and neck every week. The 2x25ml Boots tubes which I used solely for my face lasted quite a few months, with weekly usage.

I tried Veet on my body again. Last time, it didn’t do the slightly thicker hairs in the middle of my chest. I left it on for longer this time and also applied it more thickly. However, all it did was bleach my skin even more, the hairs may have gotten slightly lighter but definitely not blonde.

I’m going to try and get hold of some Andrea cream bleach and try that out as I have read more positive things.

#11

Hey all…

I’ve also used this product for around 5 years and found it to be the best on the market. Jolen simply doesn’t work, it’s not half as effective I found when compared to the Boots Expert range.

I literally walked into a store today and saw they had no stock whatsoever. I then came home, checked online and it was clear that’s totally out of stock too - I can’t believe they’ve discontinued this product, surely it would have been sensible to notify customers in some way - even if it just meant putting a ‘notice strip’ next to the price or something in each of their stores, just to allow people to stock up on the item before completely taking it off of the shelves?

I too have emailed Boots, not sure what good it’ll do but we’ll see! I was going to try Veet but I’ve read some pretty bad reviews about it and it’s also around £10 (on offer) for 2 boxes of it, much more expensive than the Boots product. I don’t mind paying more if it works, but I’m pretty sure it won’t after reading all the reviews.

Does anyone know if they’re planning to replace this item with something similar? I’m guessing not if they say the reason for taking it off of the market was because of low sales?

#12

Just a little update:

I’ve just been into a local Boots store, and although the 2 x 50ml option was totally out of stock, the 2 x 25ml options WERE in stock.

I’ve also received this email from a Boots rep, I’m not sure how valid it is, she sent me two contradictory emails, one saying the product is definitely discontinued due to low sales, and then the following a few minutes later!

"Thanks for contacting us about the Expert hair lightener. I can understand your concerns that you have been unable to find this in your local store recently.

You will be pleased to know that the product is still available, however you may have experienced difficulty finding the exact product you are used to as we have made some changes and improvements to the product. The code for the new product is (insert item code) this may help you to locate it in store. If you have any problems finding it in store please speak to one of our people. They will be more than happy to help you.

Thanks once again for contacting us. Attached is a questionnaire, which will help us make sure we’ve provided you with the very best customer care. If we can help you further at all please contact our Customer Care Team on 0845 070 80 90.

Kind regards

Boots Customer Care. "

PS No idea what the ‘item code’ is, clearly they don’t proof-read their replies before sending!

#13

The reason other products are higher on the shelf is because they spend money on marketing reps and give the stores commission to do it.

#14

I have no idea re: if it will be replaced.

This is one of the questions I asked directly but it was avoided. I guess the people answering the emails just don’t know.

I have a tiny hope that maybe their hair removal range is being rebranded as all the hair removal products are out of stock on the website. Who knows if this will include the hair lightener but if lots of people make a fuss, it may change things.

I have tried my best, letting everyone I know of this and messaging random people on the internet who gave it a positive review, urging them to contact Boots.

LAgirl - good point but this is a Boots own brand product in their own stores. Surely they will want to push it an alternative to other brands? Putting it on the bottom shelf makes it seem like they have no faith in it.
I believe they just down realise what a good product they have on their hands.

Annoyed - Did you buy them all? If not, would you consider buying them for me? PM me if so :slight_smile:

#15

I noticed in my local Boots last week that the whole Expert hair removal range has been rebranded as Smooth Care which dashed any remaining hope I had as the word smooth implies hair removal only. However I’ve been in today & there is now a Smooth Care Hair Lightener, it felt like Christmas!!! It comes in 2 x 25ml or 2 x 50ml in a green box exactly the same size as the Expert boxes,& would appear to be the Expert version rebranded. It doesn’t appear to be available on the website yet otherwise I’d post a link, but I live in Cornwall so if it’s reached us I’d imagine it’ll be available everywhere.

It’s nice to know Boots staff are so well informed about their product ranges, I wish I’d kept my emails from them as I’d send another one asking why they weren’t aware of the rebrand. Clearly the didn’t discontinue the Expert version due to poor sales as why would they bring out a new version!

Happy, happy, happy - hope you manage to find some

#16

stoppit&tidyup - I didn’t buy them all, I did consider it though! Got a couple of boxes, and then I was just gonna move over to Veet or something. I do also have a ‘Boots Smooth Skin’ IPL thing - not used it yet believe it or not! (Only had it 6 months so maybe I should start soon :wink: ha) They had about 4/5 boxes in my local store, so if they have it, I’d like to think other stores still have a little stock left.

kopkrusader - Hopefully they’ve not changed it in any way, it’s ideal as it was for little touch-ups and so on!

#17

Hey kopkrusader - That’s excellent news! Thanks for sharing. It’s seriously a weight off my mind. I thought I was over the days of wasting my sunday’s on hair removal, since I no longer need to wax due to my laser treatments. The thought of being back to messing around with Jolen for ages for inferior results was getting me down. There’s no way I’d easily be able to bleach my torso with that!

I too am annoyed with the Boots Customer Service. I have the emails, so am definitely going to complain!
For one, I’ve wasted over £10 and my time buying and trying Veet and Jolen. Grr!