Seven Seas Perfect7 Woman: The Verdict

I’ve been taking Seven Seas Perfect7 for Women now for just under 2 months so it’s time to check on the results and compare it to when I first started. As a reminder, Perfect7 claims to support skin and nails, hair, energy, brain, vision, heart and hormonal activity. I’m hoping for elegant nails, glossy hair, a brainier brain, 20/20 vision and a good horse-strong heart…

I suffer from stress-aggravated eczema (this is a fairly new thing and only decided to show up about 6 months ago although it’s only recently been diagnosed) – it occurs inside my elbows, around my eyes, around my mouth and my neck can get really itchy too. Even if I don’t itch, I can wake up to really puffy cracked eyes (strangely only my left one – help, I’m lopsided!). As a result, I’m seeing a dermatologist, regularly pay Hayley Pedrick a Harley Street nutritionist a visit, have acupuncture as often as I can and try as eat as nourishing foods as possible. Seeing that one of the external signs of a healthy body is good skin, Perfect7 Woman is designed to provide you with nutrients to help maintain normal skin and nails from the inside. So let’s see if it’s done it’s job!

The pills are LARGE. And there are two of them – one made of gelatin and containing fish oil (sort of goes against my January Veganuary mission. Oops) and the other is a hard pill that sometimes just sits in my mouth no matter how hard I try to swallow; I’ve never been very good at pill taking.

In addition, Perfect7 contains marine oils to help maintain normal heart and brain function, and vitamins and minerals to help contribute to reducing tiredness and fatigue. I’ve certainly felt less tired in January although is that Pefect7 or the fact that I’ve been eating a more varied diet and been trying to get more sleep? Or a combination of the two? Without isolating Perfect7 as a variable it’s impossible to tell.

As for my skin, it’s rather disobedient; during December and January, it’s alternated between looking good, flaky eyes and sore skin around my mouth. I don’t think this is something that supplements can ‘fix’ although I’m glad I’m taking them – in my mind, every little bit helps!

In terms of any differences or improvements, I think continued use would need to be required. I know that at a recent personal training session several people guessed my aged at 27 or below (I’m 32) so that was a highlight (it was a lot better than when a friend’s young child asked me if I’d ever seen a real life dinosaur but let’s forget about that). From a comfort point of view, it helps that I know I’m adding essential vitamins and minerals to my diet although if I were going to be pernickety, I’d probably book in a blood test first to work out what I’m actually deficient in and take it from there.

Final Thoughts

• Men and women are not the same – especially when it comes to ageing. This is why Seven Seas has developed two distinct formulations for Perfect7 Woman and Perfect7 Man which I like – men and women are very different in terms of the different minerals and nutrients they need so having separate supplements makes sense to me.
• It goes without saying that supplements aren’t a replacement for a healthy diet. They’re not a quick fix and they can’t magically cancel out that coke and crisps you snacked on yesterday. I really believe that you need to be eating a good diet alongside this. The way I see it, Perfect7 is just filling in the gaps of your nutritional needs; variety is key and whilst Perfect7 is stated as ‘a unique blend of marine oils, rich in Omega-3, and key vitamins and minerals’, getting nutrients naturally from food is more natural – some of these may be man-made.
• Perfect7 is fish oil and a multivitamin. As a result, I’d advise anyone thinking of adding this to their diet to be aware of any supplements they’re already taking. At the time, I was taking vitamin A, vitamin D, magnesium and natural anti-inflammatory supplements which I’ve temporarily stopped for the duration of this. Having spoken to a dietician recently, she said that it was amazing how people came to her and after having blood tests realized they had overdosed on certain vitamins or minerals, mainly because they hadn’t read up on what they were taking or the doses.
• I’m getting older. And that is a scary thought. Thinking about supplements and diet has also made me more aware of what I’m putting into my body currently and what I should be eating. Supplements may be one way to narrow the gaps of vitamins and minerals that I’m missing through my diet.

I guess the main question would be, will I continue taking them? As I’m trying to educate myself and take control of my diet, all I can say is I’m not sure yet; I’m going to take a food diary along to my nutritionist and together work out what I’m missing and try and plug the gaps with food rather than supplements. But I know as a busy Londoner, sometimes it’s just not that easy and for anyone who suspects their diet is a little imbalanced, taking supplements may be a good short-term fix.

For more information, visit www.perfect7.co.uk

This is a sponsored blog post. All opinions are my own.