NIVEA Hydration Primer VS NIVEA MEN Post Shave Balm

Lets begin the primer battle off. The two products I'll be comparing will be the NIVEA daily essentials hydrating primer and also the NIVEA MEN Post shave balm. Now before I get into it, let me just start by saying yes I know the after shave balm is not a primer, nor was it created for a priming purpose. However! This is a product which is slowly becoming more and more popular with women. The popularity for this product has spiralled. Lets put that to one side for the moment though and get into the nitty gritty about the two products.

Now the NIVEA hydration primer was one I really looked forward to trying. I got mine from Boots, I think I got mine when it was on offer. On the Boots website at the minute its retailing for £4.99 for a 50ml jar. I suffer from eczema which makes my skin super sensitive and dry, which means I find it hard to find skincare and primers that don't affect it. This product doubles up as a hydrating primer, so I thought this would be great as alot of products dry my skin out more. The consistency of it is really strange. When you look in the jar, it looks like a creamy formula like a face cream, but then when you dip your finger in to get product its abit slimy and has an oily texture. Its really thin though, and soaks in quickly after application.

I had high expectations for this product, but it really let me down. From the minute you take the lid off, a perfumey scent hits you. When you smell it closely, it's like a mix of perfume and a moisturiser. Normally things like that are nice, who doesn't like nice smelling face products, but this was instant alarm bells for me. Because of my temperamental skin I already know that anything with perfume in, will irritate it. But you don't know unless you try it right? When I put it on my face at first it was ok, but then a few seconds after I'd fully rubbed it in, it felt like my face was tightening. After it had soaked in all the way it did start to sting my face. Now the one I got was actually meant for sensitive skin, so this surprised me. I've tried the primer a few times since to see if it was just that time it happened, and it pretty much did the same thing every time. On occasions when my skin wasn't so dry, I could keep it on but I felt like it dried my skin out after a few hours which made my make-up cling in places it didn't normally, like around the sides of my mouth and between my brows. It doesn't do alot pore wise, but this primer isn't designed to fill in pores or fine lines, it's aim is to help longevity of your make-up.

Personally I wouldn't recommend this product for those with dry skin, as not only did it irritate my skin it also didn't do much in terms of making my make-up last longer. I found it made my foundation patchy around my jaw line and my chin as the day went on. This product has just sat and collected dust since. Because of the fact it felt quite drying on my skin, this product might be better for people with oily skin, but those of you out there with dry skin I'd say to definitely avoid.

I am abit biased though because the NIVEA MEN post shave balm is now one of my holy grail products. This product is available in most places but I bought mine from tesco. The retail price for this product is £5 for a 100ml bottle. Now comparing to the other primer which is £4.99 the extra penny is worth it as you get double the product. I use this as a primer every time I apply my make-up. Now this product obviously wasn't created to be used as a face primer, but it has glycerin as a main ingredient which helps your makeup stick. Glycerine helps the skin look hydrated and glowy as it attracts water and oxygen to the skin. This primer has a milky look to it and a very thin consistency, which makes it very lightweight. Primers which are more silicone based clog pores alot more but the NIVEA aftershave balm sinks into the skin, but not so much that it clogs up the skin. The smell is pleasent aswell, even though a few people have said they don't think it smells like anything I think it smells like aftershave. Now I know just the smell 'aftershave' is a very broad smell, but just imagine how a man smells when they've got ready for a night out and they've put on a lot of aftershave. That's what it smells like. When writing a blog, explaining smells is one of the hardest things, but I try my best.

When applied to the skin, it has a very cooling effect which is obviously expected as it's an after shave balm. You only need a small amount of this to use over your whole face. The best thing to do with this product is keep rubbing it into the skin, until it becomes tacky. This product doesn't irritate my skin which was a massive plus for my dry sensitive skin. But I think this product would also be good for those with oily skin. I love this product so much I have 2 bottles of it and I also bought my boyfriend one for Christmas. I recommend this product on a daily basis to everyone who can stand listening to my rambles for more than five minutes and I recommend this to all of you out there. Men or women this has benefits for both, and over time the glycerin in this product helps with anti ageing and now who doesn't want that, whether your a man or a woman.

I would fully recommend the NIVEA aftershave balm for all skin types, young or old and I would only recommend the NIVEA hydrating primer to those of you that don't have bad dry and sensitive skin.