Nivea Men's After Shave Balm

          If you're a fan of Youtube makeup tutorials then you've definitely heard about the product we're going to talk about today. Youtube beauty guru Nikkie Tutorials introduced the makeup world to her not so conventional primer. She accidentally discovered that the Nivea Men's After Shave Balm can be used as a primer under makeup. And after using it for about a month we can finally tell you if this aftershave balm is worth all the hype.

          So why would you even consider buying a men's product and using it as a primer rather than just using a primer that's already made to go under makeup? Well because the Nivea Men's After Shave Balm costs $5-6 for 3.3 oz while most primers sold at makeup stores cost around $37 for 1 oz. You definitely get a lot of product for the amount you're paying.

          After using it under a few different foundations we had difficulty seeing why everyone seems to be obsessed with this after shave balm. It has a silicon-y consistency and it looks like a lot of the primers you probably already own from makeup stores. Nikkie recommends rubbing it into your skin until it feels tacky, so basically until it doesn't have a liquid consistency anymore and feels sticky.

          Although it didn't minimize or eliminate the look of pores much, we found that it does make our makeup last longer throughout the day. Since Glycerin is one of the ingredients in this product it's no surprise that it helped our makeup last longer. Glycerin is actually found in a lot of makeup products including setting sprays because it works like a binding agent, so it helps stuff stick together.

          The main issue I had with this after shave balm is that I have combination skin type, so I usually don't get too dry or oily based on what makeup products I use, but every time I used this after shave balm and applied my foundation over it, I found that it dried out my skin a lot. So my makeup looked pretty matte and started to settle into some lines throughout my face. For someone like me who likes a dewy foundation look, this after shave balm is a little upsetting. But if you're really oily this might help you stay matte all day long!

          One last issue we had with this after shave balm is that it does have a slight men's product scent to it (duh). If you purchase the after shave balm in "Sensitive" the smell is less noticeable. And even though the scent basically goes away after a few minutes of applying it to your face, we think it might still be a bit strong for people who are sensitive to scents.

          So what's our final verdict? We think that the Nivea Men's After Shave Balm is a pretty good basic primer for everyday use and is definitely worth giving a try!    

Nivea Men's After Shave Balm: $5.59