Nivea Men's Cooling Sensitive Post Shave Balm as a primer...worth the hype?

Nivea Men's Cooling Sensitive Post Shave Balm as a primer...worth the hype?

Sunday, 10 July 2016

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There has been a ton of hype surrounding Nivea Men's Cooling Post Shave Balm. Ever since Nikkie, from Nikkietutorials, brought it to the world's attention, it's become one of the most highly sort after primers on the high street. Even being dubbed 'the world's best primer', by the Daily Mail so let's not get too excited. After testing it out for the past 5 weeks I thought that the time was ripe to throw my 2 pence into the mix. With the hope of answering the question, with all this hype surrounding it, is it really worth it? 

In a word... Yes! It's so worth the hype! This stuff is amazing. It's a light weight, non-greasy, liquid balm that is quickly absorbed into the skin. The balm is alcohol free and enriched with Seaweed and Chamomile to gently calm redness and relieve irritation. It doesn't contain any silicon so it doesn't have that plastic-y, silicon feel to it. In fact it feels really nice on the skin, really cooling and soothing, and it dries down almost instantly to a smooth, matte base that's perfect for make up. It has a very masculine scent to it, like a lot of scented products I can see this being a bit of a love/hate thing. Personally I love the way it smells, it's kind of a generic sexy man scent, but I really like it. For those who don't thought, it doesn't stick around very long once it's been rubbed into the skin.

One of the primary ingredients used is glycerine, an ingredient found in most primers. Glycerine makes the skin tacky, but not sticky, so that any make up applied is going to stick around for a while. Since using it I have seen a noticeable increase in my make up's wear time. It keeps everything in place and looking good for ages. All day and well into the night. I've really enjoyed using this product, the only teeny tiny niggle I have with it is the packaging. It's housed in a rather hefty porcelain bottle, which is really not ideal, for travelling or if you're especially clumsy like me. It also doesn't have a pump which means that wastage is a problem, especially when you end up accidentally  spilling half of it all down yourself and onto the floor. Not that I'm speaking from experience...

Now I've read some rave reviews and I've read some really bad reviews of this product and I just think, like everything, this will work or not work for you depending on your skin type. I have very sensitive, sometimes acne prone skin that errs on the drier side of things, so it works really well for me. But for any oily skinned lads or lasses I can't see this working for you. However if you have skin like me, sensitive or normal to dry,  then it will work really well for you. I'm such a big fan of it, it really does work wonders as a primer. Nivea Men's Cooling Post Shave Balm is only £5.35 for 100ml (a fricking steal) from Boots

Have you tried Nivea Men's Cooling Post Shave Balm as a primer? What did you think? Let me know by commenting below, on twitter, or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin', snapchat -search lolarocknroses - & pinterest for regular updates.

Love love love xxx

L'Oréal Paris Infallible Mattifying Base Review

L'Oréal Paris Infallible Mattifying Base Review

Thursday, 25 June 2015

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Hi Guys! I hope everyone's having a lovely week and enjoying the sunshine. Today I'm gonna share my thoughts on L'Oréal Paris's Infallible Mattifying Base with you lovely people.

Now for me primer is one of those products that I'm quite happy to skip, unless I need my make up to last a particularly long time but other than that I don't really use it. However I wore this to my brother's wedding and it kept my make up in place all day without even a hint of shine, we're talking a good 14/15 hours here.

The product itself is a fast absorbing, super light weight gel formula that leaves the skin smooth, matte and evenly textured. It promises all day comfort whilst enhancing foundation and neutralising shine. But does it deliver?

Yes. Yes it does.

I was expecting it to feel quite silicon-y and sticky but that is so not the case. When first applied it feels quite wet, which is really strange for a mattifying product, but it absorbs into the skin ridiculously quickly. It evens out any bumpiness, takes care of shine, leaves the skin velvety smooth and acts as the perfect base for flawless foundation. It's also incredibly gentle on the skin whilst still adding some serious staying power to my make up. It keeps my make up in place for hours without being the least bit drying.

My experience with products that mattify the skin have usually been quite negative. Being quite dry skinned shininess isn't usually a problem for me but at the times when it has been I've really not had great experiences with mattifying formulas. I've found them to be quite harsh; stripping and drying, which is a  pretty serious problem for those of us with sensitive skin, and have left my skin dehydrated and in dire need of some moisture. Normally I avoid mattifying base products like the plague for this very reason. However summer is now upon us and this primer has been fantastic in combating sweat induced shine and really locks in my make up, keeping it in place for hours on end. I've been using it on an almost daily basis and I love it. It's great for those of us with drier skin types who only have occasional shininess but would work really well for oilier skin types.

One of my favourite things about it, other than it's awesome, is the packaging, which is fantastic. It comes in a really handy, see through, squeezy tube with a thin nozzle that dispenses the perfect amount of product. The tube is super handy for travelling but it also shows you how much you've got left - this is one of my biggest bugbears, I HATE it when you can't see when you've run out! - The best thing though is that it gives you detailed descriptions of the product, including the texture, what it does and how to use it, which I think is the best idea ever and should be on all make up. Overall it's amazing! Actually amazing.

I was so impressed with this product and I haven't even mentioned the super low price point yet! Seriously I would expect this kind of performance from a much more expensive, higher end product but this set me back a mere £6.99. So it's a bargain too!

Have you tried L'Oréal's Infallible Mattifying Base? What did you think? Let me know on twitter, by commenting below or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin', snapchat - search lolarocknroses & pinterest for daily updates.

Love love love xxx