Social media made me do it!

The Nivea Men’s Post Shave Balm is some pretty hyped up stuff.

I wouldn’t get into the history of how this men’s product started getting touted as this amazing makeup primer since I’m sure we’ve all heard it. I always saw people making preorders to buy this from overseas and stuff, so I assumed that we didn’t have it in Malaysia. But it turns out that we actually do (I got mine at Giant, but I’ll bet it’s at all the pharmacies as well. Make sure to look for it in the men’s section), but only the regular version and not the one for sensitive skin.

I’m not one for impulsive purchases but since I was in the middle of finals and was in desperate need for a pick me up, I decided to give it a try.

First thing’s first– this stuff smells like a dude. One whiff and I was like oh God it smells like my dad (on a side note, my dad has literally never worn moisturiser a day in his life! He also uses exfoliating cleansers with the beads everyday. MAJOR side eye). The smell tends to linger too. But what can I say? Nivea never intended for this product to be for me, so I can’t complain.

Big mouth.

Aside from that, the packaging is hugely inconvenient. It comes in a somewhat heavy ceramic bottle with only a huge ass mouth at the top where you have to pour the product out– similar to the Revlon Colorstay Foundation— making it difficult to control the amount you want. Each time I try I end up pouring out too much, so what I do is cover the mouth with my fingers, tip the bottle over then use the amount which got stuck on.

With this stuff, you’d be better off using too little rather than too much. The first time I tried it, I was using an excessive amount and found that my foundation (it was the MAC Face & Body, which I applied with my hands) balled up. I was about ready to write it off right there, but I’ve since tried it out with a smaller amount and with less-moisturising foundations and it worked a lot better! (Applying it with a sponge where you can avoid all rubbing motions will also help to prevent the balling-up problem.)

Apparently this version– the regular, non-sensitive one– is better for dry skin. This I agree with. My skin drinks up moisturiser almost instantly, so by the time I sit down to apply foundation my skin is already dryer than the Sahara and prone to flakes. The Nivea Post Shave Balm works like a moisturising primer, the way my Innisfree Moisturising Base does, to give me a smooth, well-hydrated base and prevent my foundation from clinging to dry patches.

But that’s pretty much it, actually. It doesn’t do anything that the aforementioned Innisfree base, or a good non-drying sunblock or even just a second layer of moisturiser can. I’ve seen reviews where people said it helped them keep their makeup on longer and that it prevented oiliness and kept them looking fresh all day and I’m just like… where??? Outside of preventing flakes, it didn’t really do anything else for me. My face got oily in a couple of hours just as it would without any base at all.

I really wanted to love this stuff as much as everyone else did– plus it’s so cheap– but in the end I have to say that this hugely hyped-up product didn’t do much for me. Apparently the Sensitive version is better but that isn’t easily attainable and I really do not want to go through all the trouble of getting something which wasn’t even formulated to be a primer in the first place.

I’m still going to use up my bottle, though, since I don’t like being wasteful but I’m not going to make it part of my daily repertoire. I already have a moisturising primer which doesn’t smell like a man. If you don’t already have a moisturising primer and would like to purchase one, I’d still advice you to proceed with caution with this one. As I am writing this I suddenly recall that what looks to be the start of a zit on my forehead could very well be attributed to this product and its strong-ass scent. I’m going to wait for that to go away first then start using it again and if I develop another zit I’ll know that the Nivea Post Shave Balm and I were not meant to be.

I could still give it to my dad, though. He could use a moisturiser.

The Nivea Men’s Post Shave Balm is available for RM22.90 at all major outlets where Nivea products are sold. So no, you wouldn’t find it at the kedai runcit round the corner.