Nivea Men Sensitive Post Shave Balm as primer?

by Mariga Sheedy, Skin Essentials Ltd.

pic: nivea.ie

In the last couple of weeks or so there has been a bit of a ‘thing’ doing the rounds on the internet and even in some print media.

That thing is Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm. As a primer. For under makeup.

As so many of you have asked for my thoughts on this I thought that a blog post was the best way to address it as I was beginning to get RSI writing it out so many times 🙂

I have no idea why this has taken off as a thing.

There are plenty of good makeup primers available on the market, we don’t need to repurpose some other product. Now, I’m all for multi functionality in my products but usually I need a reason!

Looking at the ingredients of the balm (in full below), it is just a basic water/glycerin base into which has been added a few non-interesting extracts and some perfume.

What’s the point of this?

It is the inclusion of glycerin and tapioca starch that probably gives the ‘tackiness’ that is being talked about. You could just add a drop of glycerin to your regular moisturiser occasionally to get the same effect but if your skincare was right for your skin, and you were using it consistently, you would not need a primer at all. Even a proper one.

What’s bad?

Fragrance is a no-no, as all our Skin Essentials by Mariga tribe know very well. It will irritate, prematurely age and probably redden your skin. Take a look at any youtube bloggers recommending this product. See any redness in the skin? Mmm Hmm.

Also, methylisothiazolinone is a shocking inclusion in this product. It is a known irritant and affects up to 10% of users adversely. The dermatological world is calling this an allergen of epidemic proportions.

I wrote an article about this maybe two years ago when it first came to my attention, and you can be sure that international skincare companies weren’t behind the curve in learning about it either, so to see this still being used in skincare in 2016 is unforgivable.

Conclusions:

1. Don’t use this, either as a makeup primer or as an aftershave balm.
2. Take skincare advice only from professionals. The internet is not a skincare professional. Always consider the source.
3. See what ingredients you SHOULD include in your skincare here

Full Ingredients:

Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Chamomilla Recuitita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tapioca Starch, Triceteareth-4 Phosphate, Maltodextrin, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Methylisothiazolinone, Piroctone Olamine, Fragrance

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