I love natural products; I feel that when they’re done well they really do stand out above so many other products; I don’t use them exclusively but when I find a natural product that works, I’m happier to use that than a product that possibly isn’t quite as natural - or not at all, in some cases! This is the reason I jumped at the chance to try out the new Nivea ‘Pure & Natural’ range, a set of products designed to care for your skin (and also '
deliver incredible results'), naturally and affordably.
The range is 95% natural – that’s not bad going in my book, especially for a brand that isn’t primarily situated in the natural skincare market. I’ve had a look at the ingredients list and there doesn’t appear to be anything too scary in there – no parabens, silicones, colourants or mineral oils - fab!
The lead ingredient in this range is Argan Oil, said to be a natural source of Vitamin E, rich in essential fatty acids, and a natural antioxidant – I’m no scientist but that sounds pretty good to me.
Now onto the products and what I thought of them...
Firstly, the absolute stand out product for me – the
Hand Cream (£3.05, 100ml)! This is seriously amazing; it’s almost instantly absorbed (yes really), doesn’t feel at all greasy or sticky and does a brilliant job of moisturising – plus it smells gorgeous (more about this nearer to the end of this post, as the scent carries out through the range).
They say the ‘hero ingredient’ in this product is the Argan Oil as this ‘gives hands intense moisture and free radical protection’, and well I can’t really say if I am getting free radical protection but I really do feel like this moisturises intensely and will actually continue buying this as I love the silky soft feeling on my hands when using it.
I think my second favourite product is the
Milk & Honey Lip Balm (£1.99 4.8g); it smells beautiful (it’s the only product with a different scent to the rest of the range) and actually, it reminds me a little of Lush Honey Trap (which also smells delicious). I don’t really think that it has a taste, but that’s fine with me as it means I don’t lick it off before it has had a chance to do its work!
My lips felt moisturised without being sticky and the balm also lasted a good length of time on my lips without me feeling the need to reapply. This has been by my side ever since I received it, and I will be purchasing another when I’ve used this one up!
The
Cleansing Lotion (£3.36, 200ml) did a great job of cleansing my skin; it got what appeared to be all of my makeup off without a great deal of effort and left my skin feeling lovely and clean after use. It’s not the kind of cleanser I would normally use, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well it took my makeup off and how my skin felt afterwards.
I loved using the
Cleansing Toner (£3.36, 200ml) as it left my face feeling refreshed and clean without any tightness or stinging. It was the perfect cool feeling I needed after using the cleansing lotion (mentioned above) which felt heavier than my usual wash off cleanser, and also (weirdly) my oil cleansers too.
Now I have mixed feelings about the
Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream (£8.49, 50ml) as my face felt lovely and moisturised when using it, but I didn’t really notice any difference on the very fine lines I have. Maybe I haven’t used it long enough for it to make those changes yet (just less than 4 weeks of usage*), or maybe I was expecting too much based on the claim of ‘visible wrinkle reduction’ that was on the outer packaging?!
Having said all that, I would probably consider buying this again at this price, purely because the moisturising aspect was more than acceptable - and I guess any wrinkle/fine line reduction would just be a (very) welcome bonus, rather than an expectation.
*I will use this pot up and update if I do see any changes in my fine lines (shhhh) skin after further use.
I put the
‘Rich Body Moisturiser’ (for very dry skin, £3.57 for 250ml) through the tough test of moisturising my small psoriasis patches (and the rest of my body, of coruse) and was really quite pleased with it. I wasn’t expecting it to get rid of the patches, and it didn’t... but what it did do was keep the patches soft and moisturised enough to be exfoliated, which left them feeling a little smoother than I expected it would.
The cream absorbed quite well, not immediately but quick enough that I wasn’t hanging around, bored and waiting for it to do so; and the scent stayed on my skin for ages, I got wafts of it throughout the day – which was nice. I also didn’t feel like the moisturiser was too heavy for the rest of my body that weren't quite so dry, but I can imagine that this wouldn’t be the case for everybody – and for those who need/prefer a lighter moisturiser, they do also have a body lotion available for normal to dry skin (at the same price)!
As mentioned near the start of this post, all the products seem to carry same fragrance (all bar the lip balm, as mentioned), it’s a fragrance that I really, really like as it’s very fresh and clean smelling without being boring, or overpowering either.
Anyway, I am probably waffling on now so I will love you and leave you, but first I should tell you (in case you wanted to purchase anything) that this beautifully scented, and generally very effective range is available from February 20th, which incidentally is the day before my 30th birthday.
This is a sponsored post, but my opinion remains my own and if I’ve praised products it’s purely because I felt they deserve it based on how they performed on my skin. x
http://www.nivea.co.uk
