I was asked to trial the Nivea Pure and Natural range, and have been doing so for the last few weeks. Already a fan of the their deodorant (I use the Pearl one) and a few other bits I thought it’d be really easy to implement the products into my daily life as I had envisioned it being more lovely deodorants and buttery body moisturisers. However, when the products arrived and I saw that they were predominantly skin care my heart sank a little bit.. My skin is the sensitive or the sensitivest, even top priced brands catering for delicate skin have caused a reaction so needless to say I’m very fussy with what I allow on there – and the around a fiver mark hasn’t touched my skin for years. However, this was a sponsored post and I had committed to it, so I had to give it a go.
What reassured me about the range was the press release that explained how it was made almost entirely of natural origin ingredients including Aloe Vera and Argan Oil specifically from Morocco, the latter its leading ingredient actually. Argan Oil is packed with Vitamin E (three times as much as Olive Oil) and also essential fatty acids providing natural protection against free radicals. But the proof is the in the pudding, so let’s see how my dry delicate skin got on..
I was sent the Facial Cleanser, Facial Toner, Facial Moisturising Day Cream (for Normal to Combination Skin), Hand Cream and Milk & Honey Lip Balm. I have a suspicion that my set was missing a body lotion, which annoyingly I would have loved to have tried, but I only realised this last week when we were emailed more info about the range so it would have been too late at that point; dammit!
LOVES:
You can’t really go wrong with hand cream, can you? Well, actually, you can. Some hand creams are tooo greasy and on the other end of the scale some simply sink in super quick but fail to do anything in terms of actual moisturising. This Pure & Natural Hand Cream was lovely, for me it didn’t sink in instantly as others claimed; I actually found it really rich. But it did moisturise my hands and kept them nourished for ages, and I really enjoyed using this. I’m terrible for using hand cream as I’m a compulsive hand washer and my hands definitely show it, so I haven’t noticed much improvement in any anti-aging or lines or anything, however they do feel smoother when the cream is applied and remain moisturised for a while after so I reckon with continual frequent use (not just at bed time if I remember, which is generally my habit!) my poor weathered hands might starts to look youthful again. Priced at £3.05
I love lip balms, like my lipsticks, I’m the sorta girl that always has at least 6 at any one time floating around my bag and I’m always picking up new ones every time I’m in Superdrug or Boots. I tend to go through phases with them and use one for a few weeks then switch back to another. This Milk and Honey one has been lovely though, lasts on my lips longer than my little round tin of Vaseline does and smells gorgeous! A very nourishing product and has sorted my dehydrated lips out wonderfully! It’s only £1.99 so I shall definitely repurchase again!
HMMMMS:
Cleansing creams are quite a dated concept for me. If we’re talking cosmetic evolution I’m right up there in modern times with my oil cleansers. It just feels a bit of chore to use copious amounts of cotton wool and cleanser to take off your make-up when you can just massage in a few drops of oil that simply melt your make-up off! But I promised I would try it and I did! And I’m actually quite pleasantly surprised. I tend to use it AFTER my oil cleanser (in place of my face wash, I double cleanse) when wearing make-up and feel it works quite nicely that way. It takes off any residue of make-up left on my skin gently without striping it and made my skin feel very moisturised and calm. You could use this simply as your sole cleanser, and I have done, but I prefer using it the way I do and this works for me – less cotton wool involved too. Priced at £3.36
Again, like cleansing creams toners are something I’ve steered away from for many years. I had a horrible experience over 5 years ago where I used an exfoliating toner after reading rave reviews about it which resulted in my pores that were never remotely noticeable becoming HUUUUGE. My skin has never been the same since. So obviously I’m reluctant to go back to toners. This one, however, was nice. Admittedly, I didn’t use it on the danger zone that was my cheeks, but I used it on my forehead, nose, chin and neck (everywhere else basically) and it felt lovely and fresh, and smoothing. I would only use this after a cream cleanser though, the alcohol content is a little too high up the ingredients list for my liking for after a simple morning face wash, but it worked really well after this particular cleanser and picked up the residue left from that perfectly. Skin felt lovely and clean and prepped for moisturiser. £3.36
AHHHHS:
The only product that didn’t agree with me was the Moisturising Day Cream, but I suspect this is largely because I was sent one for Normal to Combo skin – I am dryyyyyyy. Like, I would have eczema all over me if I wasn’t super careful and in control of every little bit of what I put on my face and how I take it off, etc. I only tried this a couple of times but couldn’t anymore as it actually made little red patches come up on my skin. 
However I tried this on my hands and it was gooooorgeous, to the point I am actually considering using this as a hand cream instead! It made my hands, which are clearly less sensitive, unbelievable smooth and soft – far better than any hand cream I’ve ever tried! I gave this cream to my mum to try while she was on a mini break in Morocco recently (yes, the home of the Argan Oil!) and she really liked it, said it sunk in quickly and kept her skin oh so smooth and comfortable under the heat. She’s still raving about it now and trying to encourage me to re-try it. Maybe the one for dry skin/sensitive skin would [probably would, actually] work better for me, as the creams I usually use on my face are literally like the consistency of thick soft butter! So, yes, I like them very rich. Priced at £5.10
I do actually really recommend this range, especially for the price, I just think my skin is a little bit too sensitive for it. But my skin is ridiculously sensitive and I’m allergic to everything (I can’t even wear perfume a few days in a row without an allergic reaction). I think a lot of folk would be especially interested in the toner as it is fairly gentle for a budget buy, and of course the lip balm is so yummy and moisturising. My sister, who is genetically blessed and has good skin no matter what she puts on it would be an ideal candidate for this range, the price and quality of what you get makes this a great buy and brilliant value for money. So if you wanted a more natural approach to your skin care but didn’t want to shell out the £££ then I recommend giving Nivea Pure and Natural a go. Just make sure you pick up the right products for your skin type and you can’t (shouldn’t) go wrong for a cleanser, toner and moisturiser that comes to just over a tenner!
For more information visit the Nivea website on http://www.nivea.co.uk/.
DISCLAIMER: This is a sponsored post for Handpicked Media
