For the past week I’ve been slathering some good ‘ol men’s aftershave balm to my face before starting to put on my makeup.

Yes, that is correct, men’s aftershave. More specifically, NIVEA POST SHAVE BALM.

The big question following this is probably WHY?

For the past few years this small little bottle has been heralded by big name Youtubers (such as NikkieTutorials, Kathleen Lights, Jaclyn Hill, e.t.c) as a low budget beauty hack for primer.

Primer?

Yes, primer.

For those who don’t understand makeup lingo (I myself was guilty until around two years ago), primer is the base to layer your foundation and is essential to create an even application of foundation to your skin. The reasoning behind the Nivea Men Post-Shave Balm craze is that it contains a high amount of glycerin, which is what makes the primer tacky and makes other makeup products easier to stick to your face.

There are so many expensive primer’s out on the market so I decided to be a trooper and test out this “primer” for an entire week and give my own personal feedback on it.

Positives:

So as a base for foundation, it’s pretty solid. After rubbing a small bit into your skin it leaves a nice sticky base for keeping not only your foundation in place but also bronzer, blush, highlighter or whatever else you want to slather onto the pores of your face.

When you open the bottle, there IS what some may call a “manly” (whatever that means) smell that comes with the product. If I had to describe it I’d probably say it’s a woodsy/piney smell which reminds me of an Irish Spring or Zest Soap Bar-clean and fresh. If you’re sensitive to smells than it may not be your cup of tea, but in my case the smell wasn’t terrible and I found it quite nice. It’s also the type of product where once the balm is applied to your face that there’s no scent residue, so I get to smell nice without feeling drenched in the scent!

After a full day of walking to and from classes in the heat (side note: thank you global warming for delaying my beloved chilly Autumn weather!), it mostly manages to stay on my face without slipping and sliding.

Minus some minor little areas (such around my nostrils, the tip of my nose, e.t.c) it acts as a fairly sturdy primer for every day use.

Negatives:

However despite all the praise there are some minor complaints I have with the product.

For starters, the bottle is designed so that once you open it, you pour it directly onto your hand or your beauty blender and immediately use it. But although that sounds well and good, it’s VERY hard to control how much you pour so it’s easy to end with too much product.

What I’ve learned: too much of this stuff on your face makes an uneven canvas out of skin. Not very cute.

It's also a very runny product, so you HAVE to rub it into your skin pretty well, otherwise you’re left feeling gooey and sweaty (kind of like the Wicked Witch after getting water dumped on her).

I also noticed that in the case of pore coverage, the product alone doesn’t really provide any assistance. For that I had to combine it with my “Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser”, which although isn’t necessarily an inconvenience is slightly annoying when you really want it all done with one product.

I’d also suggest using some form of finishing powder because once you sweat, you feel like your makeup is running off your face.

Final Thoughts?

I’m going to keep using this product. It acts as a pretty nice foundation and I like the smell. Plus there’s no point in keeping it on my already cluttered desk unless I give it a purpose, right?

For a product that’s only $6.00 (WHAT A STEAL) and available pretty much everywhere, I have to say that it’s worth it to give it a try if you’re looking for a less expensive version of primer and a legitimate beauty hack!