Nivea Express Hydration Primer

Who'd have thought, a few months ago I'd only ever used a primer a handful of times, and even that was a sample of That Gal from the front of a magazine?! I am now the proud owner of about six primers (when did this happen?), all of which are good for different reasons.

But my new favourite has swooped in and relegated the others to the 'back-up' makeup bag, and there's good reason why...

When I saw the Express Hydration Primer advertised, I genuinely didn't think it would be my cup of tea whatsoever; it looked too wet, too soft, and too much like a moisturiser. My other primers are all quite dense and mattifying - this just looked like a face lotion. How wrong I was. I read a few reviews, and my curiosity got the better of me. When it was reduced to £3.99 in Superdrug, my fate was sealed! (FYI: this primer is available in two types - one for dry/sensitive skin, the other for normal/combination. I bought the latter).

First off, the aesthetics. I love a product to look professional, to look sleek and to not look too cheap - which is pretty difficult criteria to fulfil when on a budget. But this ticked every box for me; the primer is in a thick glass jar, very plain and simple, and was presented in a box on purchase too (this box is in the bin, whoops). From first glance, it doesn't look like you get a lot of product for your money, but a little goes a long, long way here - I've been using this for at least six weeks and have barely made a dent in it.

And now, the important bit. This primer surpassed all of my expectations, and then some. It's quite simply fantastic. It is very wet to the touch, but I've actually found that I really like this, and my skin absolutely adores it. It's scented with Nivea's signature fragrance - reminds me of my nana, but not a bad thing! - which is quite delicate. You only need to apply a small amount overall, and it sinks in almost immediately. My skin quite literally drinks it up, and it's absorbed in seconds, making a flawless, silky base for my foundation. It makes your skin feel so fresh and clean too, which is a lovely feeling prior to applying makeup. While it doesn't promise to, I've also found this manages to keep my face quite matte, yet dewy, and it evens and corrects my skin-tone nicely.

Express Hydration is excellent at holding my makeup in place, something which I worried about from first seeing it. After a full 16-hour day, everything was still as it should be, and my skin still looked soft, hydrated and bright. It's so hydrating that I've found I can skip a separate moisturiser and use this on its own - it actually works better for me as a solo product, rather than layering it on to a different moisturiser. It's very gentle on the skin, and hasn't broken me out or irritated me in any way.

As I said before, a little goes a long way with this primer, making it even more value for money. I paid £3.99 on a deal with this, but its usual RRP is £4.99 - still an absolute steal as far as I'm concerned! It's overtaken the rest of my primers, and I even prefer it to one I recently received that's six times the price. I will definitely be repurchasing, and cannot recommend this enough.

Have you tried either of the Express Hydration Primers? What do you think?