Product Review of Nivea Self Tan Cream for the Face

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, when I saw a sale at Cubus for buy-two-get-one-free on all Nivea products, I began salivating. One of the items I came home with that day is the Nivea Self Tan Cream for the face. Generally I don't buy face tanners even when I am in a silly self-tanning spree. My face tends to get enough sun by itself. But hey, it is normally 75SEK (11 US bucks) and I was going to get it for free. I bit. Sometimes I'm really gullible.

Nivea makes some of my favorite beauty products. The Nivea Creme is one of the best skin care products on the market if you live in sometimes harsh weather like we get here in Sweden. I am rather fond of their blushes also. Lipsticks? Always a good buy. I'm here to tell you to ignore all those good past purchases from the Nivea line when it comes to self tanning products.

This face tanner comes in a bronze oval bottle. It just screams beach. It looks like it wants to work. It brings up images of turning me into a bronze goddess suitable for being fed peeled grapes to. That image ends rapidly once you actually use the tan cream.

When you pop off the lid, you are met with a pump top. This cream is a little bit thicker than its counterpart, the Nivea Summer Beauty. The pump squirts out the barest amount of white cream onto your hand. This is good. You do not want big, bold streaks all over your face because you used too much of it.

The Self Tan Cream does not smell good and floral like the body tan lotion. No. It hasn't got much of a scent at all, but what little it does have is that dreaded burnt odor prevalent in so many other self tanning products. Ick. I hate that smell. It just screams Fake Tan to everyone you come in contact with. While this odor is not real strong in this face tanner, it is still there. I can smell it, and that is all that matters.

This Tanning Cream goes on easily and does absorb into the skin rapidly. That is a plus. Fighting to get the Nivea Summer Beauty body tanning cream into my legs was not something I was looking forward to with their face tanner.

Nivea claims this Self Tan Cream is also an all-day moisturizer. Umm no. No it isn't. Not compared to the facial moisturizers I usually use. I will hang on to my Estee Lauder Hydra Complete, thank you very much. I really noticed no moisturizing effect at all with this Self Tan Cream.

Now to the actual tanning part. OHJ! this does produce a gradual tan on your face. It is not real orange like other similar products have been. It does, however, streak. That is not acceptable. No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to get an even tan with this product. I think the problem is it may have absorbed a bit too fast, making it hard to get uniform amounts everywhere.

It is a good thing I got this one free, because it is going into the trash. Luckily, the tan fades within a day or two so I don't have to live with a blotchy face for long. Save your money.