I have a strange relationship with body creams. I think they are a necessity especially living in a climate where I live. But I don’t really go out of my way to search out the perfect body cream and try new ones out all the time the way I do with face and beauty products.
I had the opportunity recently to try out 4 products from Nivea’s “Hydra IQ” line. Hydra IQ is a moisturizing technology based on Nobel Prize-winning research on Aquaporins which are the skin’s internal hydration channels. I decided to look up what aquaporins are myself. I won’t go into it though if you’d like you can read more about it here.
The first one I tried was the Express Hydration which is supposed to absorb in seconds and moisturize for hours, contain sea minerals and have a subtle blue lotus scent. For normal to dry skin.
I really like the smell of this one – it’s a bit perfumey but it’s light. I feel like I don’t need to add another fragrance so it’s perfect if I’m not feeling like wearing any extra scents.
I found that this lotion felt a bit sticky on me. I don’t have super dry skin however so maybe it’s just because it doesn’t get fully absorbed into my skin? Even hours later I felt a stickiness when on my skin. It is summer out so perhaps this one is best suited to my chapped winter skin.
Next up, Extra Nourishing Body Milk – said to be enriched with natural minerals and almond oil and provides long-lasting protection. For dry to very dry skin.
This cream was sticky when first applied but the stickiness quickly vanished. I really liked the scent of this one too – it was softer though and I assume it was the Almond Oil I was smelling.
Since this was labeled as a “milk” I assumed that it would be a more liquid consistency but in fact it was thicker than I expected. It wasn’t super thick like a body butter or anything like that but it was very white in colour and took a lot more rubbing to get it all absorbed into my skin.
Onward to Happy Time body lotion – enriched with bamboo extracts and milk proteins; has a mild orange blossom scent and provides 24-hour moisture for a “feel-good sensation”. For normal to dry skin.
This one does have a light kind of citrusy smell but it doesn’t smell like vitamin C :P. The consistency was thin and this one absorbed into my skin quickly and easily. It left the same sticky sensation however as the Express Hydrating one so while I love the smell for light summer time fresh fragrance I don’t think I could handle the sticky feeling in the heat.
And lastly – Smooth Replenishing Body Lotion which is enriched with Shea Butter and is good for dry skin. Ideal for moisturizing, softening and protecting.
This one didn’t have a strong odor to it although there is definitely fragrance. Nice and light again I would say. The consistency was thin, similar to the Happy Time lotion and it absorbed really quickly, almost with no effort. I didn’t notice any stickiness with this one. I think this one was my favorite of the bunch.
All of the lotions did indeed keep my skin moisturized throughout the day. Though I don’t have super dry skin, if I don’t moisturize I tend to get itchy and I never noticed any itchiness throughout the day.
As a side note, my very scientific and technical method for testing stickiness without applying lotion all over my body is as follows:
I will apply a bit of the lotion to the inner arm where you arm bends. I let the lotion absorb then throughout the testing time (every few minutes, hours, throughout the day) I will do an arm curl. If I don’t feel anything then I determine that it’s not sticky. If I feel any kind of stickiness then it’s sticky 😛
What are your favorite body lotion basics? Have you tried any of the Nivea ones in my review?
Disclaimer: I was invited to attend an event introducing the Hydra IQ technology. Since I couldn’t make it I was kindly sent some of Nivea’s products to try. I was not asked to provide a review and was not compensated. What I have written are my honest opinions on the products.
