Before I was a full-fledged foodie, my obsession and reason for living was for beauty products. I devoted my life to checking up on the latest products and I’m not even kidding. It all started when I was about 17, fresh out of secondary school and all. Thankfully I started young because I realised the importance of sunscreen, which is simply put, THE most important thing to have. I don’t know why this is not part of our health education because it should really be advocated from young. Anyway, I started using sunscreen on a daily basis every single day since I was 18 and there are no exceptions.

At one point, I even started applying it all over my body. However, there was a big drawback about that. I used sunscreen, the kind which you can use while at the beach or swimming and most sunscreens are designed for such purposes and come with a certain level of water resistance. Washing it off was A PAIN. I had to shower a few times to scrub the residue off. If I don’t, it leaves my skin icky at night and is uncomfortable to sleep with. Eventually I gave up on body sunscreen and started using the umbrella. I would run for shade whenever there’s sun.

However, the umbrella or running away are not foolproof solutions. Sometimes you just need to be under the sun for a few moments and you may not whip out the umbrella in time. It is even more inevitable when you are travelling, because you’ll be out and about all day long. Moreover, the UV rays can get to you from the sides and through windows on the train or something. (The Megabus I took in USA had SEE THROUGH CEILINGS!!!) What’s worse is when you are taking photos – you have to be under the sun and the umbrella is just unsightly and ugly. I had no choice but to get some colour (which I did not want…) from my Europe trip last year. It took a good 6 months to fade away but I got it back when I went to France again this summer…

Instead of sunscreen, there’s a better kind of product to use for sun protection in the city! That is body moisturiser with SPF properties. The difference between this and sunscreen is that it is generally non water resistant and that’s ideal because you can wash it off easily. The Sample Store recently sent me a product to try – NIVEA Body Intensive Moisture Serum SPF 25 PA++. It is sufficient for daily use and if I had this earlier, I would be spared of ugly tan lines!

I wear sleeveless clothing every single day because I have an irrational fear of long sleeves. I don’t like the idea that I cannot remove the sleeves when it feels warm outside. Even if it was cold, I still would never wear long sleeves. I am not kidding. As a result, my arms are always exposed so here I am happily (and looking serious because it is important) applying the NIVEA Body Intensive Moisture Serum SPF 25 PA++ onto my arms.

And of course, the other arm. That’s the actual amount I used on both arms before heading out. I will use this as often as I can and hopefully the uneven skin tone of my arms will fade soon.

Thankfully, I have none of these problems so I simply enjoy the sun protection this product provides and at the same time, giving my skin some extra moisture. Comparing to other SPF moisturizers I’ve tried, the texture of this serum was extra light and quickly absorbed into my skin. This is because it is technically a serum rather than a cream or lotion so it leaves my skin feeling less sticky than other products – and I like it that way because who likes to have sticky skin in humid Singapore.

A 200ml bottle of this retails at just $8.90 at all leading personal care stores and supermarkets, including Watsons, Guardian, Cold Storage, NTUC Fairprice outlets and major retailers. It is really quite a steal because this product contains an impressive blend of 100X concentrated Vitamin E, Grape Seed Oil, Avocado Oil, hydra IQ technology and SPF 25. It basically contains everything to maintain beautiful skin on your body.

*****

For those interested to try out this product, get your FREE sample of NIVEA Body Intensive Moisture Serum on SampleStore.com.

You will also receive a A5 brochure with a magnifying glass cut-out in order to participate in a current Instagram contest where you hashtag #NIVEAsg #IntensiveMoistureSerum to win prizes.

Instagram contest mechanic:

• 2 Grand Prize winners to be hand-picked by Sample Store editors, Holly Jean and Trixy respectively based on the submission that is most creative in their opinion (text and/or photo creativity).
• Grand Prize winners each win shopping vouchers worth $200 and NIVEA hampers worth $100.
• Instagram contest will commence from 25th August – 30th September. Winners to be announced on 1st October.