This $6 Cream Is My Family’s Secret Weapon for Flawless Skin

Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market’s most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are truly worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, completely uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.

The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors’ honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we’ll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on one standout beauty formula our editors quite literally can’t shut up about. This week, I’m diving into the internet’s buzziest moisturizer that’s allegedly a dupe for La Mer’s original hydrating cream— Nivea’s iconic blue-tin Creme ($6).

Growing up, I was always told the genetics for good skin were strong in my family. My grandmother, who’s turning 87 this year, has skin that would most likely send skincare lovers into a spiral—no blemishes, zero wrinkles, and noticeably flawless pores. The anti-aging rhetoric in the United States tells us it’s socially acceptable to start Botox treatments at 30 and get a face-lift by 60, but my grandmother’s skin has remained untouched by fillers, peels, and injectables. Her secret? Nivea’s moisturizer that’s cheaper than my daily frivolous Starbucks order (an almond milk dirty chai latte, in case you’re wondering).

For the past five years, I’ve been trying and testing a multitude of night creams and long-lasting moisturizers as part of my job, but to be completely honest, I keep reaching for Nivea’s classic formula time and again, despite the overwhelming number of incredibly expensive and science-backed skincare products lining the shelf in my tiny bathroom. Although I’d always seen the women in my family use it, I didn’t pick a tin up myself until scouring Reddit’s infamous honest and unfiltered comment section for affordable dupes as a college student. The search through the depths of the internet was prompted by an anxiety-filled consolation-prize purchase: a $200 one-ounce jar of La Mer’s cult-favorite face cream while being stuck in an airport for over 18 hours after a delayed flight abroad. We’ve all been there.

While I rationed it little by little, I knew there would come a day in the not-so-distant future when I’d have to either rebuy or replace it. Given the looks of my bank account as a college student at the time, I knew I needed to find a comparable option that was as nice on my skin as it would be on my wallet. Enter my blue little box.

A bit of background: Nivea was founded in 1911 by pharmacist Oscar Troplowitz after he learned about Eucerit—a molecular emulsifier that helps bind water and oil together to create a perfect skin cream. Since then, Nivea’s Creme formula has remained basically unchanged, with a few modern additions only serving to hydrate the skin even further.

Although it’s relatively simple, the bottom line is that Nivea’s formula works well, unlike some other fancier creams on the market. Frankly, it’s all you can ask for in a skincare industry that’s so inundated with products and modern technology. As a fashion editor, I like to stick to my tried-and-true array of basics when it comes to my wardrobe, and the same concept applies to my skin. If it does the job and does it phenomenally well, I’m sold.

Ever since adopting Nivea’s creme into my hectic life in 2018, I’ve been hooked. While the massive jar I have sitting on my shelf has been replenished over the years, the smaller, more portable size comes with me nearly everywhere I go. It’s lived in my college backpack and in my carry-on during international flights, and it’s even come to the Met Gala for quick touch-ups on the red carpet. If you’re looking for a product that feels instantly hydrating, bouncy, and buildable on the skin but don’t want to take out the figurative equivalent of a mortgage on a house to keep it in your routine, look no further.

For the purpose of documenting my progress throughout the week, I decided to skip the extra additives in my skincare and let the Nivea moisturizer shine on its own, only washing my face with Ourself’s lightweight Daily Purifying Cleanser and hydrating my face with Nivea’s Creme twice a day—lightly applying when I wake up and once again after winding down for the day with a heavier hand. Although I don’t have many blemishes or texture issues, my biggest concern with my skin has always been its temperamental nature, going from oily to dry thanks to New York’s harsh winter winds. The results at the end of my trial run? Dewy, luminous, bouncy skin that feels softer and more even without my pores taking the brunt of overly clogging mineral oils. That’s a win in my book.

Naturally, TikTok had to get involved. A quick search on the app will show you that plenty of people have weighed into the Nivea vs La Mer debate (Bethenny Frankel has even chimed in.) A majority of videos on the app will tell you all you should note. Both creams have the same face feel, and La Mer’s contains added ingredients such as seaweed extract, which promises to deliver anti-aging benefits. If you’re looking for instant relief, though, the choice is abundantly clear. Nivea’s low-cost, high-joy value can’t be underestimated, despite what luxury-focused marketing will have you believe.

To understand the hype, I reached out to Evelyn Ramirez, a New York–based medical aesthetician. “While Nivea’s formula may be considered basic compared to some other high-end moisturizers, it can still be effective in providing hydration and improving the skin’s natural moisture barrier,” she explained. One of the biggest things to look for in a moisturizer is how it works on the skin to prevent transepidermal water loss, or TEWL, not how expensive it is or the brand name behind it.

When it comes to Nivea, the biggest concern people can have is the presence of mineral oil, which is known for being a red flag among those in the skincare community with extra-sensitive skin. Ramirez assured me that it’s integral to the binding process of pulling and retaining moisture into the skin: “While it can be heavier than other oils, it is not necessarily pore clogging or harmful to the skin.”

The Nivea Creme comes alive in the colder months for me, working overtime to fight excessive flakiness and dry patches around my nose, chin, and lips as temperatures dip below freezing. Now that the weather is heating up, I usually apply it with a lighter hand if I’m going out. Plus, it gives the same glow I get from hydrating primers without pilling or disrupting my light-makeup routine.

While my before-and-after pictures show a slight difference in my skin and pore size, you really see it up close and personal. I’ve always been in love with how my skin feels—one of the biggest factors in my decision to put down makeup throughout college— and I know it’s thanks to this under-$10 magic in a pot. If you can’t take it from me, take it from the women in my family who have been using this for years. (Grand)mother knows best.

How to use: Apply a quarter-sized amount to the face after using your favorite cleanser and massage into the skin in upwards, circular motions. Don’t forget your neck, jawline, and ears! If you need a personal pro-tip, I like to wait until my skin is fully dry before applying.