I spotted this face wash on a reduction shelf in Boots for only £2, I believe the full price is a little over £4. I don't use face washes often as I prefer to use a cleansing milk, but sometimes on a morning I need to feel more 'awake' and a good splash of water with a nice face wash can help me feel that.

I have very oily skin so often opt for products aimed at this skin type, however this one is aimed at Normal/Combination skin, and I didn't think it would do any harm, certainly not make my face more oily as a one aimed at dry skin might do.

The cleansing face wash comes packaged in a pale blue bottle and has a blue colour scheme all over it. The packaging is quite attractive and really helps the product stand out from others. This product is part of Nivea's Oxygen Power range and they all have the same colour scheme to match.
The gel itself is faintly blue and transparent and as the packaging is see through, you can clearly see lots of small white balls in the gel. Reading the back of the pack these are apparently 'soft cleansing pearls.' A possible gimic?

This cleansing gel promises to leave your skin feeling soft, supple and refreshed, just what I need on a morning when I'm still half asleep! It's easy to use, just the usual massage into skin then rinse off. The first time I used it I was pleased to see it lathers up really well on the face, without too much effort. It doesn't smell of chemicals either, and actually smells quite pleasant.

When massaging into the skin it feels soft and gentle, and certainly doesn't sting on contact with the skin, nor does it irritate my eyes. I only had a couple of those 'cleansing pearls' when I squeezed some out of the tub, however I believe these may help with the lather!
It was easy to rinse off the product, it didn't 'stick' to the skin, and was easy to splash off with some water.

So, the result? This was where this product let me down. Afterwards my skin felt very tight, and whilst it did feel smooth, it also felt as if my skin had been stripped of all it's oils! I may have oily skin, but I know completely stripping your skin of all oils is bad, and I felt the need to immediately use some moisturiser.
The blurb on the back of the packaging actually states "gently foaming without drying out the skin." however this is wrong! It completely dries out the skin and I felt as if I may as well have used a bar of soap.

I never have this problem when I use other products, mainly exfoliating face washes, and I was disappointed with the result. I now only use this product occasionally but each time I am left with tight feeling skin which just feels dried out. Considering I have very oily skin I dread to think what this may do to the normal skin type it is aimed at!
I don't recommend this product and I feel let down by Nivea.