I spotted Nip + Fab a little while ago while browsing the isles of Shoppers Drug Mart… the brand name & product line-up caught my eye (I just love the cheeky quick fix-it idea).  The Nip + Fab Sheer Makeup Fix ($14.95 USD, available at Target and select drugstores) makes some big promises (like most of their products).. so let’s see how it performs!

The Packaging

All of the Nip + Fab products come in a very clean and cute white box with blue or green detailing (from what I can observe, blue items are meant for the face and green items are meant for the body, in general). I really love the packaging- it’s what caught my eye in the first place! This product comes in an oblong squeeze tube- which I really love because it fits in a sleek makeup bag quite easy.  The top screws off and the product is dispensed by a squeeze-tip… the best dispenser really, because you can choose exactly how much you want with no waste at all.

Nip + Fab Sheer Makeup Fix

Nip + Fab Sheer Makeup Fix

Nip + Fab Sheer Makeup Fix

Nip + Fab Sheer Makeup Fix

The Product

What exactly does a Sheer Makeup Fix do, you may ask? It’s a pretty fancy way of saying it’s a primer (that can be used with or without makeup on top).  It claims to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines while hydrating and softening the skin.  The good news is that it does that- it softens skin beautifully and helps to even out any rough texture (I don’t have any wrinkles for it to work on… but its mattifying properties help to diffuse any fine lines around my eyes too).  It has a light citrus scent which is totally refreshing and a tad sweet.

The bad news, is that it really doesn’t do much more than that. With a name like Sheer Makeup Fix… you’d expect it to have even a bit of coverage to help even out skin tone as well. Nope, it’s clear- so really maybe it should be called Clear Makeup Fix? Either way, it works great under makeup and the gel formula feels really nice on my skin.  I think it would be great for those with normal to oily skin as it did a nice job of mattifying and blurring large pores without drying my skin out.

It doesn’t do the best job of prolonging the wear of my makeup, but it didn’t make my makeup slide off at all. If you’re wearing a decently-long-wearing foundation, you should have no trouble with this at all. The best part? The price tag may be high for a drugstore, but it sure beats out all the other drugstore primers I’ve ever tried (and it comes with about 35% more product then regular primer bottles). It works great with my sensitive skin and is probably a good choice for those easy breezy weekends or a beach vacation (or everyday worn under makeup, of course).  I also used it to pat on top of my makeup mid-day to reduce shine and pores and it did a great job of that… so I’d say its almost a hybrid between Benefit Porefessional and Bare Escentuals Prime Time.

Nip + Fab Sheer Makeup Fix

Nip + Fab Sheer Makeup Fix

Summary

• Price: $12.95 USD for 1.35oz / 40mL
• Availability: Nip + Fab Online, Target and various drugstores like Shoppers Drug Mart
• Overall: A pretty decent smoothing/blurring primer, for its price tag. Works great as a mattifying gel too. Zero pigment, so you either have to have a great skin tone to wear this alone or use it under your regular foundation.
• Rating: A-