Niven Morgan is a guy based out of my hometown of Dallas who just so happens to be a jack-of-all-trades in the skincare world. Not only that, but is namesake company is dedicated to donating to charities of numerous goals, particularly the fight against cancer. I dig companies with a mission. That said, I wanted to try out their entire skincare line and report back.
Yeah, that’s a lot of stuff. If you need it, Niven Morgan makes it. Without going into the minutiae of each item, the big picture here is how nicely everything fits together. That’s a double-edged sword, and I’ll explain more later on, but suffice it to say that when these products are used together, it’s a nice harmony of balance and complementing–where the shave cream lacks, the pre-shave gains. This partnership of products is one of the best I’ve seen in an overall line, and is a nice break from the usual case where one company’s facial scrub overpowers their moisturizer, or something like that.
The best way to explain Niven Morgan (the line, not the guy) is to give a couple examples of how all this works together.
Shaving with Niven Morgan
The Niven Morgan shave cream is glycerin-based, which works well with a bowl and brush. The first time I used this, I went solo on my face, and the spreading was below average. This was repeated twice with the same result. Ok, time to try the pre-shave lotion beforehand.
The result was like night and day. The lather on the shave cream is just fine, but for some reason it lost its pop when I used it on my face (which had an appropriate amount of water). When I paired it with the pre-shave lotion, I got my first taste of how the Niven Morgan line works as a whole. Whatever magic is in that pre-shave lotion made the shave cream one of the most luxurious around. Both smell like a deep citrus and resulted in a mighty fine shave.
So, this is great–but the obvious downside is that you need both the pre-shave lotion and the shaving cream for this maximized experience. Two products mean two expenses, but if you can afford the ~$40 expense, it’s well worth it.
Cleansing with Niven Morgan
Knowing how well the shaving products worked together, I decided to turn my experimentation to the cleansing/washing portions of the line to see if they bore a similar relationship. Short answer: they do.
First off, the facial cleanser is both a cleanser and a scrubber for the price of just one–I wish the shaving combination could combine this functionality. Overall, it’s a much better cleanser than a scrubber. The scrubbing action is weak, but noticeable, and the cleaning function is spot on. I wish Niven Morgan would beef up the cleansing half of this, or offer a second option for guys like me who need a stronger scrub.
The second part of the combination is the moisturizer. I thought the scrub wasn’t scrubby enough, leaving my pores closed and clogged, but at least my skin was clean. After the shower, I put on the moisturizer, and it was like the second half of the process was complete–I could feel my pores waking up and opening up. Where the cleanser/scrub left me wanting more, the moisturizer after the fact saved the day.
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This same relationship goes for the shampoo/conditioner and body wash/body lotion, but it was most noticeable in the above examples. The Niven Morgan line works together like clockwork, and if you’re looking for a good line that does everything you need, Niven Morgan could be it. The downside is if you only use the yin without the yang, you’re only getting half the experience. Overall, though, Niven Morgan doesn’t play around, and is one of the best comprehensive lines out there. It’s for a good cause, too–what more could you want?
