As a makeup artist, i am constantly on the search for the next best thing—the newest products, the latest trends in colors, and the most cutting-edge tools and techniques. And as a beauty editor, i am constantly being bombarded with brands that are new to me that i want to test out. Although not a new brand (just new to me), i found a brand that is comparable to mac in its endless options and pigmented colors with prices at a fraction of what we are used to paying (and don’t get me wrong, i am a huge mac fan and always will be, but i also like options). If you haven’t heard of them yet, i highly recommend you try out nyx cosmetics.
With a product line ranging from eye shadows, lipsticks and glosses, eye and lip liners, to base makeup (foundation, concealer, etc), palettes, brushes, and everything imaginable in between it is hard to keep control when making your first purchase with nyx. Since discovering the brand a few weeks ago, i have been back three times already to try more products!
NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss
At US $5.50 per, and available in over 50 shades, it is hard to just pick up one of these glosses. While the scent of the glosses wasn’t too appealing to me, it wasn’t overpowering which allowed me to easily overlook that. My only other complaint is that the wand applicator head is too large, making it difficult to precisely gloss the detail areas of the mouth. But those are my only gripes. Everything else about the glosses was wonderful – the wide assortment of colors, their ability to layer with other lip products, the texture, the highly pigmented shades, the price and how large of a tube you receive for the money, and my list can go on but I’ll stop there and let you try the Mega Shine on your own!
Eye shadow
Again, a vast array of options will make your eye shadow purchase with nyx an adventure (but a fun one!). They do have palettes of 3 and 5 shades, but i picked up plenty of singles that i will depot and place into a palette that will be completely custom to me, and will allow me to add, remove, and move colors around as i please. I noticed the shadows are all extremely highly pigmented, but some are more so than others. Used with an eye shadow primer, the colors pop even more allowing you to create some amazing combinations with serious drama. But, they also have plenty of matte and muted colors if you’re after a softer look, and all of them blend really easily and nicely together. With over 150 shades, i am pretty convinced there is something for everyone in this line.
NYX Round Lipstick
At just $4 for a lipstick, you can almost not afford to not try and see if you like the formula! I’m not a huge lipstick person for every day, but clients and friends are always asking me for affordable options and this is definitely one that i would recommend. I tried the lipstick in a few shades to really see how the product felt, and the results were phenomenal, especially considering the price. While the formula wasn’t overly moisturizing, it didn’t dry my lips out like many drugstore find lipsticks do and did give a nice sheen to my lips in addition to the pigment. They layered nicely with other lip products (liners and glosses), but also worked well alone without feathering or smearing and lasted longer than i expected—until about lunch time!
NYX Blush
Blush is a wonderful way to brighten up your face with a few swoops of a brush, and the nyx powder blush is not at all a bad choice. It is one of the harder products for me to purchase over the internet, but gave it a shot in a few shades. While the colors in the pan weren’t exactly what i was expecting when i was looking at my screen, i wasn’t at all disappointed. Available in shimmer and matte colors (and i would love it if nyx would tell us which one was which because it’s not altogether clear on the swatches), these products also blend extremely easily and lasted throughout the day. I did have to touch up sooner than i would have with some of my other brands (especially since i wear a face primer before applying makeup), but paired with a cream blush beneath that could be an easy fix.
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil
The jumbo eye pencil is quite popular among beauty you tubers, so i decided to give it a shot. It’s basically an oversized eyeliner that can be used as a chunky liner and/or a shadow. Some of the less traditional colors (like milk, which is a flat white), were often recommended for use as an eyeshadow base but i simply found that these products creased after about ten minutes in the hot chicago summer weather, and i can only imagine how it would react in warmer climates. I do not have oily eyelids, and even topped it with a powder on one test but it simply did not make the cut for me. Some of the colors, however, are so intense and irresistible; i will be keeping some of them around for highlighting inner corners of the eyes. But other than that, this is not something i would recommend.