Product Review -- NYX Slip Tease Full Color Lip Oil

In my experience, NYX pretty much kills it when it comes to lip products.

I can't even count how many lip pencils, lipsticks, glosses, and liquid sticks that I have from the brand in my collection ... because it's a whole hell of a lot. 

So I'm always willing to give one of their new lip products a try.

The new Slip Tease Full Color Lip Oil was particularly appealing to me, though.

With the cooler weather hitting (or at least, it should be. It's only just starting to stop feeling like summer here on Long Island), I know that my lips are going to be dry and chapped pretty soon -- and a full color lip oil sounds like just the thing to keep them looking great.

Product Review -- NYX HD Photogenic Concealer

I'm beginning to get a little low on my NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, which is one of my favorite concealers of all-time.

While I've been debating whether or not to buy another tube -- if you're thinking "Why would you ever debate that when you love it so much?" it's just that it's a pretty pricey concealer ($30) and it's not that I object to spending that much on makeup, but there are always so many new products that I want to try that sometimes I'd rather budget my makeup funds toward something new rather something tried and true. Probably silly, but that's just me -- I have been on the hunt for a more budget-friendly concealer that could fill in for the Radiant Creamy Concealer.

Enter the NYX HD Photogenic Concealer.

Product Review -- NYX Duo Chromatic Illuminating Powder

As far as I'm concerned, there can never be enough highlighters in my collection.

I would glow to the high heavens all day, every day if possible so it helps to have plenty of options in my arsenal. 

Over the past year, I've become especially obsessed with duo-chrome highlighters. You know, the ones that look like a simple white, ivory, or beige in the pan but actually flash a cool color like lilac, pink, blue, or green in the light. 

I know they're not for everybody -- not everyone wants to rocks a highlighter that flashes green -- but I absolutely love them. I feel like it takes a simple everyday makeup look and makes it a little more exciting. 

So I was really excited to try the NYX Duo Chromatic Illuminating Powders, which contain light-catching pearls that look different from every angle.

Product Review -- NYX Lid Lingerie Shadow Palette

I am a pretty big fan of the NYX Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks.

They're one of the more comfortable liquid lipstick formulas that I've tried, and I like the shade range features a bunch of nudes that suit pretty much every skin tone.

So when I saw that NYX had come out with a powder eyeshadow palette inspired by the Lip Lingerie Lipsticks, Lid Lingerie, I had to give it a try.

Product Review -- NYX Sculpt & Highlight Face Duo

During the winter months, I start wearing a lot more cream products.

My skin gets extra dry, so cream blushes and highlighters just seem to look better and more natural.

I've tried my hand at cream contouring too, but the NYX Cream Contour & Highlight Palette was a pretty big disappointment.

Still, I decided to give it another try with the NYX Sculpt & Highlight Face Duo, and fortunately, this go-around went much better.

Product Review -- NYX Ombre Blushes

I'm kind of a sucker for ombre blushes.

Regardless of how they perform, they just always look so beautiful in the pan that I can't seem to resist them.

The one risk involved in purchasing an ombre blush -- if you're not able to see the blush through the packaging or open up the package to check out the blush --- is that you never know exactly how the ombre design will be configured, which can affect the overall color that you get.

For example, if your blush is 90% of one color and 10% of the shades that it fades into, it's going to be pretty close to that first shade. On the other hand, if the gradient effect is divided more evenly among the colors, you might wind up with an entirely new shade.

Still, when I saw the NYX Ombre Blushes, I couldn't stop myself from picking up a couple -- even though I was ordering online and I wouldn't know exactly what I was getting ahead of time.

Product Review -- NYX Gotcha Covered Concealer

I've needed a lot of concealer over the past month.

Work's been stressing me out, I haven't been getting enough sleep, and I've been breaking out more than I have in almost 10 years.

It hasn't been much fun.

But it has given me the opportunity to revisit some of the concealers in my collection and see which ones really get the job done.

Of course, I'm a makeup junkie, so I had to try a couple of new ones too.

On a whim, I picked up the NYX Gotcha Covered Concealer when NYX was BOGO-1/2 off at Ulta a while back -- and I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed.

Product Review -- NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette

I've been a little reluctant to try cream contouring.

For some reason, it intimidated me, probably because it didn't seem like it left as much room for error as contouring with powder products.

But when you've got the right cream products, it can actually wind up being easier and more natural, especially if you have dry skin, because the creams blend into the skin a little more easily.

I've had a tough time finding a budget-friendly cream contour palette, though, so I was excited to see the NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette at Ulta recently.

Product Review -- NYX Full Throttle Shadow Palette

I've always liked NYX's single shadows in their various formulations, but I haven't had much luck with their quads and larger palettes.

It's not that they've necessarily been bad, but they're not particularly impressive so I always feel like there are better options out there.

Still when NYX was BOGO-1/2 off at Ulta recently, I decided to give their Full Throttle Shadow Palettes a try.

They come in 8 different color ranges, and they really caught my eye because there are quite a few interesting combinations. There were a few that tempted me, but because I wasn't sure whether I'd like the shadow formula, I only picked up one in Daring Damsel.

Product Review -- NYX Strobe of Genius Illuminating Palette

There are few things that I love as much as a good highlight.

(Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration ... because I'm pretty sure I love a good eye shadow palette, foundation, blush, lipstick, etc., just as much)

And I've got an entire drawer full of them to prove it.

But I don't have many palettes that are devoted exclusively to highlighters.

So I was pretty excited to try the NYX Strobe of Genius Illuminating Palette.

The kit comes in a black plastic packaging, and contains seven shimmery highlighter shades, four of which are 0.07 oz each and three of which are .14 oz.

Product Review -- NYX Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks

I'm always saying that I'm not a fan of matte liquid lipsticks, and yet, every time a new one comes out on the market, I find myself wanting to try it.

I'm not sure what that says about me, really.

Maybe I have a kind of love/hate relationship with liquid lipsticks.

Whatever my feelings about them may be, though, I was especially curious to try the NYX Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks because I was intrigued by the idea of the line having a nude shade for everyone.

In fact, the range has 12 shades -- from super pale beige to richer brown tones -- so there probably is an option that would appeal to everyone and work with most skin tones.

Product Review -- NYX Pro Foundation Mixer in White

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I have super fair skin.

Like Casper the Friendly Ghost fair.

I don't mind it -- I avoid the sun and self-tanners like the plague on purpose -- but it is often a problem when it comes to finding foundation (or even concealer) shades.

I can't tell you how many times I've purchased the lightest shade in a brand's foundation color range only to find that it's too dark.

A million?

A billion?

Well, yeah, probably not that much but enough that it's seriously frustrating.

There are foundation mixers on the market, of course, which usually come in white and other correcting shades, but I've never had much luck with them.

Several higher end brands like MAC and FACE atelier have white foundations, but they're all over $30, and while I freely spend money on makeup all the time, I resent the idea of having to pay that much for a product that I'm just using to make another product work for me.

I've tried more affordable white foundations too, like Manic Panic's Dreamtone Foundation, but I've had issues with the consistency of those and how they make the foundation I'm trying to lighten break down in a strange way.

Enter the NYX Pro Foundation Mixer in White.

Product Review -- NYX Wonder Pencil

I am a big fan of using a nude eyeliner pencil to line the waterline.

It really does make your eyes look a little brighter and wider, so any day when I'm looking tired, it's kind of a must-do step in my makeup routine.

But I do run into a problem sometimes -- nude eyeliners tend to be a little too dark or peachy for my fair skin so they don't quite have the effect that I want.

Now, you can use white liner for a similar effect but I find that it's kind of a stark, obvious look that I don't necessarily want for an everyday look.

Fortunately, I came across the NYX Wonder Pencil on a recent trip to Ulta, and it's the perfect solution to my dilemma.

Review -- Battle of the Contour Palettes (NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette, Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit, and Kat Von D Shade & Light Contour Palette)

Contouring and contour palettes have been all the rage lately.

It seems like every time I turn around, another brand is coming up with their own version.

As someone who's very pale, contouring is tricky for me -- but as someone who has no visible cheekbones to speak of, I'm still always willing to give it a try.

So over the past six months or so, I've picked up not one but three different contouring palettes. Instead of doing separate reviews of each of them, I thought it would be helpful to combine them all in one post to do a comparison of sorts.

Review -- NYX Prismatic Shadows

I love sparkle and shimmer and metallic-y goodness.

I'll be 95 years old and still rocking totally sparkly, shimmery eye shadows, I swear.

So it's no surprise that I was drawn to NYX's Prismatic Shadows.

NYX describes these as eye shadows with a metallic finish that give eyes an extra sparkle and dimension.

Sounds pretty perfect, right?

And because they look so amazing, I kind of wanted to pick every shade (there are 12 in total), but I showed so uncharacteristic restraint and only picked up two, Girl Talk and Golden Peach.

Review -- NYX Butter Lipsticks

I'm a big fan of the NYX Butter Glosses ever since I tried them last year.

So when I saw that they were adding lipsticks (and balms) to the line, I knew that I had to give them a try.

In general, I much prefer lipsticks that have a creamy, moisturizing feel to long-wearing lipsticks that tend to feel dry. I'd rather have to reapply more often than have to deal with dry, cracked lips.

The NYX Butter Lipsticks are supposed to be a lightweight formula that melts into the lips while still delivering vivid color -- and honestly, I feel like they absolutely live up to those claims.

I purchased two of the 22 shades that are available: Pops, which is kind of a mauve-y my-lips-but-better shade, and Candy Buttons, which is bright peachy pink.

Recent Favorites

It has ages since I last did a favorites post.

I get so caught up in reviewing new products that I sometimes forget that sharing what "older" products I'm loving can be just as helpful.

(I'm going to try not to go so long between favorites posts in the future -- and maybe mix in a few other non-review posts here and there to keep things interesting.)

But since it's been so long since my last Favorites, I'm going to share some things that I've been loving for the past few months or so.  To keep it simple and quick, I'll break them down by category so if you're not interested in a particular type of product, you can just skip over it.

Review -- NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray

I'm kind of obsessed with setting sprays.

But not because I expect them to actually set my makeup and make it last all day.

I have zero hope of any product ever doing that for my super crazy, makeup-eating skin.

Instead, I use setting sprays to mist my face when I'm done with my makeup to eliminate any powderiness or cakey-looking spots.

So I suppose you could say that what I really like are finishing sprays -- it's just that most cosmetic companies call them setting sprays.

Tomato, Tomahto, right?

The one that I always seem to come back to, time after time, is M.A.C.'s Fix +, which is my favorite finishing spray because in addition to taking away any powderiness, it always seems to add a subtle radiance to my skin too, which I love. It's also a total multi-purpose product (I use it for applying shadows wet or shadows as liners all the time) so I feel like I get a lot of bang for my buck with it.

When I saw the NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray, I thought that it might be a good alternative to Fix +.

Review -- NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches and Cream & Cherry Pie

When it comes to lipgloss, I don't mind a sticky formula.

That's because a sticky gloss usually has pretty good staying power -- and I don't mind putting with some stickiness if it means I won't have to keep applying my gloss all day long.

(Well, I don't mind the stickiness until the wind picks up and keeps throwing my hair in face so it sticks to my lips like glue.  Then I absolutely, completely hate it.)

However, if there's a gloss that isn't at all sticky *and* can last a good long while, then I'm all over it. 

That's exactly what you get with the NYX Butter Glosses.

Oldie but Goodie - NYX Round Lipstick in Thalia

NYX Round Lipstick in Thalia

Several years back, I went on a crazy spree and bought about 20 of the NYX Round Lipsticks over a two or three month period.

I don't blame myself at all - the formula is nice - lightweight and slightly moisturizing - and they come in a wide array of colors and they're relatively inexpensive (even more so when I bought them - I swear I got them for like $2 a pop back then) so they're a good way to build your lipstick wardrobe without breaking the bank.