NYX

New From NYX, and It’s Intense! New $6 Intense Butter Gloss

March 13th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

Wearing NYX Intense Butter Gloss in Funnel Delight ($6, one of 12 shades)

Yesterday I wore one of NYX’s new $6 Intense Butter Glosses while eating a piece of intensely buttered brown bread at The Cheesecake Factory.

(You know their brown bread, right? Man, I LOVE that stuff.)

I usually go easy on the butter because, you know, I figure I’ll just have to run it off eventually, but they brought out two hot loaves, and I thought, “Gee…I’m eating intensely buttered bread while wearing Intense Butter Gloss.”

So I ate a lot. 🙂

Color me weird, but things like that bring me great joy. It’s all about the little things, you know? You gotta get your kicks where you can.

NYX Intense Butter Glosses from the left: Apple Crisp, Tres Leches and Funnel Delight — Three of the 12 new NYX Intense Butter Glosses ($6 each) from the left: Apple Crisp, Tres Leches and Funnel Delight

Anywho, these really do feel like butter on my lips — like I spread a thick, creamy layer of fresh churned butter (made by happy cows, of course) on my kisser.

I keep thinking that I’m going to have to do some cardio if I keep wearing them, badum tish!

They’re a brand new line, and NYX rolled out 12 intensely pigmented shades for spring.

So far I’ve tried three of the shades — a red called Apple Crisp, a hot pink called Funnel Delight and a nude called Tres Leches — and I think the red one and the hot pink are hella impressive. Vivid (so intense that your natural lip color will be buried under an avalanche of pigment), opaque, full-coverage, and they apply smoothly, too.

But for me, the nude was the real test, because I have naturally pigmented lips, and a lot of the time I have to jump through hoops to get nude shades to show up, but not this time. No concealer on my lips, no lip liner beforehand — nothing. Just my lips and the gloss. That’s it.

NYX Intense Butter Gloss Swatches from the left: Funnel Delight, Tres Leches and Apple Crisp — Swatches from the left of Funnel Delight, Tres Leches and Apple Crisp

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Try the $15 NYX La Fleur Lip Gloss Set for Everyday Pinks and Peaches

July 28th, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

Oui, ma cherie, I could spend all day looking at the NYX 5-Piece La Fleur Lip Gloss Set.

These pinks and peaches are the exact same versions of those shades that I always like to have with me in purse. They’re my perfect everyday colors.

This $15 kit is like a slightly understated, more neutral version of NYX’s The Legends Lip Set, and the two kits have a few things in common. The La Fleur lipglosses also have that same Sour Patch candy taste and scent (The sweet part, like how they taste at first. Not the sour part.) that lasts about two hours on me, and they also apply pretty sheer.

Only thing is…I can’t easily tell them apart on my pigmented pout, so I’ll use them more for layering to tone down bright pink, peach and coral lip products than as standalone glosses.

The $15 La Fleur Lip Gloss set is available now online and wherever NYX is sold.

NYX La Fleur Lip Gloss Set (3) — From the left: Cashmere, Fair Lady, Natural Beauty, Tickle Me Pink and Made You Blush

NYX La Fleur Lip Gloss Set (6) — From the left: Cashmere, Fair Lady, Natural Beauty, Tickle Me Pink and Made You Blush

Aw, How Sweet: It’s The Legends Lip Gloss Set by NYX

July 24th, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

Some legends are sweet, like these bright candy-colored glosses in The Legends Lip Gloss Set ($15) by NYX.

Not only do they look like candy, but they taste like it, too (like the sugary outer layer on Sour Patch kids, yum!).

The kit comes with five lipglosses in Classic Pink, Classic Coral, Classic Red, Classic Fuchsia and Classic Violet, all of which start bright when you apply them but sheer down to about 50% intensity over the first 10 minutes or so.

The moderately thick, semi-sticky formula lasts about two hours for me.

I’m kinda bummed they aren’t as bright and I wanted them to be…but I still think they’ll be fun layering glosses, especially with bright lipsticks.

PRICE: $15 for a set of five glosses
AVAILABILITY: Available now at NYX counters and online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

NYX The Legends Lip Gloss Set Swatches — From the left: Classic Pink, Classic Coral, Classic Red, Classic Fuchsia and Classic Violet

The Orange Lip Trend: Are You Down?

June 13th, 2014 by Karen 32 Comments

Orange crush! Wearing NYX Butter Lipstick in Hot Tamale ($6)

Orange lips: still a big trend this summer, and since I love bold, bright lip colors, especially in warm shades like orange, yeah…I’m totally down!

I don’t know if it’s a trend that a lot of people I know are into, though. I’ve been trying to persuade the ladies in my life to try orange lips, but most of the time when I bring it up, they make some version of this face…

I’m wearing the Webbed in Turquoise necklace by Kristin Perry

Incidentally, this is the exact same expression I wore all the time when I worked as a legal assistant back in the day. I’d have my coat on my arm and be halfway out the door at 5:01 p.m. when someone in the office would inevitably ask me to make 500 collated copies of a document that needed to get to so-and-so ASAP, and I’d be like, “Suuuuuuuuure, no problem. I’d love to do that for you RIGHT NOW.” 🙂

I’ve tried to convince my gal pals that orange lips don’t necessarily have to be bright, bold and opaque, like the lip look I’m wearing in these pics. In these shots, I’m wearing a single layer of the lovely NYX Butter Lipstick in Hot Tamale (smooth and pigmented, no funky flavor or scent, and just $6!) at full strength, but you could just as easily take it down a notch by dabbing the tube lightly on your lips to create more of an orange stain.

Or, you could reach for a super sheer gloss, like Chanel’s Sunny Glossimer ($29.50, and part of their permanent collection).

Chanel Sunny Glossimer — Wearing Chanel Glossimer in Sunny, a jelly orange

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Better Together: NYX Butter Lipstick in Fireball and Maybelline Master Hi-Lighting Blush in Coral

June 4th, 2014 by Karen 24 Comments

Acronym-ically speaking — yes, that’s a word; no need to look it up 🙂 — I am both a CCL, and a CCL. A Crazy Cat Lady, and a Crazy Coral Lady.

Even though it’s still technically spring around here until June 21, summer makeup’s in the house, and I’m going cray-cray for corals!

I just started wearing this coral lip and cheek combo with NYX Butter Lipstick in Fireball ($5.99) and Maybelline Master Hi-Lighting Blush in Coral ($9.99).

I’m feelin’ it!

The peachy coral blush gives some soft definition to my cheeks without interfering with Fireball’s intense bright reddish coral color.

Methinks the two play nicely together.

Here I’m wearing it with a standard smokey eye, but next time I think I’m going to wear it with a shimmery golden or bronze cream shadow…or maybe a nude lid with winged teal liner on the upper lash line.

Ooh! — if you get a tan this time of year (or any time of year, for that matter), I bet this combo would look great on ya.

The Shimmery Jewel-Toned Eyeshadows in the NYX Suede Palette Are Anything But Typical for Summer

May 30th, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

Dust off that stick of MAC Costa Riche liner (or any of the warm reddish brown eyeliners or eyeshadows in yo’ collection, for that matter), because the new NYX Suede Palette ($15) wants to make magic with it.

This new palette of shimmery, pearlescent jewel-toned eyeshadows is like the partridge to a warm reddish brown’s pear tree. I’m thinking a warm reddish brown with a matte finish…a la MAC Costa Riche, Swiss Chocolate or Embark.

Because all eight shadows in the palette have a shiny finish that borders on metallic, incorporating a matte to contrast with the shimmer should balance with the shadows quite nicely. For these pics here, I used good ol’ MAC Costa Riche on my water and lower lash lines, but I think I’ll sweep a matte brown in the crease as well next time I try this.

These shadows sure are easy to work with. Hardly any fallout at all, lots of pigment, AND they’re easy to blend. The only issue I’ve really had with any of them at all is with my eyes watering — not a lot. Just a tad. My eyes must be super sensitive today because my left eye got a little teary after I smudged the dark blue teal along my lower lash line.

NYX Suede Palette Swatches — Swatches of the top row

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The NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Golden Horizons Hopes To Broaden Your Horizons on Baked Neutral Eyeshadow

May 28th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Technically, Mercury doesn’t enter retrograde until June 7 (I know this because I’m all over Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone like sweat on Daryl Dixon’s biceps), but man, oh man! — it feels like Mercury is already retrograding all over mah face!

I don’t know why, but for the past couple days, Murphy’s Law has ruled my makeup life with an iron fist. Anything that can go wrong with my eye makeup has gone wrong with my eye makeup. Uneven liner, botched blending, cray-cray clumpy lashes — you name it. It’s been a hot mess, so I’ve decided to stick to nudes and neutrals until whatever this is passes.

Until then, I’ll just chill with neutral palettes like the NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Golden Horizons.

This $15 cutie is one of three limited edition NYX Dream Catcher palettes released earlier this year. Each one comes with 10 baked eyeshadows and its own personal outlook on neutrals.

Compared to Dusk Til Dawn, the other Dream Catcher palette in my collection, Golden Horizons is heavier in the matte and satin departments, as opposed to shimmer.

I think it’s a little tamer because its shadows aren’t as pigmented as the ones in Dusk Til Dawn, but that could be a good thing if you don’t want to deal with blending drama, and/or have a legitimate fear of your lids looking like an unfinished painting from Picasso’s Cubism period (#thestruggleisreal).

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Today Only, Get 30% Off Everything Site-Wide at nyxcosmetics.com

March 20th, 2014 by Karen 7 Comments

Friends, makeup fiends, bargain hunters, lend me your bunny ears! How does this sound: 30% off everything at nyxcosmetics.com?

It’s one day only, though (the rest of today), good on everything site-wide.

That’s everything, as in evvrthang.

Not sure where to start?

May I recommend the new Infinite Shadow Sticks?

Regularly $9 a pop, they’re only $6.30 each during the sale.

These convenient and oh-so-lovely sticks of waterproof, smudge-proof cream shadow goodness came out with the spring collection a couple months back. I think they’re wonderful all by themselves, or as bases for powder shadows.

Almond, the shimmery taupe, is my favorite one. I’ll grab it sometimes when I’m totally running behind for something, and apply it all over my lids, concentrating the color along my lash lines. Then, I blend out the edges, and pat MAC’s golden taupe Patina Eye Shadow on top.

Together, they’re taupe-rific! (Yes, I’m on a kick inventing words.)

Oh, I also like shimmery white Crystal. I use it as a base for brights — like greens, blues and purples — where it brightens and intensifies products layered on top.

One thing, though, you have to work quickly with these, as they dry in a minute or two.

Happy shopping! Let me know if you get yourself a treat.