NYX

New $6.50 NYX High Definition Blush: On Days When My Face Is on the Oily End of the Sebaceous Spectrum, This Powder Blush Is a Dream

March 17th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

Wearing the new $6.50 NYX High Definition Blush in Baby Doll (and that’s NYX Intense Butter Gloss in Funnel Delight on mah lips)

The Curse of the Black Pearl is a freakin’ cakewalk compared to The Curse of Combination Skin (which I have). I mean, it’s not like I’m dealing with undead skeleton pirates or anything, but hella moody skin that alternates between bone dry and Oil Slick City comes with its own set of problems, man.

May I present to the court Exhibit A: the new $6.50 NYX High Definition Blushes.

On days when my face is on the oily end of the sebaceous spectrum, this powder blush is SUCH a dream (they’re just $6.50 each). When I wear it, my cheeks look like I just found out that I won the lottery, and subsequently told my curmudgeonly feline boss to suck it — all that naturally glowing lit-from-within jazz that comes with telling someone off or doing a vigorous wop to Push It or, I dunno, making out with your knee (Ha! That’s how I used to practice kissing…).

And then there’s the soft, smooth powders, which feel like fairy dust and blend like powdered sugar; the cray-cray amount of pigment; and the 8-hour wear time — hot dayum! — which all add up to placing these on the cusp of legendary drugstore makeup status.

NYX High Definition Blush in Coraline — High Definition Blush in Coraline

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Can I Just Say Again How Much I Like These NYX Intense Butter Glosses? [VIDEO]

March 16th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

Right now, the only thing I want on my lips more than these new NYX Intense Butter Glosses ($6 each) is actual whole cream butter.

Mmm, butter…

These are hands-down my favorite drugstore glosses of the moment. They’re a great deal for $6.

Just a quick Monday video. As always, thank you for watching.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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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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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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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The $7.50 NYX Adorable Shadow Palette Is Darling, Dahhhling

February 12th, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Cray-cray adorbs! The new NYX Adorable Palette.

“This palette is just darling, dahhhhling.”

Why, yes, I have been watching too much Bravo.

What gave it away? Was it the way I said “dahhhling” like Lisa Vanderpump from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? Because that’s how this new spring eyeshadow palette makes me feel.

With its cute crop of neutral browns, beiges and a dreamy pinkish peach, this palette has adorable written all over it.

No, really, it does. Right there on the front of the packaging. “Adorable.” Says it right there. 🙂

Anywho, don’t these six powder shadows look great together? I can see them working in a bunch of neutral looks.

Like this here pinkish brown smokey eye I’m sporting today…

That’s Bobbi Brown’s Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Antigua on the apples of my cheeks and Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood Light on my upper cheekbones.

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NYX Introduces Tempting New Shades of $5 Butter Gloss To Excite Lips and Make Tummies Rumble

February 4th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

I can’t even begin to understand the concept of skipping dessert.

Well, that’s not true… I get it. Sometimes I do it, too. But I hate it whenever I do. Every time.

It’s easy for my friend Cindy, though. Whenever a waiter asks, “Would you like to see the dessert menu?” she can easily say no (she’s more into salty snacks than sweets), but that’s not even an option for me. I have to see the dessert menu because I live for the sweet stuff, man.

A meal doesn’t seem complete unless I’ve had a piece of cake or a scoop of ice cream at the end, and if it were more socially acceptable to completely skip appetizers and the main dish entirely and go straight to dessert, I totally would.

I like to get my sweet on any way I can, which is why I have a soft spot for these NYX Butter Glosses.

Have you taste tested these sheer glosses before (I meant figuratively, but they do have a light brown sugar and vanilla flavor and scent that I like)? They cost $5 each and originally arrived last spring, when they were added to the permanent line.

They have a satiny finish, a lightweight, super comfy, non-sticky formula and delectable names like Peach Cobbler and Cherry Pie.

They tend to apply a little patchy on me at first and only last about an hour, but I like ’em for what they are, and the price seems right.

NYX recently added 10 more shades, including the three yummy-sounding ones here — rosy nude Angel Food Cake, hot pink Cupcake and berry Raspberry Tart.

NYX Butter Gloss in Angel Food Cake — Angel Food Cake

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