I purchased this lipgloss at my local accessory store that sells NYX products for $2.99. And I am impressed! This lipgloss is a milky pink color with hints of shimmer in it. The color is a sheer pink, not opaque. It makes an excellent lipgloss for everyday or over lip stick. The lasting power is a lot better than the Maybelline Shinylicious lipgloss that I reviewed earlier. Actually, this lipgloss is a lot better than most of the drugstore lipglosses out there.

Swatch:

Overall, this product is “PERFECT” for the price! I will definitely buy other NYX lipglosses in the future.

I had great things about NYX’s Loose Pearl Shadow - a cheap alternative to MAC’s pigments. MAC’s Pigments are $19.50 vs. NYX’s Loose Pearl Shadow for $3.00 (NYX website). I’ve never owned any type of loose powder eyeshadow, so this was a first.

I actually swapped this eyeshadow with NYX’s Spring Flower at a makeup site. I was looking for a dark, charcoal eyeshadow to create a smokey eye look or to intensify a look using this in the outer corners of your eyes.

Below is a swatch, sorry…it’s not a very good photo.

When I received this pigment, it came in a little tiny jar. From looking inside the jar, it looked like the name of it “charcoal”- black shimmer loose powder. The bottle makes it difficult to use the product, so I transfered the eyeshadow to a empty sample jar of mineral makeup.

Here’s the lowdown - it took a while to get used to the loose pigment, but I liked it!

Pros: Cheap alternative to MAC, long lasting
Cons: Packaging could be better
- The color had blue undertones - when applied it actually shows up blue-ish/black if that makes sense and I was looking for a true black

Overall, the texture was very smooth and easy to blend. Even though I wasn’t thrilled about the color, everything else was great. It makes me want to try their other pigments. This is great for those that are makeup newbies like me and can’t afford MAC.

If you want to buy these pigments, buy them at cherryculture.com for 99 cents! Or you can also check you local clothing stores - think Forever 21 type of stores.

NYX Singles
Top: Mink Brown
Bottom: Sahara
Right: Beauty Queen

Swatch:
Top to Bottom: Beauty Queen, Mink Brown, Sahara

I used NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow in Cottage Cheese as a base

I read fab reviews on NYX Cosmetics on various forums and websites. People say that it is a cheap alternative to MAC, and I agree with that!! My local knock-off Claire’s store always had these in their store, but I never gave them a time of day. I assumed that since they were so cheap, the quality will be as well. Boy was I wrong. These eyeshadows were $2.99 each, yes I couldn’t believe it either. I believe you can buy these online at NYX’s website, but the prices are higher there for some reason. If you want to buy these online, get them at cherryculture.com - the eyeshadow singles are less than $3.

Here are my reviews of the eye shadow singles….

Beauty Queen - A purple eyeshadow with silver glitter specks in it. I was expecting it to be more plum, but it’s actually more purple. This works great for a smokey eye look or to put in your outer V. It’s very easy to blend and leaves a matte finish with a slight shimmer. The texture of the eyeshadow is a little grainy, but a lot better than your typical drug store eyeshadow. Staying power was excellent. The downside is that the silver glitter specks ends up everywhere on my face for some reason and sometimes gets into my eyes.

Mink Brown - This is shimmery, bronze neutral every day eye shadow. It’s a little too bronzey for me, but I just use a little bit. The texture of the eyeshadow is very smooth and extremely easy to blend, better than Beauty Queen!!

Sahara - I was looking for an inexpensive neutral everyday eyeshadow dupe of MAC’s Shroom or Naked Lunch. Before I found this eyeshadow, I have been using Clinique’s Colour Surge Eyeshadow duo in Double Date, I didn’t want to rebuy it, because…well….I’m cheap. Thanks to MUT forums, a user recommended NYX Sahara. And I must say that I LOVE this eyeshadow!! It’s a shimmery cream colored eyeshadow and is excellent for wearing it alone or layered with others. I use this eyeshadow everyday! And if I run out, I will buy it again. This is my favorite of the three singles that I have.

Overall, I am impressed with NYX single eyeshadows. I’ve heard that the single eyeshadows are better than the trios, but I personally haven’t used the trios yet. NYX has a wide selection of colors to choose from and is definitely worth your money! Maybe on a later post, I’ll list where I was able to find NYX products in the LA area.

I got this for Christmas - Smashbox Lip Brillance Duo in Tempt. I’ve never owned any Smashbox products, so I was excited to give this a try. This duo came in cute packaging and in the middle is a pull-out brush that’s shown on the right.

Here are swatches of the lip duo -

Lips wearing the berry color only…I was very surprised with this berry color alone, I like it! It gives me a very natural look. I’ve always worn lipgloss, because I liked the shinyness from it, but this lip color has a creamy lipstick-like texture. It makes me want to venture out into lipsticks now…hehe…This can be worn as an everyday look.

Lips layering the gold color on top of the berry… It gives me an almost metallic lip-look. I would probably wear this duo for a special event or night out in the town. The red-berry color is not as prominent with the gold pairing.

Overall, LOVE this product!

On a side note, my allergies are really killing me!! This weird LA weather is making my allergies go crazy! Last week, it was cold and raining. Now it’s sunny and warm! I wake up with a dry, itchy throat and my nose is congested. I guess I’m back to taking Claritin for a week to build my immune system to help fight off these allergies.