Drug Store Make Up I Hate: NYX and Why I Kept Buying Products From Them
I haven’t found very many NYC products that I like, but the price calls out to me as if I have an infinity of pennies waiting to be released. Why do I keep going back? Was it just the price? Keep reading to find out.
NYX’s Vinyl Liquid Liner Vivid Collection
My last (and permanent) venture into NYX land was when I was yearning for some fun colors in gel liners. My daughter I and found these Vinyl Liquid Liners in NYX’s Vivid collection at the Tyson’s Corner Mall near Washington, DC. We bought green and red. We decided on the pencil liner rather than the pot (I am still wondering if the gel pot would have been better). Mainly because my daughter found it easier to practice her wing.
Let me tell you about these liners! The brush applicator in the NYX vivid liner looks like it’s been put together as a 3rd grade arts and crafts project. The hairs are uneven at best. The fluid that comes out of the tubes is far too soupy to even be called a liquid liner.
They smudge, move, come off. Just blink. They don’t adhere very well if you’re wearing eyeshadow, which is part of the reason to play with the things! They are also not listed on the website anymore.
NYX’s Creamy Lipsticks
Creamy lipsticks are a definite grab-my-eyes item. I love lipsticks. You can’t have too many. I saw these NYX creamy lipsticks in three shades at the discount box for $1.50 at Ulta. That’s $4.50 in total. Less than one lipstick! I was happy until I got home. The pink color seemed to have oil separating in it because it wouldn’t glide on smoothly. The peach did the same thing. The only one that was okay was the red, but it smudged and bleed really, really easily. There are better red’s out there. Red lipstick is a staple cosmetic, so why settle for the worst when I can reach for the best? Lioness Beauty in Power is my favorite shade of red.
NYX’s Liquid Lipsticks
NYX liquid lipsticks weren’t bad, but I wouldn’t consider them a liquid lipstick. They are creamier than a true liquid lipstick, but not smudge proof. They wear off quickly. They also dry up fast! Don’t buy a bundle at a time. They are a lot easier to remove than Lioness Beauty, but I am not looking for easy removal in a liquid lipstick. To remove a liquid lipstick you can try any oil. Olive oil, coconut oil or try out Lioness Beauty’s jojoba infused liquid lipstick remover launching this Christmas.
NYX’s Concealer, Correct, Contour Palette
I once bought NYX’s Concealer, Correct, Contour Palette, which just put crease marks under everyone’s eyes. You’re not supposed to see lines under an 18-year-old model. She doesn’t have any. But don’t worry! NYX’s Concealer pan will definitely reveal those babies in HD.
NYX Contour and Highlight Palette
NYX still list a version of this on their website, but it’s not the one I originally bought. I didn’t spend $25 and I think there were only 6 shades. None matched my own tone, there was plenty of fall out and the colors didn’t last very long. I am guessing by the price increase, they either redid the formula or added two new shades. I ended up throwing it out because it was so useless.
NYX Blush Quad
I don’t want to be too negative. There is this ONE product that I fell in love with. It was when NYX first launched. They were saturating the Internet, and I thought, “I’ve got to try something!” It was a quad style blush. It was my go-to blush until it ran out. They don’t make it anymore! (Now I am using something we are testing in the lab and it’s more fabulous. Release this Spring).
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
Then there’s the NYX jumbo pencil in Milk. Several years ago, this was floating around YouTube’s beauty community like fire. Applied to the lid, it acts like a white base. This makes the eyeshadow’s stick and the colors become more vivid and pure. It reminds me of M.A.C.’s Paint, which was recently discontinued. I wish MAC would bring these paints back because they came in fun colors. We can still get NYX’s Jumbo Pencil in Milk. It works, though it’s a little stiff. It’s not as creamy as a MAC Paint Pot or MAC Paint’s, but it does the job. I use the Jumbo Milk occasionally. The trick is to use a brush and spray with it with some setting spray. It's easier to work with. A lot of creamy liners can be used as a base, even gel liners in the pot!
But I want to go back to the blush and the whole crutch of my frequent buying of NYX products…
This one blush was the reason I kept going back to NYX. My mind saw it as a hit-or-miss process. “The pencil was good, the blush was good, why can’t the other ones be good? Could they?” But when I start adding up all those dollars for every NYX product I’ve bought it’s a lot more than I want to think about.
I’m just going to stick with the companies I know have high quality makeup. It’s not worth all the NYX products I’ve had to throw out (and money).
Plus has anyone else found it strange that they picked the name of a lice removal? Nix isn’t that different than Nyx. What’s with that?
