NYX Single Eyeshadows

NYX (pronounced like 'nix', sometimes referred to as N.Y.X.) is a cosmetics company based out of the U.S.

It is very difficult to purchase in Canada as only one drug store chain (to my knowledge, anyways) sells it, and they only carry a few items from their line. I have e-mailed NYX (and Wet N' Wild) numerous times asking if they plan on expanding their line in Canada or making their new products available here, but haven't received a response.

Due to the lack of availability, I have been purchasing NYX products online and it actually is a lot cheaper than buying these products in the store. Stores like Beauty Joint and Cherry Culture sell NYX items at a discounted rate (sometimes 25%-30% less than the NYX website). They can do this because they buy directly from NYX in bulk and are able to price their items however they want.

One of the most popular NYX products are their single eyeshadows (over 160 colours!). They are often comparable to MAC eyeshadows, but they are much, much cheaper! You can get one of these eyeshadows for as low as $3.75 each. MAC eyeshadows are close to $20 each in Canada, so NYX can offer you the same quality for a fraction of the price! (Fun fact: MAC is a Canadian Company and was founded in Toronto, ON and the headquarters is still there! If you have any MAC products, check the label on it. It should say that it's made in Canada!)

These are the NYX eyeshadows that I have purchased so far:

Colours (top to bottom, left to right): Kiwi, High Light, Taupe Pearl, Smokie Mountain,  Golden Dune, Volcano, Flamingo, Sparkle Cedar, Peach Bronze, True Taupe, Golden Amber, Iced Mocha, Morocco

Colours (left to right): High Light, Sparkle Cedar, True Taupe, Flamingo, Iced Mocha, Taupe Pearl, Peach Bronze, Golden Dune, Volcano, Golden Amber

Colours (left to right): Morocco, Kiwi, Smokie Mountain

 You can see from the photos above that they are very pigmented. Most of them are very smooth and they wear wonderfully!

Not all the colours are the same finish, so it is important to look up swatches of the colours you are thinking of getting to make sure it's what you want (some are glittery or shimmery, matte, satin, frost, etc).

Cherry Culture has a great list of the colours and their various finishes.

Finishes of the colours that I have:

• Highlight: Matte
• Sparkle Cedar: Metallic/Shimmer, has glitter/sparkle
• True Taupe: Matte
• Flamingo: Sheer/Metallic
• Iced Mocha: Metallic
• Taupe Pearl: Metallic 
• Peach Bronze: Metallic
• Golden Dune: Metallic
• Volcano: Shimmer
• Golden Amber: Shimmer with fine glitter/sparkle
• Morocco: Frosty/Shimmer
• Kiwi: Frosty
• Smokie Mountain: Shimmer with fine glitter/sparkle

My two favourites are Morocco and Golden Dune. Morocco is a colour for which I have searched a long time. Years ago, Wet N Wild released an eyeshadow palette where the colours were pressed into a floral shape. The one I got has white, black, grey and a deep purple. That purple was the only colour I have and I loved it! Since then I have bought many purple eyeshadows and none have come as close as Morocco has. Morocco is a lot better quality that my Wet N Wild one!

Golden Dune is a lot different. Morocco is very pigmented and a little goes a long way. With Golden Dune, you have to build it up a bit (the same goes for Smokie Mountain). It has a lot of microfine glitter in it, and this "breaks up" the eyeshadow. It just means that the pigment isn't bonding to itself because the glitter gets in the way. Golden Dune and Smokie Mountain are great colours, but you just have to work a bit more with them than you would with the others.

I like using High Light as my highlight colour, and I like using Iced Mocha on top of the Iced Mocha Jumbo Eye Pencil.

True Taupe is a great colour to use if you want a natural and subtle look. Using Taupe Pearl in your crease can help add definition to your eyes.

Sparkle Cedar has glitter in it (larger than the glitter in Golden Dune and Smokie Mountain) and so a bit of glitter fallout is to be expected. It doesn't have the same pigmentation issue as G.D. and S.M., but the glitter is large enough to fall out a bit throughout the day. 

All of the metallic colours are of the same texture and contain no glitter. They are the smoothest of them all and would look great if you want a bold look using neutral colours.

I think these are great eyeshadows for the price and I hope to purchase more soon! Are there any colours in particular that have caught your eye? Do you have a current favourite colour? Let me know in a comment! :)

Summary:

Product: NYX Single Eyeshadows
Price: ~$3.75-$5.00 (Beauty Joint, Cherry Culture, NYX's website)
Grade: A+

NYX Single Eyeshadows Available on Amazon:

NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencils

Lastly, in my Jumbo Eye Pencil Review Series, I will be reviewing the famous NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils!

I have 22 of the 27 Jumbo Eye Pencils that NYX currently makes. I bought them in bulk from Ebay, which is a lot cheaper than buying it from the store. NYX has representatives that buys their products in large quantities and sells them for cheaper.

You can buy them for $4.50 each on NYX's website, for $2.99 at Beauty Joint or all 27 for around $60 on Ebay (works out to be around $2.22 per pencil). They come in smaller quantities as well if you don't want all 27. If you're comfortable with Ebay, it is my top choice when purchasing these (and other NYX products). I've had great experiences with purchasing NYX from Ebay and Beauty Joint!

All 22 of my NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils

Colours (left to right): Cherry, Rust, Orange, Bronze, Gold, Pure Gold, Rocky Mountain Green, Horse Radish, Lime, Pacific, Electric Blue

Colours (left to right): Black Bean, Slate, Pots & Pans, Cottage Cheese, Milk, Yogurt, French Fries, Iced Mocha, Dark Brown, Purple Velvet, Purple

These Jumbo Eye Pencils are my absolute favourite of all the ones I have reviewed in this series.

They come in a great range of colours, they are opaque and a little goes a long way (which is all you need when using it as a base!)

The only bad thing about this product is that you can't wear them alone (as with all the other Jumbo pencils I have reviewed). They will crease even if you use them over a primer, so it is essential that you set it with an eyeshadow and use a primer underneath.

NYX makes the best jumbo eye pencils in my opinion and were one of the first companies to come up with this concept. I love all the colours, with the exception of the colour Purple which is not as pigmented as it could be. I had this same problem with Wet N Wild's Techno, so I think developing pigmented purple cream products may be tougher than other colours.

I definitely recommend checking these out. They are a great investment and are a lot cheaper than buying a MAC Paint Pot or other high-end cream eyeshadow.

I am giving it an A instead of an A+ because I think that sharpening these pencils wastes a lot of product. They would be more efficient if they were in 'twist-up' packaging.

If you have some jumbo pencils and don't want to waste product by sharpening them, check out the videos at the bottom of this post.

Summary:

Product: NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencils
Price: $2.22-4.50 (Ebay, Beauty Joint, NYX's website)
Grade: A

**Note: These videos were created and uploaded by people I do not know. I am not affiliated with them in any way and they have not asked me to link to their videos. I simply did a search on YouTube for these tutorials. Please exercise caution when executing the techniques used in the videos.**

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New Review Series: Jumbo Eye Pencils

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One of my favourite types of eyeshadow bases are jumbo eye pencils. In this review series, I'll be reviewing the various brands I have collected so far and whether or not I think they are worth the money.

Eyeshadow bases are creamy in texture and are often very pigmented. They provide a base for your eyeshadow to stick to and also enhance the colour of your eyeshadow. For example, applying a black eyeshadow base to your eyelids and placing a black eyeshadow on top will make the eyeshadow more intense as the particles become absorbed by the creamy base. You can also alter the colour of an eyeshadow by placing a base that is a different colour. For example, by placing a white eyeshadow over a black base, you will achieve a grey colour.

All of these jumbo eye pencils should be applied in a thin layer so as to avoid creasing. They should also be applied over a primer. Most of these jumbo eye pencils need to be worth with both a primer and a powder/pressed/loose eyeshadow on top.

Here is a picture of all the jumbo eye pencils that I have collected. They are all very affordable, so though it may look like a lot, they didn't cost a lot of money! I'll be including prices of each of these pencils/sets.

Prices of these pencils range from $0.90 - $2.50 each (with a few exceptions)

 My first review will be on the brands which I have only purchased a few jumbo eye pencils from. These brands are:

• ACO (from Ardene in Canada)
• Sephora
• Bonne Bell
• Wet N Wild

Brands (left to right): ACO, ACO, Sephora #506, Bonne Bell (Bronze Shimmer), Wet N Wild (Techno), Wet N Wild (Pixie)

First two: ACO, Second two: Wet N Wild, Fifth: Sephora, Sixth: Bonne Bell

ACO is a brand which can be purchased at Ardene in Canada (an accessories and clothing store). They come in a package of two. I have only seen the grey and purple duo and a black and white duo. You can purchase this package for $3 (each eyeliner works out to be $1.50 each). I wasn't impressed with the grey colour. It's consistency is a bit too hard, but this is because it is meant to be used as an eyeliner. The consistency of the purple is a little softer, but the colour payoff is amazing! My only problem is that because it is a jumbo eye pencil, it will create thicker lines, which is a problem when lining your eyes (unless that is the effect you are going for). I think these are worth trying out. Ardene often has a 2/$6 sale on their makeup, so you can try some of their stuff out and not spend a lot of money. Grade: A+ (purple) and C (grey).

Wet N Wild Idol Eyes jumbo pencils are much creamier than the ACO eyeliners. They are about $2.50 (depending on where you get them) and can be found in most drug stores. The one I have in the colour Pixie (champagne colour) is shorter than the one in Techno because I have used it quite a bit. Techno needs to be worked with a bit to achieve a nice colour, but by then you've applied too thick of a layer. I don't think Techno is worth the money, but Pixie is. Grade: A (Pixie) and C- (Techno).

The Sephora pencil in #506 is great. It's a silvery purple colour and is creamy and thick. I'm not sure if Sephora still sells these but I think it was around $8. They now have 12H Waterproof Jumbo Liners which I imagine are better in formula than the one I got. Grade: A

The Bonne Bell Pencil surprised me. I bought it because I was curious. I only bought one because it was around $5 and is shorter than most jumbo pencils. However, I found it to be creamy and pigmented. Grade: A

All of these (with the exception of WnW's Techno) work great as a base, if used sparingly. Use enough to get some colour onto your lid and you will decrease the chance that it will crease on you. Use over a primer and your eyeshadow will last even longer!

Brands of Jumbo Pencils I will review next:

• Indulge (WalMart brand)
• StyleEssentials (found at Winner's)
• NYX
• Quo
• GOSH
• Claire's

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NYX: The Ultimate Pearl Eyeshadow

I really love NYX Cosmetics, and these are some of their new eyeshadows. They are called The Ultimate Pearl Eyeshadow, and I purchased them from Beauty Joint for $5.25 each. I got them in the colours Black Pearl and Bronze Pearl and the other colours available can be found here. 

It was difficult to tell from the pictures on the website what these eyeshadows would be like, so I thought I would just purchase two in case I didn't really like them. This turned out to be a good decision. I usually really like NYX's products, especially their Single Eyeshadows (review on those to come), but these disappointed me. The name "Pearl" suggested to me that these would be pearly in colour; sort of iridescent and sheer with a satin finish. But that isn't exactly how they turned out to be. 

Colours (left to right): Black Pearl, Bronze Pearl

You can tell from the above picture that these look pearly in colour, but you can also see a lot of fine glitter has been added. Though these eyeshadows are smooth to the touch, the glitter ruined them for me. In my opinion, they would have been a lot better without the glitter.

The description of these eyeshadows as found on Beauty Joint's website is as follows:

Pearl eyeshadows packed in a quilted powder compact. Highly pigmented shades impart a soft, shimmery, iridescent look. Easy to blend and great for highlighting!

Unfortunately, there is no mention of glitter in the description. In fact, the description perfectly describes what I imagined these to be from reading the product's name. 

Here are the swatches:

Colours (left to right): Black Pearl, Bronze Pearl

They apply nicely, but because of the glitter, it can create some fallout.

The packaging is nice (as most NYX packaging often is), but again, I'm just not a fan of the glitter.

Summary:

Product: NYX's The Ultimate Pearl Eyeshadow

Price: $5.25 (www.beautyjoint.com)

Grade: C

NYX's Soft Matte Lip Cream

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I really love NYX. I find that sometimes they can be an affordable alternative to MAC, and the quality of NYX's products is amazing!

One of their newest products is the Soft Matte Lip Cream. I purchased four of them from Beauty Joint for $4.50 each.

The packaging reads: "It's not lipstick, nor is it gloss. It's like nothing you've experienced before. It's lipstick cream that goes on silky but looks matte."


That is definitely an accurate description of this product. Additionally, I would say that although it is not smudge-proof (and will wear off throughout the day), it does leave a tiny bit of stain on your lips so you're not totally left without colour when it wears off naturally over time.

One problem I have with this product is that it is really difficult to judge the real colour of each Lip Cream as the packaging is not clear and therefore doesn't show the true colour of the product through the package. Photographing the product also does not provide a true representation of its colour, so it would be best to try to find these in a store and test them out. However, if you live in Canada like I do, this is nearly impossible as very few places carry this brand.

Here are some swatches of the ones I purchased:

Colours (left to right): Stockholm, London, Milan, San Paulo

The first thing I noticed about this product when I tried it was the smell. It kind of smells like vanilla icing! It has a very nice texture, kind of like a mousse mixed with a cream. It eventually dries to a matte finish and is really easy to re-apply throughout the day.

The size of these Soft Matte Lip Creams is about 3.5 inches in height so they are great for travel and carrying around. 

There are only 11 colours available at the moment and I really hope they come out with more soon!

Summary:

Product: NYX's Soft Matte Lip Cream

Price: $4.50 (BeautyJoint.com)

Grade: A

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