Good morning dolls. Today I am not doing too well. I didn’t sleep well at all. I woke up every 30 to 45 minutes due to being in pain. Today is going to be a nursing my wounds type of day. It’s chilly here in Florida so I will try and stay as warm as possible and hopefully I can make it through the day without a nap so that I can sleep well tonight. I have very little spoons today so my look for the day is very low key. I ordered a bunch of NYX Cosmetics products to test out. I only ever used a few products by NYX so I thought doing a full face of NYX products would be fun.
So lets jump right into it…
Base: I primed my face using NYX Angel Veil Skin Perfecting Primer ($16 for 1.02 fluid ounces at Ulta and at the NYX store or website). I concealed my under eyes with NYX HD Studio Photogenic ($6 for .11 fluid ounces at Ulta and NYX stores and website) in the color Nude Beige. My foundation is NYX Born to Glow Naturally Radiant Foundation ($10 for 1.01 fluid ounces at Ulta and NYX stores and website) in the color Nude. I set my whole face with NYX Stay Matte But Not Flat Powder Foundation ($9.50 for .26 ounces at Ulta or NYX stores or website) in the color medium beige. I bronzed with NYX Matte Bronzer ($10 for .33 ounces at Ulta or NYX store or website) in the color medium.
Eyes: I primed my eyes with Tarte Shape Tape ($27 at Ulta or Tarte website) in the color light medium honey. I used the NYX Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette in Warm Neutral ($18 at Ulta and NYX) . I used the 3rd color on the top row to set the Shape Tape (it’s a cream colored matte). For my first transition shade I chose the 2nd color on the 2nd row (a medium true tan matte). I chose the 2nd color on the last row (a light peach terra cotta matte) as my 2nd transition shade. As my crease color I picked the last shade of the 3rd row (an reddish orange). I used the 1st shade of the 3rd row as my main lid color (it’s gold with copper reflect metallic). On the middle 1/3 of the lid I chose the 3rd color of the same row (a copper with pink reflect metallic). I deepened my outer v and last 1/3 of my lid with the 2nd color of the 3rd row (a rusty brown with plum undertones matte). For my eyebrows I used a combo of the NYX Micro Brow Pencil ($10 at Ulta and NYX) in the color Brunette and the NYX Tinted Brow Mascara ($7.50 at Ulta and NYX) in the color Espresso. I highlighted my brow bone with first the BH Cosmetics Studio Pro Brow Highlighter then with the 1st color of the 1st row of the shadow palette (a creamy vanilla matte). I lined my under lids with NYX Slim Eye Pencil ($4.50 at Ulta and NYX) in the color Dark Brown. I lined my water line with NYX Faux Whites ($8 at Ulta and NYX) in the color Linen. For mascara I chose Clinique High Impact Mascara ($19.50 at Ulta) in black.
Cheeks and Lips: I used NYX Sweet Cheeks Matte Creamy Powder Blush (7.50 at Ulta and NYX) in the color Summer Breeze (a dusty coral). I Highlighted my cheek bones, temples, brow bone, and cupid’s bow with the 1st shade (an icy white with silver reflect) of the NYX Born to Glow Highlighter Palette ($25 at Ulta and NYX).I lined my lips with the NYX Suede Matte Lip Liner ($4 at Ulta and NYX) in the color Kitten Heels and NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick ($7 at Ulta and NYX) in the color Kitten Heels ( a bright yellwo based red).
Final Thoughts….
Angel Veil Skin Perfecting Primer gets an A+ is a velvety smooth primer with a white cast…. it reminds me of the Hoursglass Veil Mineral Primer, in fact I would wager to say it is a dupe for it…… It gives the same white cast, has the same velvet feeling, and dries down without being sticky. I have used this primer a few times over the year and each time my foundation stays in place perfectly… The only down side is, because of the white cast, anytime I use this primer I get a white flash back when I take flash pictures.
HD Studio Photogenic Concealer gets a B is a medium coverage concealer. It comes in 23 shades with 8 shades for deeper skin. This is the first time I use this concealer. It’s covers dark circles well and a little goes a very long way. I used 1 full swipe of the wand and that was too much concealer… it covered my under eye and down to my cheeks. Because I used too much it feels cakey under my eyes, with everything settling into the fine lines. It has a medium consistency to it. It does dry down to a semi matte finish, but I set it because it kept creasing on me.
Born to Glow naturally Radiant Foundation get an A- is a nice foundation. It comes in 45 shades with 16 shades for deeper skin. I don’t understand the name of this foundation…. there is no glow to this foundation. It’s not a flat foundation, but it doesn’t glow, say like the Beautifully Bare Foundation by ELF. It’s a medium coverage foundation. I used 1 squeeze of the tube and that covered my full face and neck, the color was a perfect match. It almost dries down completely, you can probably get a way without setting this one because there is no stickiness to this foundation.
Stay Matte But Not Flat Powder Foundation A- I love this powder, it reminds me of the MAC Studio Fix Powder plus Foundation. I’ve used the Stay Matte But Not Flat for years. It only comes in 5 colors, none of which are deep enough for our dark skin beauties, and for this I only give it an A-. This is a foundation powder, but it doesn’t really cover well as a stand alone foundation. I use it to add coverage to liquid foundations.
Matte Bronzer A+ I have used the Matte Bronzer in Dark Tan for about a year. It’s a nice matte bronzer. It’s not too orange like a lot of the drug store bronzers tend to be. It’s finely milled and blends into the skin smoothly. I like the under tone of the Medium bronzer more than the Dark Tan one. You get a descent amount of product for the price.
Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette in Warm Neutral A++ It’s a nice palette. The shadows are not that pigmented so you have to build the intensity but the shadows are smooth and blend nicely. They aren’t patchy or chalky at all. There is no kick back or fall out with this palette. The metallic shadows need to be applied with a finger or a brush that has been sprayed with some fix plus, otherwise they go on with a light wash of color. It didn’t take much to build up my eye look, but I did have to dip back into the colors a few times to get the color pay off I wanted. This is a great starter palette for makeup newbies.
Micro Brow Pencil C+ This pencil comes in 8 colors and reminds me of the Anastasia Beverly Hills micro pencil. I have used this product before, but after using the ELF Ultra Precise Brow Pencil I just do not like this brow product. The pencil went on smoothly but the product just wouldn’t stay sharp, the color broke several times. I finally used a translucent powder to get the product to stay put. It’s an OK pencil, I just think there are better products out there that are cheaper as well.
Tinted Brow Mascara C- Comes in 5 colors. This products holds the brow hairs in place well, however the brush on this product is just too big to keep the product in place. I had to wipe it off my forehead and brow bone several times. The product comes out in clumps, not at all smooth like the Wow Brow from ELF. The only things I liked about this product were the tone of the color and the fact that it holds my brows well…. everything else is a hard pass for me… I’ll use this product up but I will not repurchase it.
Slim Eye Pencil D Comes in 21 colors. The whole Slim Pencil line needs to be revamped. They are too hard, too waxy, and skip over the skin. It is hard to get an even line because of the formula of this product… as was the case with the Slim Lip Pencil as well. This product is a hard pass for me. I wont even be using up the ones I have.
Faux Whites Pencil A+++ Comes in 8 colors. This is my favorite flesh toned eye pencil for the water line. It is creamy and pigmented and stays put. It has just the right pigment and tone to brighten the water line perfectly. I have repurchased this product twice.
The reason I did not have a mascara from NYX is because I have tried and hated all of their mascaras… that product gets F from me.
Sweet Cheeks Matte Creamy Powder Blush A++ There are 12 shades. This is the first time I try a blush from NYX. It’s pigmented and blends well. I find most drug store matte blushes will go on patchy but this matte blush went on smooth with no skipping and no patchiness. The color is true to pan and is so pigmented that a light hand is needed to keep from getting too much at one time.
Born to Glow Highlighter Palette A+ Is a great highlighter palette. Unfortunately mine was delivered broken, I lost 1 of the colors. This highlighter palette is not like typical drug store highlighter palettes. There isn’t glitter in the highlighter, it goes on strong so a light hand is needed. The highlighter does pick up on imperfections but it goes on so pretty that I don’t even mind so much.
Suede Matte Lip Liner A+++ It’s no secret that these lip liners are my favorite. It comes in 72 colors. They are so smooth and creamy that it makes it so simple to line the lips. They are a matte formula so they blend into the lip seamlessly.
Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick A+++ I have several of these lipsticks. There are 24 colors total. They do not dry down like a traditional matte liquid lipstick does and there is a little transfer but these lipsticks wear down beautifully. It wears down to what looks like a lip stain. They are comfortable on the lips. They don’t bleed into the lines of lips. I would say this is in my top 3 favorite lip products.
Well that’s all for now dolls. Check back later when I share my Mani Monday post…. Until then ta ta for now and remember save a spoon for a bit of lipstick.
XOXO
A Spoonie's Makeup Bag 