Makeup

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams Review

August 19, 2014

My experience with the highly coveted Too Faced Melted Liquid Lipsticks might not have been too much of a makeup fairytale, but today I’d like to introduce you to what I would consider my knights in shining armor (except for one shade, lol), the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams.

“It’s not lipstick, nor is it gloss. It’s nothing like you’ve experienced before. It’s lipstick cream that goes on silky but looks soft matte.” – NYX

I. Fully. Testify.

These restored my love for liquid lipsticks.

I started using this again after I bought the Too Faced liquid lipsticks around May, and immediately fell back in love with them. I was so disappointed with the Too Faced ones because they were expensive, but these lifted my spirits back up – they’re only $5.99 at Ulta and they’ve outperformed the $21 Too Faced equivalents.

Here’s my review of the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams.

Shades and Color Payoff

These amazingly have the opacity and intensity that most lipsticks don’t have (plus the amazing durability).

Sometimes, when my lips are a bit dry, it will settle into the dry patches only after a few hours but it isn’t too bad because it doesn’t actually dry the lips out. This is much more dry-lips-friendly than the Too Faced.

Here are the shades that I have and their individual swatches:

Tok yo

Pale pink

Antwerp

Warm, mid-tone coral pink.

Milan

Cool, mid-tone pink.

San Paulo

Warm, mid-tone berry.

Out of the four shades I have, Tokyo is the only one I dislike. So this review will be solely on the other three shades (Antwerp, Milan and San Paulo). There will be a separate review of Tokyo at the end of the post.

Application

This product comes with a doe foot applicator and it’s ironic how NYX never made claims about the applicator being “precise” or anything like that, yet their applicator has very precise application, unlike Too Faced’s. Their “precise tip applicator” gave me Miranda Sings’s lips when I’m in a rush to touch up.

It literally feels like applying lipgloss, except the formula is creamier!

The only small complaint I have is that a majority of the product, when applied on the lips, can gather around on end of the applicator. Sometimes a glob of color would gather around the edges of the lips, but it’s easy to fix by just going over it and smoothing it out with the same applicator.

The mousse-like cream does apply a bit streaky when swiped horizontally. What I find to be the best way to apply this is by applying one layer first (it’s ok if it’s a bit streaky), and applying the second layer vertically throughout the lips.

Finish & Texture

The initial finish is very creamy and matte, but after about half an hour it becomes fully matted. Some people complain that the creaminess eventually subsides, but I actually like it this way because after the creaminess is gone it turns fully matte and it somehow appears as if the color is infused together with the lips. It looks just like it’s my natural lip color because it stains the lips, but it’s not like a normal, thin “stain” either. It’s more like a thicker stain.

When it loses its creaminess, it still feels smooth though.

This product dries out a bit slow, but once it sets, it DOES. NOT. MOVE. It doesn’t budge, shift or smear. it stays in place and like I said, the color just infuses together with the lips, unlike lipsticks in general.

Longevity

The staying power is what makes this product simply remarkable for the price. Such a drugstore gem!

This wore on me for more than 6 hours before it starts to show signs of fading. Can you imagine the intensity of the color staying on for 6 hours?! It’s insane! It completely disappears after about 8 hours but that’s seriously more than enough time for a lip color to stay on! 🙂

Packaging

I’ve got nothing to complain about. Packaging may not look as fancy as other high end lip products but it’s durable and looks nice.

I do want to point out that the color of the packaging does not accurately represent the color of the lip product, so always make sure you swatch the products (or look for swatches online) before purchasing this based on the color of the packaging.

“Tokyo”

Well, this is the odd one out. I meant to buy the shade “Istanbul” but they were out of it, so I took Tokyo instead.

Anyway, this applied very streaky and was very, very sheer. It felt like I was applying a cream version of Pepto Bysmal mixed with Greek yogurt on my lips.

The color was so disgustingly weird on my lips, I had to carefully and delicately build it up with 5-6 layers to get the lip swatch picture taken. I hate the color on me, and will never plan on using this out.

It’s so pale it looks almost white on me. Made me look like my time of death was 1998. LOL. It’s such a shame because the other ones I have were so pretty!