Review/Swatch: NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams

I'm kinda late in the game when it comes to reviewing products especially from one of my current favorite drugstore brands, NYX. Besides that fact that I'm saving up for more important things, I'm becoming more picky when it comes to trying out products...comes with age?

I've always been eyeing NYX soft matte lip creams since its first launch last year (I think). I just never got around in purchasing them because I've read mixed reviews about it, but since there were so many online sales going on last Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012, I grabbed the opportunity to try the lip creams myself AND buy some more NYX stuff besides these lip creams (yes, reviews and swatches to follow).

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams

When these were on sale, the other colors were sold out almost instantly after being posted online. It was hella crazy!!! So I only got 2 colors.

Packaging:

- the cap is rubberized, same feel as what NARS packaging have.

- It doesn't feel and look cheap when you see it first hand. 

Ingredients

(As always, all of my photos in my blog are clickable to enlarge)

Place bought:

online at Digitaltraincase (link on the side bar)

How much:

at that time it was sold on sale for P250. I think you can still purchase it for P250 if you order during their pre-order period.

Before I do my usual swatchfest, I'll just give an outlined review about these lip creams.

Texture/Consistency:

- it has the consistency that's the same as a cake frosting. It has a lightweight, creamy almost mousse-y texture.

Pro:

- affordable and easily accessible since I've seen so many online sellers sell Nyx products nowadays.

- smells good

- nice, wearable color selection that can be worn by a wide range of skintones.

- feels nice on the lips upon application.

- love the colors. Most of them are very wearable for daytime.

Cons:

- dries my lips (especially the outline of my lips) after 30 mins. or so.

- it's not as long lasting like a regular matte lipstick, at least for these nude shades. I've gotta try the darker shades and see if it lasts much longer than the nude ones.

- color fades unevenly on my lips.

- accentuates the lines and dead skin on my lips.

- slips and slides on my lips upon application.

Swatches:

Istanbul

Milan

Will I purchase again?

- even though these lip creams performed on the mediocre side, I think I'll still try the other much hyped up  colors in this lip range because I'm just like that. A curious cat. 

Yes, I think of these lip creams as a hyped up product that's why it's better for me to experience a product first hand to know if what other blog reviews say is true or it's just an exaggeration.

In Depth Review: Avon Glazewear Clear Lip Gloss and Intense Lip Gloss

Believe it or not, this lip gloss from Avon has been one of my consistent favorite and most "used" product in my collection. I don't know why I haven't blogged about this sooner, besides me being a bit forgetful and lazy. 

I think it's also very usual for people who do reviews to forget to blog about things that they love to use almost everyday than the things that they don't usually use that much. Very ironic, I know.

 I think, I bought these early last year when they were still introducing this as one of their new products in Avon lip products line. At that time, it was more or less P200. Now, their current price as of this January 2012 is P375 (regular price). I just don't know how much these are when they are on sale, but I would recommend purchasing these when they are on sale which happens quite often. 

You can watch out for their latest sales in their online brochure in their website.

www.avon.com.ph

Avon Glazewear Clear Lip Gloss and Avon Glazewear Intrense Lip Gloss

Place bought:

Avon "office" branches

To tell you the truth, I signed up for a membership to be an "Avon Lady" in the past. Ya know, people who sell Avon products and such. Since I don't have a gift for sales because as I said before, I am a wimp, I signed up for their membership just to have greater discounts on their products which gives me bigger savings. So whenever there's a sale, sale price + my membership discount = cheaper price and bigger savings.

Unfortunately, since it was taking a very, very, very long time for them to process my membership ID, I decided not to renew my membership w/ them. I'm quite disappointed with how they manage the processing of membership, etc. I hope they improve it soon.

Current Price:

As of January 2012, it's P375 (regular price)

top to bottom: Clear, Honey, Crimson, Rich Rose, Cherry Liqueur

At that time I bought these, there are a total of 6 varieties of these lip glosses, but I only bought 5 of them except for the "Buttered Rum". Currently, I think "Honey" (2nd at the top) is already discontinued bec. I did not see it included in their online brochure.

Scent:

I can only describe the smell as a cross between caramel-y and vanilla-y candy smell. It smells pleasant and it is not overpowering.

Texture and Consistency:

When looking at it, it looks like it has a gel-like consistency. The texture of these are AMAZING. it is not sticky or runny and it last longer than a normal lip gloss. It feels very comfortable to wear bec. it does not dry my lips at all.

Avon Glazewear Clear Lip Gloss w/ SPF15

If you look at the picture closely, you could tell that this lip gloss has seen better days. The label is starting to fade. You could tell I use this very often.

I'm not kidding when I say that this clear lip gloss can stand on its own without using a lip balm underneath. This is like a hybrid of a lip balm and a lip gloss. You should try it to believe it.

Swatch:

I was really surprised with this bec. it really moisturizes my lips even when I'm not using a lip balm underneath. Its moisturizing ability last for quite long time too.

Pro:

- affordable

- versatile (can be used on top of a lipstick or on its own w/o appyling lip balm underneath)

- great moisturizing ability that lasts for quite a long time.

- has spf 15

- feels very comfortable to wear. It's not waxy.

- does not have an overpowering smell.

Cons:

- If you don't want to stain the doe foot applicator when using this lip gloss on top of a lipstick, you have to use a separate applicator on your lips. I realized this too late when I saw my stained doe foot applicator. (refer to the picture above)

Avon Glazewear Intense Lip Gloss

This line of lip glosses has the same moisturizing texture and consistency like the Glazewear Clear lip gloss. The only difference is that this is pigmented...really pigmented...hence, the name "INTENSE".

Comment:

I would describe these lip glosses as a bit of a lip balm, lip gloss and a liquid lipstick hybrid because it doesn't dry my lips, it has the shine of a lip gloss and the pigmentation of a liquid lipstick.

Pigmentation:

AMAZING. very pigmented. You only need to dab a few dots on your lips and spread it either with your finger or a lip brush and the color still stands out. I can still go crazy and apply it full on your lips with the doefoot applicator for a very opaque and glossy finish. 

Depending on how "intense" you want it, you could apply sparingly for a natural, healthy looking lips or apply liberally for an opaque, glossy finish.

Lasting Power:

I would say 2-3 hours (w/o eating or drinking) which is amazing for a "lip gloss". If ever you're going to try these soon, note that when the pigmentation starts to wear off, it gives you a natural colored looking lips, like you've just applied a tinted lip balm on. As a result, still great looking lips!

Cherry Liqueur

a very beautiful berry red color

Swatch:

(When used sparingly)

(Full on application)

Honey

a peachy nude color

I don't know if they discontinued this, if they did, it is very unfortunate because this gives me one of the best nude looking lips w/o me looking like I'm sick. I think this would look great on morenas/tanned skin ladies too. I just think this lip gloss was very underrated. 

pls. ignore the lint...hihihi!

Swatch:

(When applied sparingly)

(Full on application)

Rich Rose

soft rosy pink color

One of my favorite to use almost everyday besides Honey. 

The label sticker underneath is already gone because I use this very often. (^_^)

Swatch:

(When applied sparingly)

 (Full on application)

Crimson

a dark wine color w/ very fine, gold sparkles

this is my least favorite to wear, not because it doesn't look good, but because it is hard for me to pull off this look whenever I wear this on lazy days. On lazy days, I only wear sun screen and lip gloss. That's all. BUT! It looks vampy when I have makeup on. Not for everyday lazy days, but I still love it.

look at the fine shimmers...pretty...

Do not worry, this lip gloss doesn't feel gritty at all. It's not even noticeable once you applied it on your lips. It just makes your lips look more "juicy".

Swatch:

(When applied sparingly)

(Full on application)

Pro:

- affordable

- lasts for quite a long time.

- a little goes a long way.

- moisturizing.

- very pigmented. You can adjust the pigmentation on how you apply the lip gloss on your lips.

- does not have an overpowering smell.

Cons:

- none!!!

Would I repurchase this when I run out?

- yes! if only I know someone who sells this.

NOTE**

The lighting, color of my skin and my lip swatches changes a bit because I use NATURAL LIGHTING as much as possible. I shot these pictures at a different time and date (I also have responsibilities outside cyberspace ya know, hahaha!), hence the difference when pictures are compared. I find that my camera tends to capture clearer and more accurate images when the sun is really bright in the middle of the day (the time when I'm usually busy).

Review: The Face Shop Lovely Me:Ex Lip Care Cream in Shea Butter

 After all the lip balm/treatments that I've tried (and some of it, I haven't thought about making a review), this Lip Care Cream by The Face Shop is the best lip balm, so far, that I've ever used!

This is a life saver for me. Everytime I have dry, chapped and flaking lips, I would always reach for this. A thing I don't usually do to other lip products.

One of the reasons why I took a break at lip swatches of my lipstick collection is because I really had a bad case of dry lips that it tends to flake especially at the outline of my lower lip and it really looked very ugly. I also noticed that since my lips were very dry, the lines on my lips increased...really horrible.

Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to take a picture of my very dry, chapped lips before using the TFS lip care cream because, honestly, I wasn't expecting anything amazing or special about this lip treatment. What I only desperately needed and wanted was something good enough to moisturize my lips...

I only got the chance to take a picture of my ugly lips on the 1st month of using TFS lip care cream...

for me it was a big improvement, though my lips were still flaking a bit. I'm always anemic so there's nothing new about my sickly pale, gray lips.

...and yes, even EOS lip balm, Chapstick (haven't reviewed) and Burt's Bees lip balm (haven't reviewed this yet) couldn't remedy that problem. I'm not saying that EOS, Chapstick and Burt's Bees lip balms weren't good, it worked just average to me and it really did not give me what I needed.

This underrated, unpopular lip care cream really surprised me. It performed with flying colors!!!

The Face Shop Lovely Me:Ex Lip Care Cream in Shea Butter

with my cute mascot.

Place bought:

The Face Shop (Sm North Edsa)

Current Price:

P265 (very affordable especially for the amount that you're getting in one tube = 13ml)

I chose the number two which is Shea Butter. Number 1 is their Vitamin C variant which I also bought as a backup because I love it so much.

I not totally convinced if this thing really is straight up Shea Butter in a tube, but it looks like the color of shea butter while the Vitamin C variant looks like a clear light orange cream.

Smell:

I don't know the real smell of a true shea butter, all I can describe is that this smells like caramel candy. Doesn't really bother me, since the smell isn't overpowering and it only lasts for a few sec. to a min. Best of all, I can't taste the scent of the product like some other lip products out there that smells so strong, you can taste the scent of it. It can really make me gag after a few mins.

I haven't opened my Vitamin C one, but I smelled the tester in the store and it smells like an orange fruit candy. very sweet smelling, but again, I prefer products that I put on my skin to be scentless/fragrance free 'cause I have really sensitive skin.

the tube has a slanted tip that is great in dispensing and spreading the product on my lips.

when applied (thick or thin), it goes on colorless which is great for me because I use this more often at night since it doesn't have any spf.

Formulation:

not sticky and feels like a light moisturizing liquid balm. It also feels very smooth on the lips.

**Tip: 

sometimes I put on more than enough to soak my lips with the lip care cream then I massage it in after a few mins. to remove the flakes and other dead skin cells. It really gives me a "very smooth feeling" lips. It's like my very gentle lip exfoliator minus the abrasive particles. Works really well for me.

There is only one CON for this product:

it's the packaging.

After using this religiously every night for 7 months, the packaging seems to have "cracked" on the side. I've seen a review also complaining about this. This may happen to you too especially if you're like me who likes to squeeze the tube from the bottom-up like a toothpaste.

Oh well, it's quite annoying sometimes, but I'm almost finished with this anyway. I'll even cut this and scoop out the remaining product inside then transfer it to another container because for me, it's really THAT GOOD.

After months of consistently using The Face Shop Lovely Me: Ex Lip Care Cream

There's a big improvement on my lips compared to the previous picture above.

Sorry for the wet hair. hehehe!

Swatches: NYX Powder Blushes (Part 2) (Cinnamon, Pinky and Red)

Got another set of NYX blushes when there was a cosmetic bazaar/exhibit going on last September.

I went straight to Digitaltraincase's booth to check out NYX items first hand, for the first time. It was also my first time to see Sol (the owner of the shop) personally, though I did not introduce myself anymore because I'm a wimp hahaha! and she and her BF? is kinda busy at that time too.

 I was originally planning on purchasing the NYX lip creams, but at that time, most of the colors I would purchase were out of stock. I just got 3 powder blushes since I haven't hauled any NYX products for a while now.

All images are "clickable" to enlarge

Place bought:

Cosmetics Exhibit/Bazaar in SM Megamall

How much:

P300 each

I'll just post swatches of the blushes since we all know that NYX powder blushes are really of good quality for the affordable price.

All pictures were taken under Natural Lighting:

Cinnamon

A very bright orange. I love this.

Pinky

A very bright pink.

Red

of course, a very bright red. This blush is a "true red" color.

Comparison:

Desert Rose is more of a "berry red" color

Mocha is more of a "brick red" color.

 Swatches:

Cinnamon

as you can see, Cinnamon looks great on tanned skin. Used the top part of my arm, the one usually more exposed to the sun as an example.

Pinky

will look natural on fair skin. Used the part of my arm not usually exposed to the sun.

 Red

I think this will look great on any skin color, depending on how you apply this.