NYX Shadows Swatches and Review

I LOVE NYX eye shadows. In my opinion, they are the closest any drugstore brand has gotten to MAC quality [though I'm not sure if NYX even counts as a drugstore brand since I can't find them ANYWHERE around here!.]

Recently, Cherryculture had a 50% off NYX sale and I took advantage by buying a ton of shadows and nail polishes. Because the swatches on the NYX site are atrocious, I often have to rely on blogs and youtube videos to get some idea of what I'm buying. I figured I'd do the world a favor and swatch the ones I go, just in case someone out there is dying to buy one of these shades but can't figure out what the color actually is!

All pictures first without then with flash

Swatched on bare skin, no primer.

From L to R:  Gypsy, Pine Nut, Latte Foam

Gypsy has a TON of fall out, and it's quite glittery. Pine Nut is basically the same shade as Gypsy with without the glitter. Latte Foam is somewhere in between the other two shades, also quite glittery. 

From L to R: Cryptonite, Sparkle Cedar, Morocco 

Cryptonite and Sparkle Cedar are glittery and have a lot of fall out as well, but the colors look great together. Morocco is very shimmery and not as blue as it looks in the pan.

From L to R: Purple, Sweet Oleander, Prune

All 3 colors look great together. Sweet Oleander came out looking more purple than pink, but I think that has more to do with my skin tone than with the shadow.

 

From L to R: Skin Tight, Sunset Ray

I'm not a huge fan of Skin Tight, it seems like a matte version of their Champagne color [which I love with all my heart.] Sunset Ray is amazing, probably one of my favorite orange shadows.

 

All in all, a great purchase!

Common Beauty Mistakes

Nobody can be perfect all the time [I manage to be perfect five days out of the year and it's usually during holidays when I'm asleep for most of them.]
Everyone makes beauty mistakes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to correct them asap. Especially because some can end up hurting you in the long run. 

1. Going to bed with your makeup on
Everyone has heard this a million and one times, and yet we still keep doing it! When you wake up in the morning and your makeup has all but melted off, look at your pillow and you'll notice it's not all on there, so where is it? that's right, it's in your face, clogging up your pores and making you look dull.
No matter how tired you are, force yourself to get out of bed and wash your face every night. You don't have to do your entire skincare regimen if you're too tired, just make sure you wash all that stuff off.


2. Putting conditioner all over your hair
I only stopped doing this about a year ago when I realized it was wrong. Nobody ever told me any different! Conditioner should only be applied from your ears down, otherwise it can create buildup on your scalp and make your hair limp. This is especially true if you have wavy or curly hair or if you have fine hair.

3. Washing your hair everyday
People always seem a bit put off when I say I wash my hair twice a week. I don't know how dirty everyone else is getting, but I don't work in a farm or tend sheep in my time off so that I need to wash my hair everyday. Over washing can strip your hair of its natural oils and it can leave you with dry and dull looking hair. If you have extremely oily hair, try using a dry shampoo in between washes. If you use a lot of products in your hair [hello my fellow mousse addicts,] you can rinse your hair out with water when you shower, just don't use shampoo.

4. White Eyeshadow
This one is purely an opinion but seriously, white eyeshadow is horrible. It looks good on NO ONE. Unless you're a celebrity on the cover of a magazine that will get photoshopped to death, you're going to end up looking ridiculous. Dark skinned girls especially, white eyeshadow is the death of us. Just don't do it.
** White or light colored shadow on the inner corner of your eyes is absolutely a must, I'm talking about all over the lid.

5. Biting your nails
I bit my nails from the day I was born until about six years ago. I know how hard it is to stop, but now that I have long, healthy nails, I also know how important it is to stop. Not only because nubby fingers are unsightly, but because your nails can get infected from all the bacteria being passed from your mouth to your hands, not to mention the infections from all the germs on your hands going into your mouth.
How to stop nail biting.

6. Not wearing sunblock/tanning
You know those old ladies who have really leathery skin that kind of looks like a Chloe Handbag? Stop them one day and ask them if they liked to tan when they were younger. Actually, ask them if they still tan on a regular basis. Yes, tanning looks good and I'm of the opinion that it looks healthy but oh my God it's NOT. Tanning is the worst thing for your skin. I finally came to terms with this a few months ago and invested in a daily moisturizer with sunscreen and a couple of bottles of sunblock for when I go to the beach. Maybe I won't look as golden as everyone else in Florida, but I'm lowering my odds of skin cancer and premature wrinkles. I win!

7. Matching your makeup to your clothes
This is one of those that don't hurt you but are just terrible to look at. A purple dress does not mean purple eyeshadow. Rather than wearing the same color, go for one that complements your outfit. Purple dress? Gold and brown eyes. Blue shirt? Grey eyes.

Makeup and beauty are fun, and I hate talking about "rules", but these aren't so much rules as just guidelines to not looking crazy. I've pretty much done all of the above things several times..I still do some of them, but it's important to know what these mistakes are and how to avoid them and just TRY. Nobody wants bad hair!

e.l.f. Eyelid Primer Review

I've been a long time user of Too Faced's eyeshadow insurance, and it's been fine. I honestly haven't noticed anything super spectacular about it, I feel like it works just as well as when I use a concealer as a base.

Since I have no kind of brand loyalty, I'm always up for trying anything as long as I can afford it. That's probably why I seem to be on some kind of e.l.f. kick lately. I keep finding things I want to try from them and they're all so cheap that I can't help but buy them.

The e.l.f. Eyelid Primer retails for $1 at Target, Kmart or the e.l.f. website. Yes, ONE DOLLAR.

I honestly expected absolutely nothing from a $1 primer, but I decided to quit being a snob and just try it.

best.decision.ever.

This stuff is amazing. Not just amazing for the price [which I've always thought is a polite way of saying a product sucks but it's too cheap to complain about], this is amazing in general. Amazing in the sense that it really works.

The primer comes in a tube and looks pretty much like a concealer.

 On to the before and afters. That's what everyone wants to see anyway.

These were taken before I left for work in the morning. How crooked is that liner?! I'm so ashamed.

 

These were taken when I finally got home after working and running errands and I actually think I may have taken a nap at one point. **They look brighter because I had to use flash since it was nighttime.

Clearly, nothing moved an inch. The liner is still strong, the eyeshadow didn't crease one bit, and everything seems to be in place.

I've read other reviews that aren't as glowing as mine and I think it could have something to do with my skin type. I have the definition of normal skin. No excessive oiliness, no excessive dryness, just regular skin. The area around my nose gets a bit oily sometimes, but that's about it. I think maybe the primer works so great for me because I don't have oily eyelids and it helps everything stick better.

I've also read that e.l.f.'s Mineral Eyeshadow Primer and their Studio Primer and Liner Sealer are much better than this one. I haven't seen either at my local Target, so I can't say, but if you find that this particular one doesn't work, you might as well try the other two. The price is so low that if they don't work, it's only a couple of bucks.

Alternate Uses For Beauty Products

As someone who owns entirely too many beauty products, I always find myself with left overs of things I either liked but didn't love enough to use them up, or things I didn't like but couldn't return. There are also the things I liked but forgot about because I got another thing just like it that I liked slightly better and by the time I remembered the first thing, it was too late to use it or I forgot it again [it's a never ending cycle.]

Because of my constant surplus of stuff and my guilt about throwing things away because I'm broke, I find myself having to come up with creative ways to use up products. Some of these, I've discovered on my own, but most, I've collected from various magazines and blogs.

Conditioner= Shaving Cream
I've never [not once in my life] used up an entire bottle of conditioner on my hair. There are just too many other ones to try for me to patiently wait until the bottle runs out. Instead, when I'm done using a conditioner, I use it as a shaving cream. It moisturizes just as well, if not better than a regular shaving cream, and it makes my legs smell super nice.

Shampoo= Soap
Though shampoo tends to be something I do usually finish, sometimes I just don't like the way a particular one works with my hair. Instead of tossing it out, I just use it as hand soap. Also, because the majority of shampoos have some conditioners in them, it won't dry out your hands the way a regular soap can.

Lipstick= Cream Blush
Every girl knows this, it's almost too obvious. Clearly, it can only be done with certain shades of lipstick [I don't think you want purple blush.]

Concealer= Eye Shadow Primer
 I've read some makeup artists say that concealer won't work as a primer, but in my experience, it works just fine. And, Paula Begoun says it can be done, so it has to be true!

Baby Shampoo= Brush Cleaner
I don't actually buy baby shampoo to use on myself [as I'm no longer a baby :P] but I buy it specifically to clean my brushes because it's cheaper. Since the formula is milder than other shampoos and soaps, it's great to clean your brushes without ruining them and making them harsh.

Clear Nail Polish=Preserve Costume Jewelry
This is something else I don't actually use to begin with [because clear polish is so boring it makes me cry,] but i buy it for it's alternative use. Simply paint over the rhinestones on costume jewelry and it will hold them in place longer. Also, a clear coat on the inside of a ring will keep it from turning your finger green.

Mascara= Tame & Color Brows
This actually only works if you have dark hair like me, otherwise you'll end up with blonde hair and black eyebrows [which would only look good if paired with that purple lipstick as a blush.] When a mascara dries out and can't be used anymore, I run the wand lightly over my brows to give them a little color and tame them. The keyword here is LIGHTLY.

Eye Shadow/Pigments= Liner, Blush, Highlighter, Gloss
Eye shadows and more specifically loose pigments can be used for almost anything provided they're the right colors.
A light shadow can be used as a highlighter on the brow bone and cheek area.
A dark or bright shadow can be used as a liner when you want a more subtle look and not the harsh lines that traditional liners tend to leave.
Any shade that looks natural can be used a blush.
Mix a little bit of clear gloss with a loose pigment to create a shimmery lip shade.

What do you do with your old products?

New e.l.f. Beauty Book [Bright Eye Edition]

I've only ever tried e.l.f.'s concealer [which I like] and their amazing brushes [which I love], but I've always been a bit skeptical about the rest of their stuff.


However, their previous kits seem to be popular, and I read a few posts about these new e.l.f. Beauty Books and for $5 it couldn't hurt to try one.

The Beauty books come with 12 shadows, an eye liner and a sponge applicator. 

 

On the inside flap, they also have instructions on how to apply the shadows and different techniques to achieve different looks.

 

 For some reason, the bottom left corner shadow would not photograph well. It was a kind of light yellowish color. I tried taking multiple pictures but it kept looking white.

That was the closest I could manage.

Appearance wise, I really liked it. The shadows also looked vibrant but also wearable which I think is something a lot of bright shadows lack. These looked like something I could actually wear in real life without looking like I was trying to hard. 

Sadly, I was quickly disappointed when I saw what the color payoff was like.

All pictures were taken in natural light and the swatches are without primer.  The shadows don't have names so I'll use their positions as a reference.

The only one that was pigmented in this set was the first one on the right. In the palette, this is the bottom right corner shadow [dark brown]

The green shadow next to it, actually came out looking gray, but that might have more to do with my own skin color and not the shadow. As for the other two, I had to swatch them over and over to achieve any kind of color. 

In this set, I actually really loved the two middle colors. They were very shimmery and pigmented.  On the palette these are the two middle ones in the middle row. The other two colors were the same as the one in the previous set, I had a hard time getting them to show up at all. 

These shadows were my least favorite. The first shadow from the left was much too shimmery, even for me. It looked too white and frosty. 

The huge disappointment, however, was the shadow all the way to the right. In the palette, it's the top right corner one and it looks like a deep, very rich purple/royal blue, but it was a mess. It barely showed up at all and the color turned into a weird too bright blue, not at all what I expected.  

The other two colors are nothing special, just varying shades of purple.

The eyeliner is just a standard black eyeliner. It's not smudge or waterproof. 

ps. Please ignore my super dry hands, I was washing my vacuum cleaner right before I did these swatches. I didn't even know vacuum cleaners could be washed before today, but I digress...

After rubbing it for five seconds.

Overall, the Beauty Book left a lot to be desired. I only really liked two of the shadows, which makes it totally not worth it since there are 12 of them. Although it was only $5, I expected a bit more considering the raves e.l.f. usually gets. 

Maybe they would have been better if I used a primer, but I don't think an eyeshadow should rely on a primer to get it to show up at all, only to intensify it. If it's not good to start with, it's not worth it to me. I think there are better brands of drugstore makeup that cost about the same and give you a better color payoff.

Best NYX shadows

The day I discovered NYX eye shadows, my entire life changed. Finally, a product that's on the same level as MAC but at a fraction of the cost. I now have a ridiculous amount of these eye shadows and I love them all. I cannot say this enough: BUY NYX SHADOWS; Just do it, you'll thank me later.

Of the ones I have, I've found that a few are exceptionally great, not just because they're highly pigmented and great quality, but because they're staple colors that can be used for various looks.

Champagne
I use this color pretty much daily [Which is why it looks almost empty in the picture.] It's great for highlighting the brow bone and inner corners of the eye, but it can also be worn by itself for a more natural look. [obviously the darker your skin, the less natural it'll look, but it'll still be a great color]

Rust
This is a beautiful, super pigmented color. I mostly use it in combination with golds and peaches because it blends amazingly. It's also a perfect crease color.

Fahrenheit
Hands down, second favorite color I've eve worn. It's kind of a hard color to describe, but here goes: reddish brown with rusty dark pink undertones and much much more gorgeous than that actually sounds. If I could, I would buy this for everyone in the world. Everyone has to own this, period.

Asphalt
This is a mixture of brown/gold/copper that looks great even in the daytime. I usually pair it with Rust for a nighttime look. It's a little metallic, but not to the point of being garish.


Golden Amber
Very misleading in the pan because it applies waaaaay darker. That being said, I love this for a smokey eye. I'm not big on black smokey eyes because they can go so wrong so fast, but brown is easier to pull off.

Purple
Exactly what it looks like, just a great purple eye shadow. I love purple because it makes my brown eyes stand out, so I'm always on the lookout for good shadows. This is a pretty bright purple, so it works better for a nighttime look. You can also use it on your crease for something more understated.


NYX eyeshadows are available in all ULTA stores for $4.99.

I highly recomend buying them online though because you can usually find more colors than at the store.
Cherry Culture has them for 3.99 right now and they offer free shipping on orders over $40 [sounds like a lot, but you'd be surprised at how fast it adds up.]
Nonpareil Boutique also has them for 3.99 and sometimes they have colors that CC doesn't.