NYX lip product mini haul

I've really only recently discovered NYX, which I've only ever found at Ulta, but so far I like what I have tried. I'm a lip product junkie and the ones from this brand are reasonably priced which makes them a double threat! Ulta recently had this brand on sale for 40% off so these are the lip products I picked up - - -

From left to right:

- Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Pink Rose #163, Ulta $5.49

- Xtreme Lip Cream in Natural #10, Ulta $5.99

- Xtreme Lip Cream in Skin Tone #08, Ulta $5.99

- Xtreme Lip Cream in Buttery Nude #04, Ulta $5.99

- Round Case Lipstick in Strawberry Milk # 595, Ulta $3.99

- Soft Matte Lip Cream in Milan #11, Ulta $5.99

- Soft Matte Lip Cream in Tokyo #03, Ulta $5.99

I really like this lip gloss; this shade is incredibly wearable and great for when you want some color but nothing over the top. It's a soft rose pink with a touch of shimmer and is buildable. In the swatch I did a couple passes so you can see that it is fairly pigmented. It has a great soft applicator and a nice fruity smell to it (I refuse to wear glosses that smell bad; I've tried and failed miserably). This is also fairly long lasting and moisturizing. I already have my eye on some more shades!

These Xtreme Lip Creams are unlike any product I've ever tried before. The packaging says "It's not a lipstick, nor is it gloss. It's like nothing you've experienced before. It's a liquid lipstick that goes on with full xtreme color and intense shine." This is a really good description of exactly what it is! 

Because these are literally liquid lipsticks and not lipglosses, I find them a bit drying so I apply them to bare lips first, let it dry, and then apply a little bit of potted gloss or lipgloss over. They don't have a fruity smell like the lipgloss but instead have a sweet plastic smell that I don't find unpleasant enough for me not to wear.

I purchased three neutral colors and in the swatches I applied several coats. The first photo I took near a window for natural light and the second is an indoor lighting shot. 

Overall, I like the unique idea of these but find them too drying and needing too much 'babysitting' (always checking in the mirror to make sure my lips don't look too dry or needing re-touching) to become one of my go-to items. 

It's hard for me to really speak to this lipstick because I think the problem may be that I just picked the wrong shade. Ulta says that this is NYX's best selling lipstick and has a velvety texture with high shine and I have to say I agree with those points but I just don't like this particular shade. Because I like the texture, I would be willing to purchase this in another color. 

Strawberry Milk is a light baby pink that looks somewhat frosty when applied; something I also don't like for myself. This lipstick also has an odd smell to it. I can't describe it as anything else but what white mushrooms smell like lol. Luckily, the smell goes away after it's applied. 

So I know the whole matte look is pretty much over, but I hemmed and hawed for so long about jumping on that bandwagon that I basically ended up missing it lol. So at 40% off I figured I would finally cave and try it!

Despite the fact that I am obsessed with keeping my lips moisturized, I thought I would hate these because matte tends to look and feel drying but I actually found that I was able to tolerate these better than I thought I would. 

The color on top is the lighter color, Tokyo, which I am still playing around with and not as comfortable wearing just because it is such a light color; I worry that it makes my lips look cracked and dry. The bottom color, Milan, is far more wearable for me and I actually love the shade. On my lips it ends up looking like a medium hued rose pink. Once it starts feeling a little too dry, I can apply a gloss or even just chapstick and it looks like a pretty colored rose gloss. 

What's in your makeup bag?

I may just be really weird, but is anyone else ever curious about what other women carry around in their makeup bags? Okay, it may just be me. Maybe it's because I'm so product obsessed; I'm always on the hunt for the 'perfect' lipgloss, etc and I feel like if I could just see inside someone else's bag, they may have it and my life would finally be complete. But I'm big enough to know and admit that that would never happen - there is no 'perfect' product (even though sometimes I think that I've found it, the feeling is only fleeting and then I'm on the hunt again).

 But anywho, these are the products that have temporarily ranked high enough to earn a spot in my makeup bag. Next week could be a different story entirely, though.

Voila! This is my current makeup bag. It's a leather L.A.M.B. bag that I picked up at a Last Call by Neiman Marcus store for about $100. I must have been temporarily blinded by its beauty to pay that much but I've had it for years and has well withstood all the torture I've put it through. 

From left to right:

- e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder, $3 at Target
- NYX Matte Blotting Paper, 50 sheets for $3.59 at Ulta (they always send out coupons, though)
- e.l.f. Kabuki Face Brush, $6 at Target
- tarte Smooth Operator Micronized Clay Finishing Powder, $28 at Ulta
- Sephora Lip Attitude in Glamour, $14 at Sephora
- tarte LipSurgence tinted pencil in Moody, $24 each at Ulta but watch around the holidays when  
  they sell sets which is how I purchased mine
- Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait, $6.49 at Target
- L'oreal Colour Riche Le Gloss in The Mystic's Shine, $6.49 at Wegmans Supermarket

I have about a million lip products but I try to carry a variety with me; nothing like realizing you have 6 similar pink colored lip glosses and nothing else. 

The one on the left, the L'oreal Colour Riche gloss is the newest one for me. It's part of the limited edition Project Runway collection. I went to Ulta and they were sold out of this color but actually found it while I was grocery shopping later that night! For hard to find items like that, think outside of the box because while Ulta's shelves were bare, Wegmans looked like they hadn't sold any of the Project Runway stuff. This is a really cool gloss, it looks kind of crazy in the tube but it is a sheer glittery lavender color. Sounds weird, but try it! (I promise you won't look Halloween-y)

The tarte LipSurgence chubby pencil I acquired last year when I was uber-obsessed with these. So now I own like 15. Sigh. They are nice but tend to be a bit drying so therefore they are not my true love.

I love the Sephora Lip Attitude!! Go to the store and try these immediately if you have not already. This is the one product that if I forget my chapstick, I could put this on and be good to go they are that moisturizing. And the color is awesome - sheer but buildable. The Glamour color that I have is a cool Barbie pink but because of it's texture, I don't look like Barbie but instead have an amazing soft bright pink lip. 

Lastly is the Revlon Lip Butter which have been all the hype lately. These are nice because they are decently moisturizing but you need to be careful because they do have glitter in them. Before applying, I make sure that my lips aren't chapped or dry. If they are and you apply this, it looks chunky and just not nice. 

The other products are pretty self explanatory but the e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder deserves a pause. This contains four powders - yellow, blue, green and pink. If you have bad skin, you know how these colors can help balance out your skin color. This isn't a be-all end-all but it's still nice to have. I have horrible acne scars that I have waged war with, so when I am more self conscious about them while I'm out, I'll swirl the kabuki brush in the green powder and dab that wherever I need it.