NYX: Soft Matte Lip Cream

One huge trend right now is using a pop of color in one's make-up look. I've been on the lookout for a matte lip cream that is highly saturated but comfortable to wear.

Cue NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream. It is marketed as being a silky not-gloss-but-not-lipstick moisturizing lip cream. I bought "Monte Carlo", which looked like a deep red.

The application was fine (maybe one small clump of product while the rest was creamy). Within three minutes of being on my lips (undisturbed, no eating or dabbing), the cream looked like an opaque stain that resembled a light magenta rather than a deep vampiric red.

In the past, that bright magenta resulting from a deep red product tends to occur when the product is more of a stain, or a formula meant to react (to some extent) to one's body chemistry. At this point, I figured that reds tend to be difficult when it comes to such a formula. I would give NYX soft matte lip cream another chance; thus I exchanged that "deep red" Monte Carlo for the color Milan, which looked like a peachy buff, hopefully a more natural color.

This time I only painted my bottom lip to show my natural lip color by comparison.

So while the saturated cotton-candy-pink color was quite cute, it certainly didn't look like the natural buff color that was presented to me on the tube.

While the NYX soft matte lip creams are decently moisturizing and so temptingly cheap (about $5 when not on sale), I personally wouldn't trust the colors on the tubes. It is definitely not true to color. (Maybe it's a body chemistry reaction, or maybe these formulas just run a little vibrant-cool-pink.) Also, I should note that the color isn't "kiss-proof"-- it will rub off.

As a side note, NYX also disappointed me before with their NYX Butter Lip Balm in Marshmallow.

The butter lip balm is a little chalky, yet still a bit moisturizing. Once again, the color was just not what I was hoping for.

I won't give up on NYX products, but these NYX lip products have me a little wary about exploring further in their lip department.