NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Review & Swatches: Nudes & Browns

Hi there!

In todays post I'm going to talk about the NYX soft matte lip creams. I've made 4 blogposts where I've grouped different colour families together; Nudes & Browns, Pinks, Peaches & Corals, Purple and Reds, Orange & Others. I've also made a video with the swatches, which will be up on Saturday, and linked at the bottom of the 4 blog posts when it's up!

I'll be writing both a review of the formulation, and one for each colour in all of the posts. In this post I'll be talking about all the colours that fall into the "nude" and "brown" category on me. I've decided to group the colours together in multiple blogposts because I have most of the colours available right now as well as many shades that were previously available, and limited edition. I also found there to be a lot of similarities between some shades, and even some that are nearly, or entirely identical. So putting them together by colour seemed a good idea to me to both show differences between similar shades, but also to show which shades are complete dupes of each other. I'm wearing the Fenty Pro Filt'r Foundation in the shade 100 in all these pictures, to give you an idea of what they look like on my skin tone. How they look on you may differ depending on your skin tone, under tone, and your lip colour.

All my soft matte lip creams lying on top of each other in a pile, on a fluffy white blanket. They are a round type shape with colours at the bottom and a black top. I have many colours ranging from a light beige, to pinks, reds, orange, purple, grey, black, blue and grey.

The NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams are a mousse like texture, that does dry down matte after a few minutes. Most of the colours are full colour from the first swipe, and I don't have to dip back into the container to do both lips. The doe-foot is small and easy to control, and does hold a lot of product. It can feel thick if you apply too much, but spread it all over the lips without dipping back in first, and it becomes a light, thin layer with even pigmentation. The product will come off if you eat anything warm, or drink a hot drink, but it can easily be applied over itself without looking, or feeling heavy.

Some of the colours are a little more difficult to work with. The white based shades, the very light shades and the very dark shades can be streaky to apply at first, and some need 2 coats. I also find that the lightest and darkest shades emphasise lines and dryness on my lips, and I don't like wearing them. Some of the darkest shades are also a little more thin in consistency, but spending a little more time applying them and letting them dry fully before doing anything helps. Once they are dry it's easy to apply a second coat if you need, and they don't feel heavy on the lips.

You can also wear this on top of lip liners, and I recommend this for the shades that are more sheer, since it's easier to apply that way. You can also easily mix colours together, and layer on the lips since it takes a few minutes to fully dry down. Even when these are fully dry I don't find them drying. I have very dry lips to start with, and can't wear liquid lipsticks that are too dry, since it makes my lips crack. This dries down, but still feels comfortable, and my lips are not dry at the end of the day. That is a large part of what makes this one of my favorite lip formulations!

You can find them in most drugstores in the US, Lyko and Kicks online in Norway, and some H&M and Cubus stores in Norway. On the NYX website it costs $6.50 per lippie, and in Norway they are around 95 NOK. They currently have 36 colours available on the NYX website. Most of their currently available shades fall into the nude, pink and "Your-lips-but-better" type colours, but they also have more bright pinks, browns, reds, berries and purples. They have sadly gotten rid of all their oranges, and most of their "different" colours like blue and green.

Shades marked with an asterisk (*) are the ones currently available on the NYX website. I've also scored them out of 5 where 5 is best and 1 is worst. This is just how I feel about how the colour looks on me, not so much about the formulation. I also didn't wait for all the colours to dry down completely, so if they look more satin it's because they are still wet. It took 2 days to take pictures with the swatches, and my body did not like it, so I couldn't wait for each shade to drown. They do look less streaky when they dry down completely.

Let's get into the colours!

My face, wearing face makeup with a neutral blush and eyeshadow. I'm wearing nothing on my lips, and they are a light pink colour.

My lips without any product.


Nudes:


Me wearing the shade Stockholm on my lips. It's a light brown with peach and pink undertones.

Close up of my lips wearing Stockholm. It's a light brown with peach and pink undertones.

*2 - Stockholm: A light brown with peach and pink undertones. Slightly sheer. Very close to my natural lip colour. Can be layered without difficulty, but holds its own in 1 coat on me. One of my go-to shades when I don't know what to wear. 5/5


Me wearing the shade London on my lips. It's a light brown/nude with a yellow undertone.

Close up of my lips wearing London. It's a light brown/nude with a yellow undertone.


*4 - London: A light, yellow toned brown. Slightly sheer. This seems like it would be one of those shades that will be streaky and will need more than 1 coat. But it covers the lips, and stands on its own with one coat. If you want more of the yellow brown colour you need to apply more than 1 coat, or blank your lips with concealer first. 5/5


Me wearing the shade Abu Dhabi on my lips. It's a light brown/beige with a pink undertone.

Close up of my lips wearing Abu Dhabi. It's a light brown/beige with a pink undertone.


*9 - Abu Dhabi: A light rosy brown/beige. Slightly sheer but can hold its own. Very similar to Stockholm & Athens but less peachy than Stockholm. 4/5


Me wear the shade Athens. It's a light peachy beige. It looks very peachy orange on my lips, not so much brown.

Close up of my mouth wearing Athens. It's a peachy light brown. It looks very orangey peach on my, not so much brown.


*15 - Athens: A light, orangy-peachy beige/brown. Leans very peach on me. Slightly sheer, but can hold its own in 1 coat. I'm not a fan of peachy undertones in nude shades on me as they pull very orange, but without any depth. 2/5


Me wearing the shade Cairo. It's a very light peachy beige. It almost looks like concealer on me.

Close up of my lips wearing Cairo. It's a very light peachy beige. Up close it's noticeable how it clings to dryness and emphasis the lines in my lips. It's also very sheer and you can se my natural lip colour coming through.


*16 - Cairo: The lightest nude they have. A very light, peachy beige. Goes on sheer and needs 2 layers to be opaque. Because its a white based colour, it emphasizes lines and dryness and if you have any dryness on your lips, it’s going to look worse. 1/5


Me wearing the shade Cape Town. It's a light brown with a yellow undertone.

A close up of my mouth wearing Cape Town. It's a light brown with a yellow undertone. It looks a little sheer, and some of the pink in my lips is showing through and blending with it.


*57 - Cape Town: A light, yellow toned brown. Can be a little sheer in 1 coat, but I like how it looks like that. It's easy to build up if I want it to be more opaque. 5/5


Me wearing the shade Cabo. It's a light beige with pink and peach undertones.

Close up of my lips wearing Cabo. It's a light beige with pink and peach undertones. On me it looks like a light peachy pink more than a nude, but it's more nude than my peaches so it fits here better.


*62 - Cabo: A very light, beige with pink and peach undertones. Goes on full colour, but can be sheered out. This is the lightest peachy nude they have, and I don't hate how it looks. On me it looks like a light peachy pink more than a nude, but it's more nude than my peaches so it fits here better. 2/5


Brown:


Me wearing the shade Berlin. It's a medium brown with a red undertone. It looks more like a dark brown on me since I'm so pale.

Close up of my lips wearing the shade Berlin. It's a medium brown with a red undertone. It looks like a dark brown on me since I'm so pale.


*23 - Berlin: A medium brown with red undertones. Seems sheer, but full colour with 1 application. But I find it can be a bit messy to apply since the formulation is more thin than the others and moves around on my lips easy before it dries. 4/5

Me wearing the shade Rome.It's a muted brown berry.

Close up of my mouth wearing Rome. It's a muted brown berry. It looks more berry than brown on me, but I think of it as a berry brown.

*32 - Rome: A muted brown berry. Slightly sheer but can hold its own in 1 coat. Very close to my natural lip colour, only slightly darker. This has more red than the other browns here, but I think of it as a brown berry. 5/5

Me wearing the shade Dubai. It'd a "brown" brown. A medium brown with a slight cool undertone.

Close up of my lips wearing the shade Dubai. It's a "brown" brown, a medium brown with a slight cool undertone.

*34 - Dubai: A «brown» brown with a slight cool undertone. More thin in formulation than the others, and a bit difficult to get opaque because of that. I can get there with 1 layer if i work with it for a little bit, and it looks great! 3/5

Me wearing the shade Los Angeles. It's a greige - a light brown with a grey undertone.

Close up of my lips wearing Los Angeles. It's a greige - a light brown with grey undertones.

*36 - Los Angeles: A light brown with a grey undertone (greige). Fairly full colour on first application. Can be slightly sheer, but I like it a lot. 5/5


Me wearing the shade Toulouse. It's a light brown with a mauve undertone.

Close up of my lips wearing the shade Toulouse. It's a light brown with a mauve undertone. It's a little more purple than Los Angeles.


*38 - Toulouse: A light brown with mauve undertones. Fairly full colour on first application. Can be slightly sheer. A little more purple in undertone than Los Angeles. 4/5


Me wearing the shade Houston. It's a dark brown with red and yellow undertones. It's similar to Berlin but a bit darker.

Close up of my lips wearing the shade Houston. It's a dark brown with red and yellow undertones. It's similar to Berlin but a bit darker.


42 - Houston: A dark, brown with red and yellow undertones. It's a little darker than Berlin, but has a similar undertone. It can be a little sheer when applying it, but working with it a little bit makes it look even and full colour. 4/5


Me wearing the shade Lisbon. It's a medium brown with grey undertones. It's darker and more grey than Los Angeles.

Close up of my lips wearing Lisbon. It's a medium brown with grey undertones. It's darker and more grey than Los Angeles. It can be a little sheer.

51 - Lisbon: A greige; mid-toned brown with a grey undertone. This is darker and more grey than Los Angeles. Can be a little sheer, but I like it. If you want it more opaque I find it easier to layer 2 thin layers, waiting for the first to dry completely first. 3/5


Me wearing the shade Leon. It's a light warm brown.

Close up of my lips wearing the shade Leon. It's a light warm brown. It looks like a orangy-peachy brown on me.

*60 - Leon: A light warm brown. Slightly sheer, but can hold its own in 1 coat. Can easily be layered to be more opaque. This looks very peachy on me, but because it has some depth I like how it looks on me. 4/5


My favourites from these colours are: Stockholm, London, Cape Town, Leon, Berlin, Houston, Rome and Los Angeles!

Have you tried any of these colours before?


-Anja

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