Sunday Swatches!

NYX Baked Eyeshadow ($6 each)

I went to a NYX store for the first time the other day and I loved it! I loved being able to swatch the products, get expert advice, and get all the benefits of buying makeup at the counter with a drugstore brand.

Check out my mini haul below! I’ll be swatching the products found on the top of the picture: NYX Baked Eyeshadow!

Picture below:  Left: Ambrosia  Right: Mademoiselle

Swatches!

Today’s swatches will be focused on how a shade changes depending on the application technique. I’ll be discussing how these shades look when applied with a dry eyeshadow brush, with my fingers, and with a damp brush!

A little backstory of my experience with this product: I had very high expectations of these eye shadows, and unfortunately, it took a little more effort for me to make this product work!

I got little to no product when I tried to pick up this shadow with a dry brush.  The most successful way I was able to use this product was by applying it using my fingers. I was also able to make this product more pigmented and easier to apply by using a damp eye shadow brush.

As you can see in the quick swatches I did below, the product has a very light color payout. The bottom swatch is 1-2 layers of the shade applied with my finger, and the top shade is 3-4 layers of the product.  I skipped showing how the shadows look when applied with a brush because it literally didn’t show up on my skin at all.

NYX Baked Eye Shadow in Mademoiselle

Impression of the shade in the pan: Plummy, wine shade with a shiny finish and deep burgundy undertone.

How the shade looks swatched on my wrist: 

In order to get this shade to look as pigmented as it does on the swatch on the left, I had to swirl my pointer finger in small circles around the pan 5-6 times and then packed about 5 layers of the on the shade on my wrist.

This shade looks like a wine red with a brown/orange undertone when applied with my finger. When applied with a damp eye shadow brush, the shade turns into a shiny, metallic red wine color. The shade was definitely less plum colored when swatched on my skin tone versus how it looks in the pan.

NYX Baked Eye shadow in Ambrosia

Impression of this shade in the pan: Bright, light, sparkly gold!

How the shade looks swatched on my wrist: 

When swatched on my wrist, this shade looked like a light and pretty champagney gold shade. It’s a flatter, darker shade of brownish/gold when swatched with my finger. And metallic, shiny, light gold when applied with a damp eye shadow brush. I think this shade would work well as a subtle highlight on your cheekbones or in the corner of your eyes because the shade is so light and luminous.

Lasting Impression:

Overall, these shades were pretty, but the quality of the product was disappointing.  Even after being able to increase the pigmentation of the shadow by applying it with a damp eye shadow brush, I found that the product doesn’t last throughout the day anyway. I used these shades the other day and after checking my eyes after a few hours, the shadow was completely faded.  I also found that even though this product was buildable, the more layers you added, the easier those layers wipe or flake off throughout the day. The product was also not easy to blend which made it nearly impossible to work with.

Lesson learned though-always get creative with makeup before completely giving up on it! Try different application techniques, applying various layers of the product, mix different shades together, try different base layers such as moisturizers and primers! Sometimes you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome and sometimes not, but at least you gave it your all. 🙂

Now I want to hear from you!

Have you tried this product? What do you think?

What are you favorite NYX products?