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The Beauty Wonk

August 24, 2019

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Budapest & Sao Paulo Review

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams

Hello! Today I’ll be doing one of the most detailed reviews of two lip shades from NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream range. Did you know SMLC is a NYX bestseller? NYX is one of my favourite cruelty-free, drugstore brands because it offers some really great quality products at an unbelievable price! What’s better? These products are easily available anywhere! Let’s get started with the product performance and check out some amazing swatches so you can decide if these are for you.

Product Description

In statement-making matte colors, our nude-based shades of Soft Matte Lip Cream deliver a burst of creamy color that sets to a stunning matte finish. Durable, lightweight and delightfully creamy, it’s no wonder this sweetly scented formula is a NYX Professional Makeup fan-favorite. Envelop your lips in this high-pigmented, plush matte formula in colors inspired by cities of the world. This lip cream is a matte lipstick lover’s dream – light on the lips and heavy on the pigmentation!

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams
NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams

Price: INR 600 for 8ml.

Availability: You can buy NYX on Nykaa or their offline stores.

My Thoughts on NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream

The NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream comes in 34 shades – each one named after a famous city around the globe! I own two shades from the collection, Sao Paulo (a bright warm pink) and Budapest (a deep mauve).

Packaging

The lip creams come in a cute and small opaque tube which is of the same colour as the shade of the lip cream. It has a small wand with a doe-foot applicator and black cap. The product details are mentioned on the tube itself.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams Applicator
Packaging

Texture & Smell

The NYX soft matte lip creams have a mousse-like texture that glides smoothly on the lips and sets to a matte finish. The formula is very lightweight and doesn’t give a heavy/ cracking feel to your lips.

It has a sweet vanilla cupcake like smell which some people really love. But I always prefer my lipsticks to be free of any scent. Is that too much to ask for?

Pigmentation

The lip creams are not evenly pigmented and look a little patchy on the lips with a single layer. So it is necessary to go for a second layer if you don’t want certain areas of your lips peeking through. A good thing about the NYX lip creams is that they layer beautifully without cracking or crumbling.

NYX Sao Paulo Lip Swatch One Coat
Patchy One Layer Application

The above picture shows how uneven Sao Paulo looks with just one coat.

Shades

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Budapest Sao Paulo Swatches
L – Budapest. R – Sao Paulo

Let’s take a look at the individual shades and how they perform.

1. Sao Paulo

This shade is named after the vibrant city of Sao Paulo. In fact, this is the first NYX lip cream I ever bought (a while ago). This is back when it was spelled “San Paulo” and I used to wonder why did they name it this way. Thank god NYX has corrected it.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo

The shade looks a little too neon-ish and in-your-face hot pink on my NC 42 skin tone and I think would look the best on fair and fair to medium skin tone. It sets to a matte finish in just a few seconds.

I made this colour work (have to because I can’t let it go waste) by using it as a tint, it gives my lips a beautiful soft pink colour and topping it over with a gloss is the prettiest thing ever! Don’t agree? Check the pictures below.

NYX Sao Paulo with Butter Gloss
Using Sao Paulo As Tint

I made up my mind to not invest further in this range after being not so happy with Sao Paulo but then came ‘Budapest’ and now I’m a convert!

2. Budapest

This shade is named after the city of Budapest that is world-famous for its Opera House. It’s a deep mauve with red undertones that would look great on every skin tone and especially beautiful on women with brown skin. I have to go with two layers to get opaque coverage with this too. Budapest takes a good 5-10 minutes to set to a matte finish.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Budapest Swatches
Budapest

Application

As mentioned previously, the NYX lip creams aren’t very pigmented and go a little patchy with one layer. It’s nothing that a second layer can’t fix! They feel comfortable on the lips and are very less drying when it comes to matte liquid lipsticks. I love using these lip creams as tint by taking a little product and dabbing it on the lips. This technique gives a beautiful finish and colour to the lips, in fact, it’s the only way I can make the shade Sao Paulo work for me.

Since these are matte lipsticks, they do settle into the lip lines but your lips won’t look dried out with lots of lines. In other words, your lips won’t appear like a but*hole.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Budapest
Wearing Budapest – Used As Blush Too

Staying Power

The staying power is pretty decent and it lasts for 4-5 hours with drinks and snacks. Anything oily would just break the formula down and you’ll end up with lips that only has a lipliner on the perimeters. The staying power isn’t that good when you compare these with ultra matte liquid lipsticks. I have tried liquid lipsticks with a semi-matte finish that stay all day like the Colourpop Ultra Satin Lipsticks. Those are great if you need a comfortable formula and longevity. My favourite shade from the range is Frick N Frack which is another beautiful nude lipstick for brown skin tone.

One more thing to note is that that they’re not transfer-proof and it varies from shade to shade. In my case, Sao Paulo transfers way more than Budapest.

Conclusion

The NYX soft matte lip creams are great for people who are looking for a comfortable, matte liquid lipstick that’s cruelty-free and affordable. While the sweet vanilla smell might be a letdown for people with a sensitive nose but the wide shade range and the formula of these lipsticks do make up for it.

Why You Should Buy NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream?

  • Cruelty-free
  • Decent staying power
  • Beautiful shades available
  • Comfortable on lips
  • Affordable
  • Feels lightweight
  • Easy to layer
  • Non-drying formula

Why You Should Avoid NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream?

  • Not very pigmented, needs layering
  • Vanilla smell might be too much for sensitive nose
  • Not transfer-proof

You Might Also Like:

Colourpop Ultra Satin Lipstick in Frick N Frack

Wet N Wild Megalast Lipstick in Mochalicious & Cherry Picking

Wet N Wild Megalast Lipstick in Sugar Plum Fairy

Starstruck by Sunny Leone Lipstick in Caramello

Wet n Wild Liquid Lipstick in Give Me Mocha

By: Rifat Yaseen · In: Makeup

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Hello, it's Rifat! Welcome to my beauty space where I talk about cruelty-free makeup, skincare & haircare. My hobbies include hoarding skincare in the name of research!

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thebeautywonk

Rifat 🇮🇳 Skincare Blogger
There's a sudden wave of science and ingredient-ba There's a sudden wave of science and ingredient-backed skincare which I appreciate very much. But lately, it has made things way more complicated than they should be. A good contribution has been made by tiktok in general in screwing people's mind with blanket statements.😭

So I wanted to cancel the noise and give you some simplified tips that you can go back to when shopping for a new sunscreen.

‼️Don't obsess over UV filters and their stability because there's no way you could know how the different ingredients work together in the product. That being said, due to the loose and non-existent regulations we have here, shop from brands you trust!‼️
I've used the @drsheths Neem & BHA serum like an I've used the @drsheths Neem & BHA serum  like an emergency treatment whenever I could feel my skin was congested and it always reduced it with 2-3 uses. (gifted)

I also use it on my shoulder and upper arms, and it is taking care of the clogged pores.

But the texture is just not good, it sits on your skin and makes it impossible for you to layer any other product over it. Even in the morning, when I wash my face I can actually feel the layer coming off.

Decent in terms of results but the texture is very difficult to work with. I don't like it sorry😭 

‼️So far, TO Salicylic Acid is my fav SA treatment, the texture is much better (can't believe I'd say this for TO, LOL) I'll try Paula's Choice BHA next, unless you have any other suggestion? 👀 Shoot in the comment section.‼️
It's been months since I first got my hands on the It's been months since I first got my hands on the COSRX Snail Mucin Essence and I haven't put it down even once. Quantity wise, I have almost half of it left which makes this product super cost-effective.

Today, I want you to tell me who influenced you into trying this cult favourite essence? Let me know in the comment section below.

I also did a full blog review on this - the right way to use it, how it helps your skin, what to expect from it and so on. The link🔗 is in my bio.
What triggered me to do this post? All these comme What triggered me to do this post? All these comments, reddit threads, tweets where people would ask for alternatives to, say, CeraVe cuz they have rosacea and that's the only thing that keeps their skin sane.

Or the ones where people would spend 6x the amount they'd have spent just because the brand isn't cruelty-free. As someone who has done all of it😂 I'd say don't obsess.

Find alternatives only when the experiments aren't going to screw your skin or making you go broke because the testing situation has gotten much better and there's a lot to celebrate🎉

PS: Keep supporting cruelty-free brands whenever you can, especially the ones who could enter the market, but chose not to.

PPS: Was supposed to do a 3-part series but wrapping it up in 2 because ✨ feed aesthetics ✨

Source to verify the laws - Humane Society International
When I started reading about animal testing of cos When I started reading about animal testing of cosmetics, I would only see a very one-sided approach from renowned CF bloggers. After a lot of research, I want to give a balanced view of both sides and discuss this topic in a structured manner. Today I will be just going through the basics of this 3-part series.

Leave your questions below, I'll try to address them either in the comments or in the next posts.

Few points to note:

✨China isn't the only country that tests on animals. However, it's one of the fastest growing economy and hence, a very profitable place for businesses to expand.

✨ There's another criteria followed by some people where they don't consider cruelty-free brands owned by non cruelty-free parent companies as CF. For eg: CF NYX owned by non-CF parent company L'Oréal. As I said, the term is unregulated so it's open to varied definitions. Personally, this doesn't bother me at all and I consider it a reach.

✨Animal testing is banned in India so the brands made and sold here are cruelty-free by default unless they're sold in countries that have compulsory testing.

I'll be going a little deep in tomorrow's post and talk about conflicting information, blanket statements, and why you shouldn't obsess over a brand's CF status, given the new laws.
I have been using the @sulwhasoo.india FCA serum f I have been using the @sulwhasoo.india FCA serum for more than a month now (both AM&PM) and now that the bottle is over, I think it's the right time to share my experience. (gifted)

✨I didn't expect much but it was pretty nice in adding hydration and plumpness to my skin.

✨I have talked about how my barrier was damaged bcz of weather changes and everything stung (on the worst days, even the cosrx snail mucin did a little - yep it was THAT bad), but FCA didn't. Not even once. Unbelievable! It had everything that could "potentially" make things worse! I know formulation is king but still, this is a bit too much. Weird.

I had a bad reaction on my cheeks on my birthday bcz I used my cousin's random blush she got from Amazon. My cheeks were red and had white bumps right after I took off my makeup. Cleansed. Applied FCA. Moisturiser. Woke up. All reduced. Used again. Next day, all gone.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗙𝗖𝗔?
You apply it right after cleansing on damp skin to hydrate and soothe it, and to prepare your skin for the next steps.

𝗛𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 & 𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹?
The texture is very liquidy (has a dull orange colour) and the serum gets absorbed really fast. It has a very nice earthy smell and as I say, if you're adding fragrance, at least make it smell nice.

𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁?
I saw two red flags quite up in the list:
🚩 Alcohol (My skin in winters turn dry-combo from very oily and I didn't want to dry it further)

🚩 Fragrance (It usually triggers redness but very rarely, lets me walk away scot-free)

But I took the chance because I was really intrigued by their products and especially, the packaging 🙈 and things went well. Have you tried anything from the brand?
Not y'all in my DMs defending mineral sunscreens o Not y'all in my DMs defending mineral sunscreens over this story just like you defend your toxic exes.😂 Anyway, I had another post planned for today but chuck it. I'll tell you why I think using mineral sunscreens is equivalent to being in a toxic relationship.

Mineral/Physical/Inorganic sunscreens leave a white cast and/or pill really bad. You have to pat, wait for centuries for it to settle and brush off the crumbles from your brows and hairline. Re-applying is another trouble and I don't even want to get into it. Imagine doing all the work to still look like Casper the ghost👻 at the end of the day. (Especially when you're a POC)

How is it different than being in a toxic relationship where you're putting in so much work, it's mentally draining you and you still end up heartbroken?

If you find that a lot of Western sunscreens (*coughs* Neutrogena) sting or make eyes watery, try Korean sunscreens. (Or Japanese). If they're not easily accessible, considering most of my subscribers are Indian, try Re'equil or all the Indian pharma brands.

PS: Please use what works for you, it's between you and your brow hair. When you have certain skin conditions or when you're pregnant, mineral sunscreens are generally recommended so yeah ignore me I'm just being an 🍑.
𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗦 - Happy 32nd Dec, 2020 (we're not moving to next year, I said what I said) This month, I mostly had haircare empties with one face product. Here are my thoughts on them:

✨@thebodyshopindia 𝗚𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗼 - If you have itchy scalp and mild seasonal dandruff, this works very well. On my oily scalp it was okay but I think it can be drying for others.

✨@theearthrhythm 𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗼 - My first time using a shampoo bar and the experience was perfect. Cut it in 4 parts and it lasted a very long time too. Always left my hair suuuper soft post shampoo.

✨@blenditrawbeauty 𝗛𝗲𝗺𝗽 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗶𝗹 - I used it as a hair serum and it always left my strands soft and bouncy. I even skipped conditioner, just shampoo and move straight to this oil on damp hair. Don't sleep on hemp seed oil for your hair. (gifted)

✨@feelrawbotanicals 𝗣𝗛𝗔 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 - It was a 2-in-1 product, mildly exfoliating and super hydrating. For face, 100% loved it but for body it's too mild, I need stronger acids cuz PHA doesn't cut it. Shelf life is short & quantity is large to be used just on face. I wish it came in 75ml or something bottle.

✨@wellaindia 𝗗𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗼 - I'm not an avid dry shampoo user but I like to have one just in case. This was super old and got the job done, provided you know how to use it. It also gave a very nice volume to my limp hair.
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