NYX Nude on Nude Palette Review
I love drugstore makeup, which is why that’s mostly what you’ll find on my blog, and I love it even more when there’s drugstore products that are close duplicates to popular high-end favorites. The NYX Nude on Nude Palette is said to be a dupe for both the Naked 1 and the Naked 2 palettes from Urban Decay. I don’t own any of Urban Decay’s Naked palettes (all retail for $54 each), so this won’t be a comparison post. But if you are looking for good alternatives for those, hopefully my review and swatches of the NYX palette help make your decision easier.
I bought my palette at Ulta quite a while ago for $25, but keep in mind that NYX Cosmetics usually are Buy 1 Get 1 50% off at Ulta and you can use a $3.50 off coupon on all drugstore items also. If it’s hard to find in store (they also sell NYX at Target), you can find it on the NYX Cosmetics website. They offer free shipping on orders of $25 or more and as I’m writing this, it’s currently on sale for $18.
In the palette, you get 20 different eyeshadows as well as 10 lipglosses. The color layout of this palette is a little confusing and seems like they just stuck different shades in random places, which may be a little difficult because you’ll have to use more of your imagination when trying to pick what colors to use. It also comes with a mirror, but it’s actually pretty thin and challenging to use. I think they were trying to compromise with including a mirror while still making it possible to see some of the color selection from the outside, but I would rather just have one or the other. You can also notice that there are no shade names, which is pretty typical of drugstore products.
Here’s a closer look at the eyeshadows. I appreciate that they mixed both mattes and shimmers in this palette. There are some that have more of a satin finish, but none that are completely just glitter. Glitter and shimmer finishes are different and I much prefer shimmers because they tend to be smoother than glitter shadows. The eyeshadows in this palette are consistent with NYX shadows being hit or miss as far as pigmentation is concerned, but all of them are very smooth in texture. Some are a little patchy, but nothing you can't work with and they last about 6 hours with a primer before any fading or creasing begins.
This is a swatch of the top row. You can notice that the first and fifth shades barely showed up at all and while that would usually be a complaint of mine, I actually don’t mind when it’s a skin tone color like this because I use these for blending. The second shade didn’t show up very much in the swatch, but it is a really beautiful shimmery pink-champagne color to put on the inner half of the lid.
Here is the swatch of the second row and again, you can see the first white shade is very pale. The second and seventh shades are also really nice for brightening the inner corner. I appreciate that they included some darker shades that can be used for eyeliner, such as the black in the top row and the eggplant color (second to last) in the second row. There are two gold shades in the palette, but they both have different undertones. The seventh shade in the top row and the sixth shade in the bottom row are also very similar, but I actually like that because those are two of my favorite shades in this palette.
You'll notice that I haven’t even touched the lipglosses in this palette, does anybody ever really use these?? Maybe it’s just me. Either way, I do think the colors they chose to include are gorgeous! Also, in the empty spaces right below the glosses included a traditional double-ended sponge tip applicator and a double-ended lipgloss brush. I always take them out of the palettes so they don’t fall everywhere and get in the way.
I know the swatches of these lipglosses look a little crazy, but let me explain! I was very impressed with the pigmentation on some of these, they were very smooth and easy to apply out of the pan. Other shades, however, were just lightly-colored wax. For example, the first shade was soft, smooth, and easy to apply but when I moved on to the second and third shades you can see that the pigmentation is much different, as was the texture. The two bright red shades look very similar, but have just the slightest difference in person. I should also mention that when I went to wash these off, they were very sticky and almost had a glue-like texture.
Overall, I really like this palette and have enjoyed it very much. I would have liked something else to replace the lipglosses, or would’ve just preferred nothing be there at all. But if you do like them, then it is convenient that they are underneath the palette so the eyeshadows don’t dirty them. I like the color selection of the shadows and think they did a good job at choosing which shades to keep matte and which ones to be shimmery. I think the outside packaging could be improved on, but the inside product is definitely worth it!
~Mani Monday~
This week I chose to go with a darker, Christmas tree-like green. The color is High Stakes from Revlon. This particular polish is one from their Colorstay Gel Envy line and says it’s both a color and a base. I wish companies wouldn’t advertise their polish as being a gel formula as freely as they do. I do think it’s a good polish and stays on for about five days before any chipping begins. However, I don’t see anything different with this polish when compared to others, so the gel claim is very misleading. You’ll definitely still need a base and I would recommend doing a full two coats.
If you’ve tried this NYX palette before, let me know your thoughts on it and please don’t hesitate to ask any questions in the comments! What’s on your nails this week? Hope everyone has a beautiful day!
