Morning, beauty lovers! It is such a gorgeous summer day here by the marina that I feel it appropriate to rave about yet another favorite in my beauty bag: NYX Butter Gloss.
Now, anyone who puts anything on their face on a daily basis probably knows about this gem of a brand and its many wonderful products. NYX thrives on the art of duping existing formulas and selling them on a much more reasonable price point, and we love them for it. This particular product, the ever-popular Butter Gloss, could be a dupe for many brands, but I like to use it as a backup for my favorite lip gloss of all time: Buxom Full-On Lip Cream.
Let me detour here for a second and give a quick overview of this incredible product. Buxom Lip Cream comes in a sleek, durable tube in two sizes (+1, I personally only buy the smallest size of any lip product for easy transport). As the name suggests, it goes on thick and creamy (+1) and begins to tingle almost immediately. This is supposedly an indication of “plumping action,” but as a rising surgeon, let me please disclose my professional cynicism toward any claims of this sort. Nonetheless, I enjoy the tingling. The color payout is very good (+1, see image above for my personal favorite, White Russian), and stays on longer than you want even through continuous sipping of hot caffeinated beverages (+1). Thus, with an inevitable -1 for the $20 price tag, Buxom gets a cushy +3 total from me.
Okay, back to NYX. Unlike its wallet-draining competition, this brand always gets the pricing right. At $5 a piece, I am able to buy four for the price of one Buxom and distribute them across my bags, pockets, and vehicles to my heart’s content (+1). In addition, NYX has produced an impressive arsenal of colors since its induction (+1, see image for the original 12). My personal favorite here is Creme Brûlée, of which I own about 5, with Madeleine being a distant second. You can see in the picture below that they offer very different looks, with Creme Brûlée being a more pink neutral that matches my natural lips very well versus Madeleine staining slightly darker and browner for a more apparent look.
Now, I find that while NYX still goes on thick and glossy (+1), it does produce a slight stickiness under certain conditions (-1), though this is not often. And the initial pigment distribution, while delightful (+1), does wear off much faster than Buxom (-1). So if you plan on trekking through wind with your hair down and ready to stick to your face, or continuously sipping hot beverages while praying that your lips stay presentable, perhaps skip the NYX (or really lip gloss altogether for the first scenario). Oh, and for the “plumping” addicts: don’t forget there is no tingling with this one.
And thus, the final sum for NYX Butter Gloss is +1 for price, +1 for color choice, +1 for application, -1 for stickiness, +1 for pigment, and -1 for durability = +3 total.
That means a tie for NYX vs. Buxom, which probably explains why I keep purchasing them both.
Happy Sunday!
Vogue, M.D. 