Quick review: NYX Glam Liner Aqua Luxe Liquid Liners

I headed to Ulta today because I need more powder but don't want to buy more MAKEUP FOREVER HD powder because: 1) The one I bought in 2011 is a .35 oz jar, 2) They now only have a .3 oz jar for $35, 3) There are cheaper alternatives.

Wait, what? .3 oz of silica powder over .35? Really, MUFE? Really?


NYX offers .21 oz of silica in a bigger, shallower jar. Since I decided against it, because as much as I love HD powder, that wasn't going to fly. It looked like it had as much powder as my MUFE one currently has! Not okay. Instead I decided I would get the Twin Cake Powder, because one layer goes one without becoming powdery but two layers does. Since its meant to set my foundation and later on my BB cream, I just don't want a powdery look. With no Twin Cake in site, I opted instead for the HD Studio Photogenic "Stay Matte but Not Flat" powder. It was dreamily soft, blended nicely and didn't look powdery on the back of my hand. YAY!

The difference with this HD version in comparison to the regular Stay Matte is that the HD version does not have the fine sparkle in the compact. The regular Stay Matte has this visible, fine sparkle in the powder. Unbeknownst to me, NYX changed this powder from when my mom bought it. The one my mom has contains incredibly fine silver glitter. This, however, is entirely matte. Well, I (still) don't do sparkles all over my face. If I want sparkle, I'll wear glitter on my eyes and highlighter on my cheeks.

While I was there, since Ulta was doing a "Buy One, Get One 50%" for NYX, I tested some eyeliners and shadow. I also grabbed one of their new gel liners, but not in the shade that shares my name (its teal! I love teal!). I'll do a post for the gel liner later. I swatched their Aqua Luxe liquid liners that I believe came out last year. Some shades are sheerer, such as the purple, but the two I swatched were AMAZING! These are billed as being waterproof but I haven't tested that claim yet. I ran water over these,  rubbed them; the blue stayed but lost more glitter, while the champagne color faded. With soap and water, the blue only lost its sheen and became a stain on my hand and the champagne disappeared with only a few flecks left.

While I don't have shade names yet, The two swatched shades are Glam Azure (GLA01) and Glam Nude (GLA07). These go on really wet feeling and since I did them a bit heavy, they took a while to dry down. Once dry, I rubbed them vigorously with my finger and only a little bit of the super-fine glitter came off as well fading only in the slightest from the rubbing. These do stay on well so far! I'm impressed personally. I think all the colors have glitter in them and have a metallic sheen to them. Really pretty actually! The gold-looking liner I swatched is more pink champagne-colored (think along the lines of Urban Decay's Sin eyeshadow) in real life, kind of rose-gold looking in the light in my room. My iPod read it as gold. (By the way, that blackish looking stain on my hand above the liners is a Glam Shadow swatch! Not a bruise) Really sorry for the blurry, craptastic photos. I took them with my iPod just to quickly show you some pretty nice colored liquid liners!

Dry, rubbed. Top: Glam Azure (GLA01), Bottom: Glam Nude (GLA07)

Water, rubbed. Included: NYX Gel Liner & Smudger in Samantha (GLAS04)

Water + soap. Glam Azure lost its glitter and sheen, leaving a stain. Glam Nude obviously is gone!

As for the eyeshadows, I swatched the Smoky Palette that I was thinking of buying only to find it luxurious soft but lacking pigmentation. I also tested the one of the "Love in Rio" palettes, specifically Nighttime In Rio (LIR11). It was also soft but didn't have much pigmentation when I swiped it on the back of my hand. On top of all these shadows, I tested one of the new Glam Shadows and it was dry. A little gritty feeling from glitter. The shadow didn't have much pigmentation at all! I'm disappointed but its just one of their palettes and one shade of Glam Shadow. I think they might do better with a brush and primer but I know now I won't buy the Smoky palette because that was disappointing.

NYX's regular line of shadow and the Nude Mattes tend to be better, with some of the Nude Mattes being a bit difficult to work with.

Full reviews & swatches of my new products will be done shortly.

SPOOKEHDOOM