NYX Haul Part 1: Eye Shadows

Now that NYX are having a HUUGE sale right now (lots of things just $1!!!), it seems right that I post about my recent haul from Cherry Culture. I'm doing this haul in two parts: eyes and lips.  I used a 20% off discount code which cut down on NYX's already low prices. For me, NYX quality is completely hit and miss. Their Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean makes a great black base, but their Glitter Mania Jumbo Pencils are horrible. I kind of treat the bad products as the price you pay for the awesome cheap good products, although the fact that I have no local place to check products out and rely on online swatches and reviews means that I can't check to avoid the rubbish. And hello! I live in Manhattan, the shopping center of the world. Surely there should be a place I can store that stuff somewhere!?

Anyway, I did a major haul just after Christmas, and here are the results.

Eye Shadows

Top, l-r: Black, Rock, Blue Marine, Pine Nut

Bottom, l-r: Dust Sparkle, My Favorite Color, Geisha

All of these colors felt great to touch - smooth, reasonable pigment, and no chalkiness based on my first impressions. They are also big - 2.7g compared to a MAC shadow pan which is 1.5g. I've done some research and apparently they are reasonably easy to depot which is good, because if a shadow isn't in a palette with me, it languishes forgotten in my drawers. All shades are compared to MAC shades.

Black: I got this to be a dupe for Carbon, which I strangely don't own. I have Nehru, which is almost black but not as strong. It is matte, smooth, and lovely and dark. I'm super pleased with this color. Highly recommended

Rock: This looks to be a super dark grey shimmer shade. The shimmer is almost big enough to be considered a lustre, but it doesn't appear to be giving any fallout issues yet. It is much darker than Knight Divine, and really closer to Black Tied. I liked this color a lot, but I thought that it would be lighter than it is. 

Blue Marine: I picked this to be a Deep Truth Dupe, but it isn't. Instead, it is a gorgeously rich, smooth deep matte navy blue. I've been thinking about putting together a deep navy smoky eye together for a while, in a kind of rocky 80s way - this is going to definitely work in that look. 

Pine Nut: I'm collecting browns right now, simple as that, so I thought I'd try this one. This actually reminds me of all the swatches I've seen for Cross-Cultural from the All Races collection that is currently in store. I didn't pick it up as I thought it was dupable, little did I know I would do it by accident! It's a mid-tone warm brown. This one didn't swatch as well as the others - the color wasn't as smooth, and although I can see shimmer in the pan, it swatched matte. 

Dust Sparkle: Okay, I have to admit, that I picked this entirely on the name. I just liked the sound of it. How lame am I? This is pretty much an exact dupe for Sweet Lust, right down to the uneven lustre finish. It's a very pale, cool pink with silver sparkles through it. I have Sweet Lust, and I think it's very pretty to look at but never use it; this is exactly the same. It kind of disappears on my skin and leaves behind annoyingly large glitter pieces. Not a winner. Lesson? Don't pick eye shadows based on their pretty names. But I bet you all have done it. 

My Favorite Color: Again, guilty as charged. I figured that if it was someone's favorite color, I might like it too. Logic? Not my strong point. This is another lustre finish. I'd describe is as a very light peach. I don't have anything to compare it to in my collection. The closest thing I can see in the MAC collection is either Jest or Retrospeck. Ooh, this shadow needs base. I left it alone for 10 minutes on my hand while look for a dupe swatch and when I came back to it, it had GONE! It leaves behind large chunks of glitter fallout as well. 

Geisha: I got this as I heard it was a perfect white shimmer highlight color, and it is. It is simple, straightforward white, with a decent amount of shimmer. It is very pretty, and I can see myself using this a lot on the insides of my eyes. Right now I use Filament for this, but I get fall out. 

 l-r Black, Rock, Blue Marine, Pine Nut, Dust Sparkle, My Favorite Color, Geisha

 So, all in all, I like the quality of these colors, and some make decent MAC dupes. Some of course, are pretty colors in their own right. With a lot (but not all) colors being only $1 at the moment, it's definitely worth taking a look at the sale and seeing if you pick up any gems.