Two New NYX Releases: In Your Element Lipsticks & 3 Steps to Sculpt

During Ulta's recent Fall Haul event, I picked up items from two recent NYX collections. These don't have anything to do with each other, but I just wanted to pair them for the sake of simplicity.

Let's start with the newest release- the limited edition In Your Element Collection.

I picked up three of the lipsticks ($9, 4g/0.14oz each) the first day of the Ulta Fall Haul sale. In full disclosure, I swatched and decided to pass given the price point the prior day at a NYX store. But at $6ish each, I was in. (Side note: I see that price hike and perhaps working with influencers is pricing NYX out of its core customers.)

I also went back later and swatched more shades but stayed with my original 3 selections.

Let's start with my selection from the Metal Collection (each of the six palettes have three lipsticks)

I was really feeling Fall despite it being 93 the day I purchased this.I picked up Glossy Deep Berry.

If you're looking for the gorgeous packaging to be reflected on the tube, sorry to disappoint.

These are black with holo writing (yes, it actually is- don't come for me). Nicer than the average NYX tube but not stunning like the palettes.

OK, back to Glossy Berry.

It's quite pretty- and screams Fall. I know I have a few similar shades in my stash, but I couldn't resist this formula.

Here's how Glossy Berry swatches on my hand:

And here's how it looks applied to the lips- no foundation, lipliner, or other tricks (as usual) in my photos.

Top: Direct studio lighting, Bottom: Ambient room lighting

I think this is a shade I'll reach for often this fall. I'm not sure why I've never previously gravitated towards NYX lipsticks, but this is just lovely. And although I think $9 is steep in general, it's still well placed at the drugstore, price-wise. It pulls a lot redder on my pigmented lips, but I'm digging it. Now, if it would be cool enough to rock this.

Next, let's go to the Air Collection.

Sigh. I knew I shouldn't do it, but I picked up Matte Rose.

It's lovely warm matte pink lipstick.

There's nothing wrong with this. In fact, it's really pretty and I'll be reaching for this starting in about January a lot. I think we've established that these pinks are my weak spot when it comes to lipstick.

One caveat about these mattes- they're really like satins. They're not matte matte (which I love).

It's just lovely, right?

Here it is on my lips:

Top: Studio lighting Bottom: Ambient Lighting

Here's the deal. I love this shade, but I own so many of these. I often use the blog as an excuse to enable my bad purchasing habits. I'm so happy to have this, but I'm going to tuck it away until after Christmas because it's winter/spring color for me. I find the formula to be really pretty.


Let's wrap up with my selection from the Fire Collection. Spoiler alert: it's my favorite of the three.

I selected the only color to have sold out as of Wednesday at my local Ulta: Matte Mauve.

Like the Matte Rose, it's more of a Satin than a true matte-which is glorious in my opinion. I also question the naming of this as mauve. Trust me when I say this isn't any mauve I've ever known. If you're ordering blind, you need to be acutely aware of this.

Here's a swatch of non-mauve mauve:

Can we agree that's a brick-terracotta color not mauve? It's glorious for fall though.

Here's a lip shot in studio lighting:

And an "in the wild" shot when I was wearing it out and about in natural lighting (iphone photo).

In that photo, I also applied over foundation-covered lips. And yes, it looks more matte.

When I was in the sun, however, the gleam showed up. Sorry for the angle, but I was actually trying to capture my highlighter and eyeshadow not my lipstick!

This is a new staple shade for me this Fall and it's the winner of the collection. I'd buy this at regular price.

I find these non-matte mattes to be really comfortable and highly recommend the formula. With 18 shades, you're likely to find your new favorite somewhere in there!

If you're looking for me to do a review of any of the In Your Element palettes, that won't be happening. They're a hard pass for me for multiple reasons. The packaging is beautiful, but $30 for a NYX palette is absurd in my mind. Even on sale I didn't want to reward that large of a price jump. More importantly, I wasn't impressed by the formula. Had I bought one of them, I wouldn't have touched it ever again. If I were to ever do an anti-haul, this would've been at the top.

Next up: 3 Steps to Sculpt Trio ($11.99)

This came out a couple of months ago, but I still consider this to be a relatively new release.

I swatched this at a local NYX store and was really impressed by the quality but I didn't need any new contour kits. The next day, this went on sale at Ulta. So off my money went. You receive 3 5g/0.18oz powders in the trio. They're nicely sized for a precision brush.

There are 4 different kits- Fair, Light, Medium, and Deep. I've got the Fair kit here to show you.

 

I've been on a contour purchasing kick as of late. This is the only one that has a highlight (and the highlight is the letdown of the three).

Let's go to the swatches, and then I'll talk about my experience wearing this.

Left: Studio, warm light. Right: Artificial, cool light

The reason why I'm showing two sets of swatches is that the truth to the naked eye lies somewhere in-between.


Let's start with the low point of the three- the highlighter. It looks pretty in the pan but it's chalky and glittery. I'd never wear it on my cheeks; I've used it in the inner corner a few times when I had the palette out already. To be honest, I'd have liked the trio better if this was a duo without it.

If I'm going in terms of worst-best, next up is the contour. The first two times I wore it, I thought I ruined my contour. It's extremely pigmented and quite warm. As a fair person, I prefer a very cool contour.

However, I've come to enjoy it and have figured out how to make it work. I either do it under some tinted finishing powder (to help diffuse) or use the tiniest bit. Two or three quick dabs (like Subculture-soft dabs) will more than do an entire contour; I do one at a time and build with a Wayne Goss Face Brush. (It's also lovely in the crease as an eyeshadow.)

My favorite product in the trio is the matte highlighter. Nope, I don't use it as a highlighter but the powder is delightful. I've been using it as a non-shimmering undereye setting powder. It's glorious for that. I don't crease with this powder, which is a rarity. I'd rebuy an entire palette of just the matte highlighter.

This is one of two contour palettes/duos (ironically, both from the drugstore) that I can see myself grabbing for travel because they're multitasking powders. If you overlook the chalky, glittery highlighter it's a great value.

Bottom Line: NYX is stepping it up as of late. I'm interested, but not liking the price creep I see going on.