Andorian Blues Part 2 – Drugstore Brand

My last post on blue eye shadows and liners had pretty much all higher end makeup that would have to be purchased at a MAC counter or store, or a Sephora or Ulta. This post is focusing  on a drug store brand that I have heard nothing but good things about: NYX Cosmetics.

JUMBO EYE PENCILS

 I have laid out the eye pencils so that you can see them in order of color gradient, and I have included both Milk and Cottage Cheese as they can be used instead of a primer to bring out more color. Milk is a bright opaque white, and Cottage Cheese is an off-white with a little shimmer. These are NOT water proof. I will be swatching each one alone, over primer, over Cottage Cheese and over Milk, so you can see them each way. They are all matte blue shades, except for Cobalt, which has a shimmer you can’t really see until you put it on.

Baby Blue:

The top swatch is with no primer, the second is over Cottage Cheese, the third is over Milk and the last is over regular eye shadow primer.

 This color is sheerer than I expected (and more than it looks on the pencil). The top swatch is four coats for that color payoff. The second and third are three coats each, just so the white doesn’t show, and the last one is also four. Overall, you will go through this pencil quickly, unless it’s just an accent color. They payoff is best over Milk. After letting this dry for several minutes, it wiped right of of my arm, which doesn’t say a lot for its staying power.

Pacific Blue:

Top to bottom: no primer, over Cottage Cheese, over Milk, over eye shadow primer.   

The top is one swipe, and the color payoff is great. The Cottage Cheese adds a bit of shimmer, and required two coats to cover. The Milk pencil still shows through three coats of Pacific Blue, but it changes the color nicely. The bottom swatch is also one coat, over primer. Overall, this has a better color payoff than Baby Blue. It smudges if you want it to, but it continues to do so even after allowing it to dry, however, it doesn’t wipe right off, either. 

Electric Blue:

Top to bottom: no primer, over Cottage Cheese, over Milk, over eye shadow primer. 

The top coat is again only one swipe, with great payoff. The second is two swipes over Cottage Cheese, and the third is three swipes over Milk. It takes more to cover the white pencils instead of the primer, but they also change the color ever so slightly. It smears after allowing it to dry, but over primer it smears a lot less than the other three swatches did, and it doesn’t wipe off easily either. 

Peacock:

Top to bottom: no primer, over Cottage Cheese, over Milk, over regular eye shadow primer.

This has AMAZING color payoff. Everything is one swipe except over Milk, which is only two swipes. It smears more easily on its own and over Cottage Cheese, where it was more difficult to smear over primer and Milk. It does not wipe right off.

Cobalt:

Top to bottom: no primer, over Cottage Cheese, over Milk, over regular eye shadow primer.

This was the shade I was most excited to swatch, and most disappointed in. I was hoping for a dark, matte blue, as that’s what it looks like on the pencil. However, it has glitter in it, which I did not like. Each swatch in the picture is one swipe, and the color payoff is good. The shimmer isn’t even, though, so you may have to compensate by layering more on. It smears after drying quite easily, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference if it’s over primer, over a white pencil, or by itself. 

Overall Impressions of the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils:

Electric Blue has great color payoff, and the others can be built to do the same. They are not waterproof, and they smear easily, even after over 10 minutes of drying time. I do not recommend wearing them if you plan to sweat, might get stuck in the rain, have oily eyelids, have dry eyes, or wear contacts. A setting spray may help, but I haven’t tried that yet.

 NYX GLAM SHADOW STICKS

According to Ulta’s website, these are waterproof, but the NYX website doesn’t say whether that is true or not. Unfortunately, there are only two blue shades: Radiant Sapphire and Illuminating Topaz. 

 Top to bottom: Radiant Sapphire, Illuminating Topaz

These definitely have glitter, and they’re not ashamed of it! They also crease without primer, and they’re not waterproof, though they are a bit water resistant. They don’t smear as easily as the jumbo pencils, and will hold up more under a day of working a Con.

NYX GLAM LINER AND GEL LINER/SMUDGE POT

I saw these by chance in Ulta when I was looking for Jumbo pencils. It’s not easy to find blue cosmetics, so I took a chance on them. 

Top to bottom Glam Liner in Azure, Gel Liner/Smudge Pot in Cobalt Blue straight application and smudged.

Boy am I glad I took a chance on these! Of all the purchases I made from NYX, these are the ones that I will be using for my Andorian the most. Neither one smudges easily, (the glam liner doesn’t smudge at ALL). The glam liner is completely waterproof, and in fact took four applications of waterproof eye makeup remover to get it completely off my skin. The smudge pot is water resistant and doesn’t crease, and would make a great base for other shadows.