As I’m sure many of you Beauty ’Cats have noticed, the CVS Pharmacy on East State Street has added a new makeup brand to its lineup — NYX Cosmetics. Before recently, I had only ever purchased NYX at Ulta or Nordstrom Rack, and I’m excited to have it more easily accessible while at school.
NYX has products comparable to professional, high-end products at a much lower price, but still pricier than the regular drugstore brands. Because I’ve heard such great things about the brand, I decided to pick up products similar to the higher-end ones I already use and compare them. Spoiler alert: I was not disappointed.
The first product I picked up was the NYX Matte Finish Makeup Setting Spray, which is about $8. I love setting spray because I am one who tends to touch my face frequently throughout the day and ends up rubbing off my makeup. Setting spray does exactly what it sounds like: it sets your makeup in place and protects it from grubby fingers or anything else that may compromise your look. Normally I use the Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray, which is about $30. I can’t say that the NYX spray is better than Urban Decay’s, but I have been preferring it to the All Nighter. When using the Urban Decay spray, I tend to only spritz a little bit onto my face in order to conserve the product, but because the NYX spray is so much cheaper, I have found myself using more of the product and thus setting my makeup a lot more effectively.
I also picked up the NYX Pore Filler primer, which reduces the look of pores and provides a basecoat for your makeup. The Pore Filler is about $14, which is a steal when compared to the Benefit POREfessional, about $31, which is also a part of my makeup collection. I honestly haven’t noticed much of a difference in the pore-filling qualities of this product, and I think they’re fairly comparable in that regard. I do, however, think that the Benefit product is a better primer and helps my makeup stay in place more than the NYX product does. But if you’re looking for a good dupe of the POREfessional that is more budget-friendly, I would definitely try out the Pore Filler. My sources (a.k.a. my best friend Maddy) tell me that the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser is also a good substitution, but I have yet to try it.
As a religious user of the Anastasia Brow Wiz eyebrow pencil (about $21), I decided to try the NYX version of the product: the Auto Eyebrow Pencil (about $5). I love this kind of brow pencil because they don’t need to be sharpened and they are usually a lot skinnier than the pencils that do. I have liked the NYX pencil so far in terms of the way it works and its durability. It does last a pretty long time, much like the Brow Wiz. I do, however, prefer the Anastasia product to the NYX product because it is an even skinnier pencil, which allows a more natural look when filling in your brows, and it has a spoolie brush on one end that makes it easy to blend in the pencil and comb your brows into the perfect shape. The NYX pencil also doesn’t come in very many shades, making it harder to find the perfect match for your eyebrows.
Because the local CVS started selling NYX products, I will definitely be more inclined to purchase them, especially over other drugstore brands. Although NYX doesn’t quite measure up to the quality of some higher-end makeup brands, it still packs a pretty good punch and is a lot friendlier on the wallet. I’m looking forward to trying more of its products and I’m sure my bank account is too.
Taylor LaPuma is a junior studying journalism and the asst. copy chief at The Post. Have you tried any NYX Cosmetics products? If so, tell her what you think of them at tl674710@ohiou.edu
