Beauty Showdown #2 — NYX v. Wet n Wild

In my first ‘Beauty Showdown’ I reviewed the various lip crayons I had tried out. In this Beauty Showdown it will be NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams v. Wet n Wild Megalast Liquid Lip Colors. I will be reviewing both products, giving my pros and cons, comparing similar colors between the two lines, and in the end giving you my take on what was worth the buy.

The NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams are $5.99 and are available at Target, Ulta, and from the NYX Cosmetics site. The product comes in 22 shades ranging from nudes to dark purple. There’s even an orange. The colors are named after international cites. The four colors I picked up were: Tokyo, Addis Ababa, Amsterdam, and San Paulo. The best place to get these would be Ulta because you can buy one and get one half off plus there’s always a $3.50 coupon floating around. Here are the swatches:

The colors I purchased were;t thought out. I just purchased what I thought was nice based off the selection at Ulta. I would recommend buying these online to guarantee the color you want because the stores are sold out making the color quantity limited or the color selection you want is just not available in that store.

As for the packaging of this product I love it. It’s sleek, no mess with application, and the applicator is a doe foot (my favorite). When applying I will say I wasn’t impressed. I really had to build up the color, but it’s a great thing that the color is buildable. Based on the packaging versus the swatch verses the color on my lips I will say that it is true to packaging. The consistency no the site is described as:

Neither lipstick nor lip gloss, this matte lip cream is a new kind of lip color that goes on silky smooth and sets to a matte finish. Soft Matte Lip Cream is surprisingly durable and, unlike some matte lipstick formulas, also moisturizing.

I would have to agree. Due to the fact that its a soft matte it would be more moisturizing. Upon initial application it does look shiny and dries over time. I wouldn’t say it’s “surprisingly durable” because you’d have to reapply several times (or more) throughout the day based on how much eating/drinking you’re doing.

Moving on to Wet n Wild‘s Megalast Liquid Lip Color, I am going to start off and say how DISAPPOINTED I was after putting this product on my lips and the STRUGGLE it took to get off. The product is sold at local drugstores and grocery stores and the price is $2.99 (depending on location). I picked up these two colors during at sale at Walgreens and they were 2/$3. The colors I picked up were ‘Red My Mind’ and ‘Back To The Fuchsia.’ Here’s what the site describes the product as:

Intense liquid color with built-in moisturizer provides one-step application for weightless, ultra-conditioning wear that lasts up to 8 hours. ElastiSilk formula combines flexible color adhesion with silky-smooth pigments for transfer-proof, even application. Paraben-free formula conditions and moisturizes with vitamin E that helps promote anti-aging, protects the skin’s moisture barrier, and balances the lip’s natural hydration for a healthy-looking, plump pout all day.

I do agree that the color is intense and it’s true to packaging. As for the “built-in moisture”, the product is extremely dry. It’s like a fake, pasty feeling completely different than that of NYXs Soft Matte Lip Creams. The other downsize aside from the non-moisture I was semi-expecting was the hassle to get this product off. I scrubbed my lips with a baby wipe and it took me nearly 10 minutes to completely remove the product. After researching on YouTube I found that oil was the solution to my problem, but to wear this product and reapply and carry around oil for a seamless application after wear off, no thank you. If I’m running an errand that does not involve me stopping for food then yes I would wear it. I will agree with a “healthy-looking, plump pout” because it looks GREAT on. It’s just the way it dries is like someone is putting glue on your lips. Not a fan off the extreme dryness of it, the messy application, and the hassle to remove it from my lips.

Coincidentally, two of the colors I had from NYX matched of the ones I purchased from Wet n Wild. Here are the colors side by side in packaging and swatched.

When swatched the Wet n Wilds stuck to my hand instantly. I touched and rubbed to see if the product would budge and nothing. The NYX product on the other hand came right off regardless of how ‘soft matte’ it says it is.

Overall I would purchase the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams again because of the color selection and application. The price, as I stated above, can be easily altered with the constant sales at Ulta. As for Wet n Wild this can be a GREAT product if it were easier to get off. How dry it was really didn’t bother me, it’s the fact that I had to scrub it off. In this case I do say go for he $6 lippie over the $3.