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Price: $4
Availability: Ulta, NYX website, Cherry Culture website
Rating:

Product Details: Velvet-textured cream lipstick that covers with color and moisturizes your lips with each application.

Product Pros:

• Inexpensive, easily affordable for any budget.
• Great color selection!
• Comparable to MAC satin and amplified cream finish lipsticks.
• Long-lasting color.

Product Cons:

• Color bleeds a little without lipliner, especially deeper colors.
• Swatches on both Cherry Culture and NYX websites are inaccurate, and Ulta doesn’t carry a vast selection of NYX products.
• Some shades have a very high, almost unbearable shine (worse than even MAC frost lipsticks).

I love these lipsticks.  I’m glad that I tried them out from Ulta seeing as I can return colors I don’t like.  My favorites are Power (dupe for MAC’s lavender whip) and Electra (a bright, true, blue-based red).  I definitely feel the need to purchase more when I’m looking for more colors, and I’d recommend them for the kit of a make up artist.  The packaging is professional looking — sleek and black, and affordable for any budget — perfect especially for those just starting their kits.   I’d love to order more of these colors after trying what was available at Ulta.  I did purchase a light pink one, however the color was far too frosty for my personal preference (I like a bit of shine, but the sparkle-frost looking finish is just too much for me).  You can see pretty accurately in the bottom of the tube, and with the way they are packaged you can pull the top off to check the color.  Though I ask you, just look, do not touch it and contaminate the product!!  And those buying drugstore lipstick, disinfect with rubbing alcohol prior to use.

I don’t see any lip this product wouldn’t work on.  Though I highly recommend using a lip liner to keep the color from bleeding!

Price: $24
Availability: Some salons, and nixiecosmetics.com
Rating:

Product Details: Oil free, hypoallergenic, specially formulated to prevent shine and minimize the look of blemishes with buildable, moderate to full coverage. Encapsulated vitamins, green tea extracts, and antioxidants keep skin looking fresh and even all day.

Product Pros:

• Great natural-matte finish.
• Moderate coverage.  Applies lightly but covers very well.
• Wide range of shades, something you can always value from Nixie.
• Affordable.  Only $24 for 1.1 ounce of product.
• Long-wearing.  Doesn’t rub off.
• Doesn’t oxidize and look weird on the skin after prolonged wear.
• Gentle formula great for sensitive skin.

Product Cons:

• Since Nixie is a newer brand, it is hard to find in stores.  Only a few salons who are registered carry it, and shopping online can be hard to find your color match.
• A little bit runny, takes some getting used to for application.

This is currently my daily go-to product.  I wear it in Ivory 1 (or sometimes Neutral 1, depending on what I feel like ordering), and apply it using a fluffy blush brush.  I prefer to use a fluffy brush when applying this foundation as I think it goes on more evenly and gives more of an airbrushed look.  Since the formula is rather runny, applying it with a regular foundation brush can be tricky and time-consuming.  I have repurchased this foundation four times now, the only foundation I think I have ever done that with.  I like the fact that Nixie provides an exceptionally wide color range — allowing you to find the perfect color to suit your needs.  They also have an excellent return policy for those of you who are shopping online.  You can return your product for any reason (the color wasn’t what you expected, didn’t match, etc) within 30 days as long as you have the original packaging.  They will either refund your card, or they will exchange it if that is what you are choosing to do.  Very often, if you are making a large order, they will include little goodie such as make-up remover wipes so you can try more of their product!

I would recommend this to almost any foundation user.  It doesn’t make dry skin stand out, but doesn’t make me oily either since it is an oil-free foundation.  Very gentle on the skin and evens out skintone.  I would say that this product can be layered for more full coverage.

Price: $40
Availability: Sephora (purchase at Sephora.com)
Rating:

Product details: An oil-free medium-to-full-coverage liquid foundation that covers skin imperfections flawlessly while remaining invisible on-screen and in real life.  It creates a soft-focus effect, designed to meet the coverage concerns of those in the spotlight.  It creates a complexion that looks flawless, even in bright or harsh lighting.

Product Pros:

• Comes in 25 shades.
• Available for most people, as it is available at both Sephora stores and online.
• Definitely covers, will cover imperfections.
• Light-diffusing particles will give the impression of perfect skin.
• Semi-matte (mostly matte, in my opinion) finish.

Product Cons:

• Lightest shades are incredibly pink-based.  While yes, many of us pale gals have pink undertones, not all of us do, and it may be hard for some fair-skinned women to find their correct shade.
• The numbering system is not accurate to their other foundations.  A universal one similar to MAC’s numbering system would be effective.
• Felt a little heavy on my skin, definitely thick and creamy consistency.
• Pricey.  At $40 for 1 ounce of foundation.

I was wondering what all the fuss people were creating about this foundation was about, and honestly, I’m still wondering.  I believe this may work for some, but definitely won’t work for all.  The wearability is questionable — I have some issues of it rubbing off — something I hate when it comes to foundations (who doesn’t?).  The lightest shade (aside from 107, which is a little scary in appearance due to how pink it is) is still slightly too dark for my pale complexion.  It almost felt like a mask on.  I think that Make Up For Ever has better foundations under their belt, including their Face and Body, Mat+ Velvet, and Lifting foundation.  I think the consistency is better, easier to work with, and doesn’t get too masky.  If you use the HD with a stippling brush or blusher brush, the coverage will be very high, and you will be able to tell and feel it on your skin.  Instead you will have to use a regular foundation brush.  I’m okay with that, I just prefer stippling or fluffy brushes like a blush brush.  I’m glad that Jessica Allison over at Out In A Pout got a sample made for me at her Sephora so that I didn’t splurge the $40, because in my opinion, it’s definitely not worth it.  There are other options out there that give great coverage, including Revlon’s Colorstay foundations (I have not tried the mineral, but both the Dry and Oily formulations are excellent), which are often buy one get one half off at Ulta, and readily available at pretty much any store.

Would I buy this?  No, definitely not.  I say if you want to try it, make sure you get a sample first to ensure the color match and whether or not you like the wear, finish, and coverage of the product.