Hi! Hope you've all been having a great week. With 2014 settling in, cosmetic brands have been coming out with their usual new year releases, and one of the releases I was most excited for was NYX's Butter Lipstick. NYX came out with their Butter Glosses last year, which seemed to be one of the popular releases for 2013. I, too, purchased one - you can see my review of it here. I also purchased one of their Butter Balms - the second installment to the "butter" line - but have yet to review it. Not surprisingly, as the lipstick fan that I am, I was most excited for the lipstick addition to the line.
NYX's Butter Lipsticks have been showing up in Ultas on displays with a selection of colors, but NYX has recently launched the full line of colors on their website here. The color I'll be reviewing today, "Fireball," is the color I picked up from my Ulta's display. It was the only one of three colors left, and the other two were pale, chalky pinks that I could never pull off, so I settled for "Fireball," which I convinced myself was more than a red, my least favorite color in lipsticks.
Thankfully, it is.
THE CLAIMS
NYX's description of their Butter Lipsticks is surprisingly short and to the point:
"The unique texture seems to melt onto the lips, giving full, yet lightweight coverage with a luxurious satin finish." (from NYX's website at the time of this post).
THE BASICS
Name: Fireball (BLS06)
Net Wt.: 0.16 oz./4.5 g.
Price: $6
Finish: Dewy/Creamy
NYX's Butter Lipsticks come in tubes designed similarly to the brand's Glam Aqua Luxe Lipsticks and Matte Lipsticks: they're your typical lipstick tubes, except they have a transparent section roughly at the middle of the tube. The main difference with the Butter Lipsticks is that each tube is color-coordinated with the lipstick bullet, giving the line a more candy-esque vibe which, judging by the original Butter Glosses, was a trend (at least in terms of the glosses' names).
The tube opens at the transparent section, so when you twist the lipstick bullet up, the entirety of the bullet is visible.
I personally don't care for the transparent section, but that doesn't matter much as it has no affect on the product/application. A bittersweet fact about this packaging is that it contains the full ingredient list on the tube, as you'll see in the pictures below:
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| The first half of the ingredient list. |
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| The second half of the ingredient list. |
I say it's bittersweet because it's great having the ingredients handy all the time, but it also looks pretty tacky to have a chunk of text decorating 50% of the bottom half of the tube. I'm sure it'll rub off with use, or perhaps it won't. Only time will tell.
Lastly regarding the packaging, the top of the tube contains the color number, while the bottom of the tube contains the color number and color name.
I notice that this lipstick has a faint cinnamon-syrup scent, but I wouldn't take this observation too seriously as it's so faint that I may be imagining it.
COLOR/SWATCHES
"Fireball" (BLS06) is described as a "deep coral" on NYX's website, but in its picture it looks like a reddish orange. And the weirdness that is this color doesn't stop there.
When I saw "Fireball" at my Ulta, my heart sunk. It was the most flattering of the three colors left behind, but it was also a red. The bullet itself looked red with a hint of orange.
And then I swatched it on my hand. That's when a little part of me felt like it was a pinkish red, and I could live with that. What do you think?
Yeah. It seems that this color likes to work together with lighting to deceive. In the above picture, it looks reddish orange again. But, really, I've come to enjoy this color because it indeed seems to change depending on the lighting - from a more orange-red to a more pink-red to an actual coral.
As you can tell in the above swatch, while the formula of this lipstick doesn't provide totally opaque color, it is definitely buildable and can be made opaque. I'm not too critical when it comes to that because I tend to layer my lipsticks on anyway, but if you want to be literal in terms of the claims NYX makes, I would say this lipstick falls short of total opacity. It's pigmented, yes, but one swipe may not always be enough, and your lip color may still peek through.
WEAR (WITH LIP SWATCHES)
In the following lip swatches, you will see what I mean that this lipstick has the potential to lean pink. Take a look at the brand new coral "Fireball":
Or maybe this is my mind trying to totally brainwash me!
Anyway, going back to the claims, NYX is correct in stating that these lipsticks are lightweight with a satin finish - though I feel like "satin" is one of those terms whose definition may vary from person to person. I feel like, yes, these do have a finish that can be categorized as "satin" because they aren't so glossy that they appear glassy. Rather, they have a fairly dewy finish.
In any case, "Fireball" applies smoothly and feels creamy/hydrating but lightweight on the lips. What I mean by "lightweight" is that it has a thinner formula, similar to their Black Label lipsticks. The first time I applied this lipstick over my balmed-up lips, I found that it formed little flakes of pigmentation and I had to wipe it off. The second time around, I applied it to my bare lips - which were in good condition to start - and the grainy flaking did not happen. I don't know if it was the balm that caused that outcome, or the fact that it was my first time using the product (and therefore I was applying the waxier outer layer).
These lipsticks stay creamy-feeling for about 2 to 3 hours without eating or drinking. At that point, they begin to dry out on the lips. They do not dry out my lips, rather the formula simply begins to look dryer and feel dryer. This most likely happens thanks to the thinner formula. If they were thicker on the lips, they'd probably leave a semi-tacky, soft texture behind, as opposed to a borderline flaky one. Either way, once I remove the product from my lips, I find my lips feeling soft, as they usually do with more moisturizing lip products.
I did not notice any feathering with this product, despite it's thinner formula, but I rarely experience feathering, so your mileage may vary. It's not my favorite formula, as I prefer thicker ones, but it's a refreshing change nonetheless and I'm happy to have it.
Before I close this post, I have a few more pictures to share with you. The following lip swatches were taken in artificial lighting, as opposed to my usual filtered natural lighting (like the pictures above). Here, the lipstick wears more orange/red than the previous lip swatches.
I think it's safe to say that while this lipstick is predominantly red (and I say this because it looks redder in person than these pictures, which were hard to capture thanks to the color's brightness), it has enough pink and orange in it to lean either way, depending on the tones of one's lighting. I find that pretty neat, so thanks, Ulta, for indirectly leading me to buy a color I'd normally avoid.
And, lastly, here's a full-face picture in the same lighting:
I can't wait to have bangs again.
OVERALL
NYX's Butter Lipstick in "Fireball" is a red with pink and orange tones that make it a fresh, bright, and interesting color, depending on the lighting. It has a thin, lightweight formula that applies fairly smoothly and leaves the lips feeling creamy and hydrated. Its thinner, dewier finish prevents it from providing full opacity in a single swipe, but the color is definitely pigmented and buildable. Its packaging is basic and it has a barely-there cinnamon-syrup scent, but for $6 it's a great lipstick that's affordable enough to try out multiple colors. I've ordered one more online - "Pops" - which I will review once I receive it and test it out a bit.
While I wish this lipstick was a tad thicker, since I prefer lipsticks that are thick enough to make my lips feel smooth easily, I am still really happy with my purchase. I'd recommend this lipstick to those who prefer a more lightweight formula, don't care about scents, and enjoy a more natural, dewy finish with buildable opacity. I would not recommend this lipstick to those who prefer waxier textures, formulas that totally set on the lips, or fully opaque color in little-to-no time.
I hope you found this review helpful, and thanks for stopping by! 'Til next time! ('<>')>
~nikki
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