Man, did I have a hard time getting my hands on these Butter Lipsticks from NYX Cosmetics! I couldn’t find any of the colors that appealed to me in any of my local stores. Each time I looked for them, I was greeted by displays that were picked over and, usually, down to testers. So I finally bit the bullet and placed an order online. I learned, sadly, that NYX shipping isn’t the fastest, which was only made worse by the two big snowstorms that hit NJ, delaying their delivery for days and days.

::sigh:: So, these aren’t exactly the hot new thing anymore, but I was still very excited to get them when they arrived this past weekend. I absolutely adore NYX’s Butter Glosses (to the point of a slight obsession, which will be displayed in an upcoming post), so when they expanded their “butter” lip line to include a lipstick, I just had to get my hands on some of them.

NYX promises: “The unique texture seems to melt onto the lips, giving full, yet lightweight coverage with a luxurious satin finish.”

Yes, please!

The formula of these lipsticks lives up to the claims: they are lightweight and somewhat moisturizing. They feel very comfortable on the lips, though they don’t have the cushion-y slipperiness that the Butter Glosses do, which is one of the reason’s I love them. I don’t think they exactly melted into my lips, per say, but they wore much better on my dry lips than most other formulas have been this winter. They have a nice, light amount of sheen on the lips and the darker shades did not highlight any of the drier spots. (Candy Buttons–the lightest shade I purchased–did highlight some of the flakiness a bit, but wore better on freshly exfoliated lips.)

(I totally just took a break from writing this post when Pitbull/Ke$ha’s “Timber” came on my Pandora station. Because, apparently, I just cannot not dance around like a fool when that song comes on. Each and every single time. Just thought I’d share that fun fact.)

Ahem. Back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Pops – Mauve

Pops is the color I was most looking forward to trying; I was missing a good mid-tone pinky-nude and this one seemed most likely to fit the bill. In the tube is leans a little brown, but on it is a rosy mauve shade, with just a touch of a plummy-brown undertone. It looks very natural on my lips and makes a nice, hydrating “my lips but better” shade. It has a nice shimmery finish that isn’t at all frosty. It went on smoothly, felt very nice on, and wore well over the day.

I love this one and it is easily my favorite of the three colors I currently own. This is the color I see myself going through first, as it would be a great every-day at the office color, as well as a nice subtle lip to pair with a more colorful eye on an evening out. Just lovely!

Candy Buttons  – peachy pink.

I was stuck between this one and Lollies (which is described as “pink coral”), and went with Candy Buttons because I was worried the cooler-toned Lollies would be too light on me. Unfortunately, I think Candy Buttons is just a tad to light for my liking too. It is a bit warmer than Lollies, and the color itself is very pretty when swatched on my hand. But on my lips? Not loving it the way I thought I would. It washes me out a bit and there’s something about it that just comes off a touch too pastel, rather than the warm peachy tone I was hoping for.

This shade also fared the worst on my lips. I feel like it went on unevenly, showing far too many flakes and crevices to be flattering. As I previously mentioned, it was looked better on freshly exfoliated/moisturized lips but I still wasn’t in love with the color. Maybe if I layered a bit of gloss over it, I might like this one better. I’m going to play with it a bit and see if I can make it work.

Fireball – Deep coral.

I always like to grab one of the crazier colors when I’m trying out a new formula of lip product, and I’m always drawn to the reds and bright corals. I, again, was torn between Fireball and JuJu (“coral-red”) but went with Fireball because I really seem to enjoy coral shades, with my fair complexion and current dark auburn hair color.

Fireball actually looks like a lot more like a bright coral-red in the tube; so much so that it even made me wonder if I had ordered JuJu by mistake for a split second. When I swatched it, I got another surprise: this color comes off on me as not the orange-y coral I was expecting, but instead with a strong pink undertone that borders on being hot pink. I was a little surprised by it on at first, but it actually grew on my the more I looked at it. Its a bright, bold color that is certainly not for the faint-hearted, but there is something about it that appeals to me. Perhaps its just my kind of wild.

Back to my Pandora playlist for a moment here. David Guetta’s “Sexy Bitch” came on just as I was testing this color and I was immediately struck by how much that song is the perfect analogy for how this lipstick makes me feel. Its fun, its sassy and, dammit, it does make me feel like a sexy bitch!

Like the others, I found Fireball very comfortable to wear and didn’t feel like my lips were dried out after wearing it. It fared well in my war against dry lips; not quite as good as Pops but much better than Candy Buttons. A few flakes were highlighted, but nothing I couldn’t exfoliate away prior to wear.

It also did not stain my lips or hand (when I swatched it), which is something I appreciate.

Swatches

Verdict

I’m a big fan of this new formula. It feels so very nice on the lips and I could easily see this becoming my go-to formula in the colder months!

They have some other great shades (like the deep burgundy Licorice and deep blue-toned pink Sweet Tart) that are calling my name, so I see myself expanding my collection soon. I also love the selection of lighter, more nude colors they have available but am hesitant to buy them sight unseen them after seeing how much Candy Buttons washed me out.

Hopefully once the hype of these dies down a bit, they will be more easily located in-store so I can try them out in person.