NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Budapest & Sao Paulo Review

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams

Hello! Today I’ll be doing one of the most detailed reviews of two lip shades from NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream range. Did you know SMLC is a NYX bestseller? NYX is one of my favourite cruelty-free, drugstore brands because it offers some really great quality products at an unbelievable price! What’s better? These products are easily available anywhere! Let’s get started with the product performance and check out some amazing swatches so you can decide if these are for you.

Product Description

In statement-making matte colors, our nude-based shades of Soft Matte Lip Cream deliver a burst of creamy color that sets to a stunning matte finish. Durable, lightweight and delightfully creamy, it’s no wonder this sweetly scented formula is a NYX Professional Makeup fan-favorite. Envelop your lips in this high-pigmented, plush matte formula in colors inspired by cities of the world. This lip cream is a matte lipstick lover’s dream – light on the lips and heavy on the pigmentation!

Price: INR 600 for 8ml.

Availability: You can buy NYX on Nykaa or their offline stores.

My Thoughts on NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream

The NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream comes in 34 shades – each one named after a famous city around the globe! I own two shades from the collection, Sao Paulo (a bright warm pink) and Budapest (a deep mauve).

Packaging

The lip creams come in a cute and small opaque tube which is of the same colour as the shade of the lip cream. It has a small wand with a doe-foot applicator and black cap. The product details are mentioned on the tube itself.

Texture & Smell

The NYX soft matte lip creams have a mousse-like texture that glides smoothly on the lips and sets to a matte finish. The formula is very lightweight and doesn’t give a heavy/ cracking feel to your lips.

It has a sweet vanilla cupcake like smell which some people really love. But I always prefer my lipsticks to be free of any scent. Is that too much to ask for?

Pigmentation

The lip creams are not evenly pigmented and look a little patchy on the lips with a single layer. So it is necessary to go for a second layer if you don’t want certain areas of your lips peeking through. A good thing about the NYX lip creams is that they layer beautifully without cracking or crumbling.

The above picture shows how uneven Sao Paulo looks with just one coat.

Shades

Let’s take a look at the individual shades and how they perform.

1. Sao Paulo

This shade is named after the vibrant city of Sao Paulo. In fact, this is the first NYX lip cream I ever bought (a while ago). This is back when it was spelled “San Paulo” and I used to wonder why did they name it this way. Thank god NYX has corrected it.

The shade looks a little too neon-ish and in-your-face hot pink on my NC 42 skin tone and I think would look the best on fair and fair to medium skin tone. It sets to a matte finish in just a few seconds.

I made this colour work (have to because I can’t let it go waste) by using it as a tint, it gives my lips a beautiful soft pink colour and topping it over with a gloss is the prettiest thing ever! Don’t agree? Check the pictures below.

I made up my mind to not invest further in this range after being not so happy with Sao Paulo but then came ‘Budapest’ and now I’m a convert!

2. Budapest

This shade is named after the city of Budapest that is world-famous for its Opera House. It’s a deep mauve with red undertones that would look great on every skin tone and especially beautiful on women with brown skin. I have to go with two layers to get opaque coverage with this too. Budapest takes a good 5-10 minutes to set to a matte finish.

Application

As mentioned previously, the NYX lip creams aren’t very pigmented and go a little patchy with one layer. It’s nothing that a second layer can’t fix! They feel comfortable on the lips and are very less drying when it comes to matte liquid lipsticks. I love using these lip creams as tint by taking a little product and dabbing it on the lips. This technique gives a beautiful finish and colour to the lips, in fact, it’s the only way I can make the shade Sao Paulo work for me.

Since these are matte lipsticks, they do settle into the lip lines but your lips won’t look dried out with lots of lines. In other words, your lips won’t appear like a but*hole.

Staying Power

The staying power is pretty decent and it lasts for 4-5 hours with drinks and snacks. Anything oily would just break the formula down and you’ll end up with lips that only has a lipliner on the perimeters. The staying power isn’t that good when you compare these with ultra matte liquid lipsticks. I have tried liquid lipsticks with a semi-matte finish that stay all day like the Colourpop Ultra Satin Lipsticks. Those are great if you need a comfortable formula and longevity. My favourite shade from the range is Frick N Frack which is another beautiful nude lipstick for brown skin tone.

One more thing to note is that that they’re not transfer-proof and it varies from shade to shade. In my case, Sao Paulo transfers way more than Budapest.

Conclusion

The NYX soft matte lip creams are great for people who are looking for a comfortable, matte liquid lipstick that’s cruelty-free and affordable. While the sweet vanilla smell might be a letdown for people with a sensitive nose but the wide shade range and the formula of these lipsticks do make up for it.

Why You Should Buy NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream?

• Cruelty-free
• Decent staying power
• Beautiful shades available
• Comfortable on lips
• Affordable
• Feels lightweight
• Easy to layer
• Non-drying formula

Why You Should Avoid NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream?

• Not very pigmented, needs layering
• Vanilla smell might be too much for sensitive nose
• Not transfer-proof

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Colourpop Ultra Satin Lipstick in Frick N Frack

Wet N Wild Megalast Lipstick in Mochalicious & Cherry Picking

Wet N Wild Megalast Lipstick in Sugar Plum Fairy

Starstruck by Sunny Leone Lipstick in Caramello

Wet n Wild Liquid Lipstick in Give Me Mocha