It's going to be an exciting time on my blog if you enjoy NYX products. A lot of new products have come out and Ulta recently had them on sale, so I bought a bunch of new stuff to try. I've been doing a lot of lip product reviews lately so I wanted to get back into the whole eye makeup scene, so you'll have to wait for the Butter Gloss review, sadly! I have two of the new Love In Rio eye shadow trios to talk about today. NYX has always been known for their eye products - pigmented shadows and a huge color range. I lump NYX in with drugstore makeup, so when you consider the sheer number of products and colors they come in, it's no wonder everyone freaks about this brand! Their old trios are still up on NYX's site. To be honest, I was never really blown away by the old trios (the ones with the round pans) or some other palettes by NYX, so I wasn't expecting miracles from these little guys.
I picked out the two most colorful trios out of the 22 available color combinations...strangely enough, most of them are pretty neutral. Neutral is nice and all, but you only need so many brown shadows, let's be real here! Anyway, here's what NYX has to say on the Love In Rio shadow trios:
Find your Love in Rio using the 3 color eye shadow palette. Indulge in natural and pulsating colors to create that impeccable day or night look. Take this Love in Rio color palette with you on every escapade and mesmerize others with your eyes!
- What it is: Astonishing 3 color eye shadow palette featuring natural and pulsating colors. Available in 22 color selections. Debuting New NYX Bow Compact.
- What it does: Provides intense eye colors with a silky texture for seamless application for any eye look that you desire.
- Why we love it: Consists of 3 complementing eye shadows to wear together or alone. Carry your favorite trio with you and create any look on the go with the help of the dual applicator that allows you to apply, smudge and line your eyes effortlessly!
- How to use: Use the New NYX dual ended custom designed eye shadow applicator or your favorite eye shadow brush to create a variety of eye expressions. One side of the applicator has a larger sponge applicator for covering more of the eye area easily while the narrow side of the applicator lines and defines smaller areas of the eye for finer details."
I don't know if it's because I stuck to brighter colors this time or if it's just the formula (I'd have to buy some neutral trios to find out, and, well, I have plenty to review already, so it's just not happening) has definitely improved, but I really like the two trios I purchased. They're decently pigmented on their own, look even better over primer (and I do recommend use of an eyeshadow primer) and the texture is nice. A lot of the NYX shadows I've used in the past have been very soft and loosely pressed, which leads to having to tap off your brush rather thoroughly and also mass quantities of fall-out and little clouds of eyeshadow floating through the air. Also, lots of breakage.
These shadows are soft and easy to blend but much more pressed than their predecessors. The pigmentation is still there and the huge mess and the fear of shattering your shadow on a plush carpet are removed. I got noticeable fading when wearing these shadows without primer, but with primer? No issues. I can't say anything for the neutral trios, but the two I have are pretty damn nice and I do suggest them if you've been eyeing these new products.
The first trio I bought is "Nightime In Rio", which is a bright pink, bright purple, and a black w/ a multicolored glitter. The black shadow reminds me of MAC's "Black Tied" but it's also the one that definitely needs a primer or some kind of sticky base to give it that extra OOMPH. The pink and the purple shadows are a bit more of a satin finish, but essentially matte. They also can stain a bit.
W/ Flash
W/o Flash
The top swatch in both photos is on bare skin and the bottom swatch in both pictures is over Urban Decay Primer Potion.
The second trio I got is called "Carnival Del Sol", which I purchased because it reminded me of spring! It has a more muted pinky-purple, a bright lemony yellow, and a bright spring green. They all contain shimmer and they will all need a primer underneath to make the colors truly pop on the skin, but they blend lovely and the shimmer doesn't fall on my face, which is pretty awesome since NYX shadows sometimes, well, have shimmer migration on me. Overall, I really like the way this looks. NYX had a trio of round shadows that looked similar to this one and the quality of this trio blows the old one out of the water.
W/ Flash
W/o Flash
The top swatch in both photos is on bare skin and the bottom swatch in both pictures is over Urban Decay Primer Potion.
Overall I think that NYX has really improved their shadow formula with these trios. I love the color combinations and I also really enjoy the colors in these particular trios. Again, I haven't tried any of the neutral shadow trios, so I don't know how those perform, but I'm definitely interested in picking some up!
