little white truths

As you may know, these NYX Butter Glosses are my HGs and I've slowly been working my way through the entire collection. 

Every time Priceline has a big sale, I grab myself some of these and I'm aiming to find my favourite shades from the bunch so that eventually I'll just buy those and have a few different shades on rotation.

Next up is this nude in Fortune Cookie, and while I do like the formula, this shade settles into lip lines (same as Apple Strudel did, reviewed here), so I wouldn't buy it again.

NYX claims/product details:

• Buttery soft and silky smooth 
• This scrumptious gloss tastes as sweet as a sugar cookie - and makes your lips look downright luscious
• Swipe it on alone or over your favourite lipstick for a creamy, sheer-to-medium coverage that melts onto your lips and is never sticky 
• Leaves your lips soft, supple and kissable
• RRP $9.95 AUD for 8ml, but do shop around

I think it's worth mentioning again that I do own Fenty's fabled Gloss Bomb (reviewed here) and while that's a lovely product and I can see why so many people love it, I still prefer the formula of these NYX glosses. 

Reason being, they're more hydrating on my dry lips so I can wear them alone, and they tend to last better on the lips too. Plus they're a lot cheaper and you can also often buy them on sale. I honestly don't think you can beat them.

There's the applicator:

Light and heavy swatches, indirect sunlight:

Direct sunlight:

My bare lips for reference:

Wearing the product, indirect sunlight:

And again for good measure:

Verdict

I love this gloss and I've given the formula an HG tag. While this isn't the highest-performing shade in the range, I still love it and I'm happy to use it.

It's a standard gloss that comes in a plastic tube with a doe-foot applicator. It has a sweet, sugary scent that's not overpowering so it's a good, balanced kind of scent for a product like this.

The gloss feels very comfortable to wear and it's hydrating enough for my dry lips that I can rely on it for hydration throughout the day. For this reason it's been a good product to pair with other, less hydrating products because I can layer this underneath or over the top to keep my lips feeling comfortable.

The formula isn't sticky but it does have a tackiness to it that helps it stay on your lips. Sure, it's not a super long-lasting product (I wouldn't expect it to be), but it does stay put longer than other glosses so that's a plus.

What I like about this formula is that you can apply a very fine layer (eg, over a lipstick or liner) and just add a bit of shine, or you can add more and get a medium coverage and just wear the gloss by itself. Not all glosses are opaque enough to give good colour, but all the shades I've tried so far of these ones are. Tick.

Fortune Cookie is a pale peach nude and it's the kind of shade that makes your lips look fuller (you'll see that in the photos above). While it's slightly too pale for me to wear on its own, I like to wear something darker underneath it and then throw this over the top so my lips look smoother and larger.

My only issue with this particular shade is that it has a tendency to settle into lip lines (you'll see that in the photos above). While it does have a plumping effect so it smooths out my lines, if you look closely, you can see that it's pooled into texture. Sure it's not awful and probably nobody but me would notice, but that's something to be aware of.

Not only this, but I haven't been able to get an even coating from this and you'll also note the line of product between my lips in the photos above. Again, it's not awful and I can use my fingers to redistribute the product (you could of course also use a brush), but that's something to be aware of too.

Overall I love this formula and I recommend it: it's the nicest gloss formula I've found so far - whether budget or high-end. Indeed, there's a reason why I always buy a few of these whenever Priceline has a sale. You can't beat a great gloss that you can grab for a fiver on special, that's for sure.

Love.