NYX Strobe of Genius Illuminating Palette

I live by the mantra - 'Glow Big or Go Home', so when I received this palette by NYX a couple of weeks ago, it was literally the highlight of my day (geddit geddit hahaha)! The first thing that came to my mind was - this is huge. There is no way anyone can finish using this.

Description
There are a total of 7 different highlighting shades to give you the ideal illumination, and is designed to achieve the 'strobing' highlight look.

Price

It retails at 19USD on the NYX website, and will soon be available in Singapore at Sephora!

Swatches

Texture

The texture is a little drier than I imagined, and not as 'velvety-smooth' as described on their website. 

Finishing

Most of the highlighters are quite pigmented, but not to the extend where you have to be really careful with it.

I LOVE using no.5 on my cheekbones, as I find that warm peachy/champagne highlighters are the best for my skin tone. On days where I really want my cheekbones and nose bridge to pop, I will add a dose of no.3 or no.2 (the lighter colours) on the highest points of my face. 

No. 4 and no. 6 are too dark to be used as highlighters for me, but I find that mixing the two gives a really nice rose gold colour that's perfect to use as an eyeshadow!

My least favourite is no.1. The shimmers and pearls in this yellow-gold highlighter are too chunky, and the formula is not as pigmented as the rest of the colours.

Longevity

My skin isn't very oily, so highlighters pretty much last the entire day for me! If I know I will be out till late, I will usually spray on either the Urban Decay All Nighter, or the NYX matte finish setting spray. Both of them are pretty good at keeping my makeup on point, and just kinda eliminate any powdery look, and blend everything together.

While I was swatching all these colours, I couldn't help but notice that the particular shade at the bottom left corner (no.5) looks really similar to TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer, so I did a comparison swatch below!

Left: TheBlam | Right: NYX

The texture of the two highlighters are quite different. TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer feels a lot softer than the NYX's one, and is more pigmented. You can see that NYX's highlighter is just slightly peachier than TheBalm.

Left: NYX | Right: TheBalm

Left: NYX | Right: TheBalm

On my face, however, both of them are identical!  Pretty stoked that the NYX's palette has one that is such a close dupe for Mary-Lou Manizer!

Overall thoughts

There are quite a lot of product in this palette, and for the price and quality, I would say it's definitely worth keeping a lookout for! It's a cool palette for serious highlighter freaks like myself, as you can experiment different combinations to find your perfect highlight shade. The possibilities are endless.

It's not as buttery-soft as other higher-end highlighters, but again, the pigmentation and the soft-focus effect it gives makes up (pun not intended) for it.

DUPE ALERT - Rose Matter (Jeffree Star) vs Vintage (Silkygirl)

Of course, the only thing that can propel me to make a 'comeback' on this dead space is my addiction to lip products. I'm a lip junkie, that's for sure.

I've always been someone who appreciates hydrating, creamy lip products. However,  I've decided to jump on the liquid lipstick bandwagon a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't looked back since.

Silkygirl is definitely not a brand I gravitate towards, but I passed by Guardian one day and they had a pretty prominent spot with their new Matte Junkie line. After a few swatches, I walked away with their Matte Junkie Lip Cream in 04 Vintage. Then, Jeffree Star basically sold me the Velour Liquid Lipstick in Rose Matter (and Gemini) with this video. 

I've already started using Vintage before Rose Matter arrived, so when I saw Rose Matter in person, I had a feeling that it's going to be very similar to Vintage. 

Silkygirl Matte Junkie Lip Cream in 04 Vintage | Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick in Rose Matter

Description
Vintage is touted to be kiss-proof and transfer resistant, applies like a liquid lipstick that dries to a matte finish. Rose Matter is described to be a soft coral colour that goes on opaque, dries down to a matte finish and stays on for hours.

In the tube, it seems like Vintage had a brown undertone, something like a soft rosey brown colour, whereas Rose Matter looks more pinkish. I wouldn't describe Rose Matter as a soft coral. To me, it seems more like a medium rose colour.

Price
Vintage retails at S$11.90 at Guardian/Watsons. I got mine at $8.90 during a promotion.
Rose Matter retails at 18USD on jeffreestarcosmetics.com. I bought mine on Shopee (love it! so many discount codes!) at S$30.

Swatches

Left: Silkygirl Matte Junkie Lip Cream in 04 Vintage | Right: Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick in Rose Matter

Left: Silkygirl Matte Junkie Lip Cream in 04 Vintage | Right: Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick in Rose Matter

As you can tell, the two colours are SOO similar! The difference is more obvious on my upper lip. Vintage looks just a tiny bit more brown then Rose Matter, but honestly you can see it now because this is a zoomed-in shot. It's really hard to tell in person, trust me.

Texture
Vintage has a slightly thicker texture, compared to Rose Matter which feels lighter and more watery. Both of them spreads really easily, and are highly pigmented.

Finishing
Vintage dries matte in a matter of seconds, and when it dries, you can feel the moisture vacuumed off your lips. BUT they don't feel powdery, if you get what I mean...some really drying matte lipsticks can do that.  Rose Matter is interesting. I didn't think it dried down completely matte like Vintage, because when i purse my lips together, I can feel sort of a balmy, satin-like finish, but then I took a look at the mirror and it looked pretty matte.

I have pretty wrinkly lips, and any matte lipsticks will enhance them. What I do is I swipe on a lip balm after the liquid lipsticks dry down, to seal it off.  I don't apply the balm before, because I want the lipstick to really stick onto my lips. Currently using Korres Mandarin Lip Butter Stick (colourless). It's not glossy, so I can still have at least a demi-matte look, and it's quite hydrating. Just one swipe across the lips will do!

Scent
Vintage is pretty much fragrance-free, there is just a very very faint plastic smell that won't bother anyone. Whereas Rose Matter is scented with a root beer flavour. To be honest, not a fan of the root beer smell, would rather it be fragrance-free!

Longevity
Liquid lipsticks will come off in contact with oil, so if you're having something oily, don't expect it to stay put! Otherwise, I would say these two last around the 4-5 hour mark, although I think Rose Matter lasts slightly longer. Both leave a nice stain behind, and will definitely require some oil-remover to completely remove them.

Overall thoughts

  

If I'm choosing solely based on the formula, I would say I prefer Rose Matter more than Vintage, just because it feels lighter and is not as drying. But for its price (which is a fraction of Jeffree Star's liquid lipstick), Vintage is pretty spot on.

Do you need both? NO. Vintage is a very affordable and comparable dupe for Rose Matter. They look so similar is real life that people couldn't even tell I was wearing two different lip colours on my lips. If you've been eyeing Rose Matter,  but just can't get your hands on it (it's sold out AGAIN on their site), go try out Vintage first!