As I get older, I notice I gravitate towards a set makeup routine more and more. I tend to wear the same products every day and keep my look quite minimal. The only thing I change daily is my lip product, and this also seems to be the only product I still buy new versions of just for fun. I used to be a total eye shadow girl, but now I get super excited about a new lip product launch. Especially if it’s a novelty product! Needless to say, when NYX offered to let me try out their new Powder Puff Lippies at an event a while back, I jumped on the opportunity. I took home four colours, so let’s take a look at them!
From left to right, these are the colours Cool Intentions, Squad Goals, Moody and Group Love. There are four more shades in the collection.
The lip product, which is described as a powder lip cream on the packaging, comes in a squeezy tube in the colour of the product. The most remarkable thing is about the packaging is, however…
The powder puff applicator. I’ve never seen anything like this on a lip product before! You squeeze the tube, and the product comes out of the powder puff. My first thought upon unscrewing the cap: “whoa, cool!” My second thought: “how do I get precise application with this?” We’ll get back to that later, let’s take a look at how these preform first.
PPL 01 Cool Intentions
The first thing I notice upon applying this product is the very unusual texture it has. It feels powdery and creamy at the same time, a really strange sensation that I’ve never felt before. It is quite pleasant, I have to say!
The round, large powder puff makes it pretty hard to get into the corners of the lips and create precise edges. I like to slightly overdraw my lips on the top to make them more symmetrical and that is really hard to do with this type of applicator. Precise edges in general are a bit of a problem- the applicator gives much more of a soft, blurred edge than a sharp one. That’s completely fine though- it’s “a look” and definitely suitable for some occasions. I actually often quite like a more natural lip look for casual wear.
Cool Intentions is very well suited for such a soft application. It’s a nice, neutral colour that looks natural on. When I apply this, I do feel like it’s kind of hard to get even coverage all over, especially on the center of my bottom lip. I notice this in real life, but you can also see it on the full face photo here. Another layer of product there doesn’t solve this.
The product dries up semi-matte, but retains its creamy texture.
PPL04 Squad Goals
Squad Goals is a much brighter, girly pink, but still within the range of what I’d call natural. There’s also a super vibrant almost neon pink in this range, so this is definitely the “safer” option. I really like this one! It’s another colour that works very well with the soft, diffused application and it’s quite flattering. I can see myself wearing this a lot when summer comes around. I do notice the same lack of coverage around the center of my bottom lip as I did with Cool Intentions, though, even if it is less noticable in this one.
PPL07 Moody
Moody is a bit of a darker berry shade, and I really love this colour. It’s that certain type of soft dark colour that works well on brunettes in my opinion, I think this is very flattering again!
PPL03 Puppy Love
Now this is where it gets a bit tricky for me. Red lipstick is one of those things that just require super precise application, or it doesn’t look quite right in my opinion. I’m not sure I like such soft edges on a red lipstick. Pairing this with a lip liner and concealer to clean up the edges is an option, but to me that’s too much work for such a ready-to-use product. I do feel like this look could work better in summer, when the entire makeup look and outfit is a bit softer. I’m definitely willing to give this another go around that time of year. If you squeeze a bit more product onto the applicator, creating a sharp-ish edge does get a little bit easier.
All in all I have to say I like this product, but I’m glad I mostly got relatively natural shades. I don’t really see this concept working with brighter shades: it’s too pigmented to be able to pull off that diffused, soft look. The neutral shades are really nice though. They wear very comfortably, don’t dry out the lips at all, and last reasonably well. They won’t survive a meal but can last through a few drinks and about two hours. When they start to fade, they do leave a stain which I always like. That way you don’t get those funny looking lined lips after the lipstick fades in the center. The lip cream has a sweet, fruity scent that’s quite strong but disappears quickly after application. The soft, cushiony applicator really is lots of fun, but it may take a bit of practice to get a good application, especially if you have thinner lips.
