NYX Round Lip Gloss in True Red Looks Familiar

Recently I got more and more interested in beautiful and bold lip colors and when NYX Round Lip Gloss came out, I decided to order myself a red lip gloss called "True Red" just to try. At Cherry Culture, each is priced at 2 dollars which is a very bargain price for the quality of the product itself. In my mind, I thought True Red would be the gloss version of Gardenia, my favorite NYX round lipstick. However, when it arrived, I was disappointed in the color: it's a dark raspberry color and it's not much of a gloss but a liquid lip color. The coverage is excellent, more than what I bargained for but the color to be called "True Red" made me want to say, "Really? Are you color blind?"

But anyways, as soon as I applied it on my lips, I realized this color is awefully familiar to something I just gawked about yesterday: MAC Emanuel Ungaro see thru lip colour in "Not so Shy!", for real y'all! If you don't believe me, just take a quick look at this picture:

(L-R): Not so Shy! and True Red
So close to tell the difference, right?

The truth is, they don't look anywhere alike when they are in the tubes: Not so Shy! as we know it, is a raspberry lip stain and True Red looks kind of brown-red and ugly in the tube.

(L-R): NYX round lip gloss in True Red and MAC Not So Shy! lip stain

The packaging of NYX lip gloss looks really luxurious and cute, don't you think? It reminds me a lot of the packaging of MAC Dazzleglass. The texture, however, is not sticky as MAC lip glass. It's emollient and comfortable to wear. The only thing that's quite a turn off is the smell: NYX round lip gloss smells a bit chemical and old-fashioned. However, the smell dissipates fast and is not obnoxious or anything.

However, when you take 'em out of their tubes, they look like sisters:

The applicators are the same doe foot sponge type and you can tell the colors are similar

To me, True Red is a bit darker than Not so Shy! It is a blue base color so my teeth looks a whole lot whiter. To achieve the stained look, I applied a sheer coat of True Red to my balmed up lips (I used Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm). Then I used my finger to spread the gloss out into a very thin and sheer layer. During the swatch, I discovered Not so Shy! does not adhere to balmed lips at all. Your lips have to be totally dried for the color to stay. True Red, however, is not that fussy and you can apply to your lips balmed or un-balmed.

True Red swatch, applied as a stain over lip balm

Not so Shy! swatch without the lip balm.
If I applied a clear gloss on top of it, the two pictures will be almost identical

For my beautiful ladies with a budget, True Red is a good alternative to MAC Not so Shy! It only costs you 2 dollars and looks best as a stain.

Have a lovely weekend ladies,
Your Makeup Blogger

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