NYX Epic Ink Lip Dye Review & Swatches
NYX Epic Ink Lip Dye ($6.99) is a new lightweight, pigmented lip stain that was introduced with the NYX Spring 2017 Collection in 12 shades. I used to love lip stains! They were seriously the only thing I used on my lips back in the day. Nowadays I’m more of a lipgloss girl but lip stains still hold a special spot in my heart.
Like many brands NYX seems to have been inspired a bit by Korean makeup and beauty trends as lip stains particularly ones that give you a gradient look are all the rage in Korea. I personally don’t like the look, it reminds me of a corpse. Sorry!? Eep! I do however, like long wearing lip stains so, that’s why I purchased this one. I was surprised at the poor reviews this one got as I ended up liking it a lot!
Here are my thoughts and review.
NYX Epic Ink Lip Dye (0.25 oz) comes housed in a round barrel with an attached doe foot applicator for application. NYX launched these in 12 very bold, pigmented shades and surprisingly I’m hearing a lot of ranting about this. Apparently people wanted something a little more natural. For some reason, I found this interesting as most people rant about sheerness of a product not the fact that it’s too pigmented. Another issue seems to be with the formula being too watery and difficult to apply. Neither of these issues were a problem for me. I actually had a good run with this product with a one minor quirk I’ll tell you about shortly.
This formula is indeed a very watery and thin texture. It’s pretty standard in the Korea world for lip stain to sport such a formula and apparently this caused application issues for many people. Personally, I didn’t experience an issue but maybe that’s because I’ve used so many different lip stains that application is second nature at this point. I thought it applied fine and i also builds easily as well. Apply a single layer, swipe a few times with the applicator, and follow up with another layer using the same technique and build as needed. I have drier lips but not finer lines on or around my lips so, I had no issues with migration or feathering. Color was very smooth on my dry lips and didn’t stick to the drier areas around my lips and believe me I have pretty dry lips. The color looked smooth and very even not to mention it wears like a champ. I can drink, eat, and talk without color fading or losing intensity through a good six hour period. Although, I will say the color feels a little drier at around hour four and pills a little at hour seven and starts to cling to the drier areas on my lips at this point. But the initial six hours color remains fairly smooth and transfer and budget proof (my swatch below is nearly a day after I applied to my arm and still going strong after two showers). I didn’t notice any flavor or fragrance in this formula.
If you’re used to using lip stains you should be very successful with NYX Epic Ink Lip Dye especially Asian formulas. However, if you’re not really a daily lip stain user you might struggle a little bit with the thin, watery texture of the formula but I don’t think there’s a major learning curve here, you should be able to learn the application and building technique very easily!
I liked NYX Epic Ink Lip Dye! It’s quite long wearing and has a very nice pop of color. And if the Korean gradient lip looks are your thing, you can def embrace the look with this formula.
NYX Epic Ink Lip Dye is available now at Ulta.com.
Tried it already?
Do share your thoughts!