I have a confession to make.  As a girl who attempts to be a beauty blogger and vlogger, I have to admit that I don’t really wear lip products.  I apply chapstick and lipbalm like a crazy person or a type of addict, but I don’t have many lip sticks or lip liners.  My gloss collection used to be well loved from me, but in the last few years I have neglected my lips.  On top of normally forgoing lipstick and gloss entirely, I only really wear nudes and the occasional medium toned pink.

I don’t know what changed in my mind, but I’ve been really wanting to try out a stronger lip.  I think its the upcoming holiday season, but I’ve wanted to experiment with a strong red vampy lip.  I didn’t know if I would like a red lip on me so I figured I would pick up some affordable lip liners.  I discovered the NYX lip liner display and decided to play the field and pick up a pretty wide range of colors, a nude, bright red and vampy plum color.

Keep reading for my thoughts and swatches on my lips!

From NYX:

Slim, trim but never prim, our lip pencils come in 60 dashing shades—from auburn to orange and traffic-stopping red. The buttery, long-wearing lip liner formula goes on easily and resists bleeding. Available in 60 shades.

From left to right: Currant, Hot Red and Nude Pink.

Nude Pink: this one glided on my lips very nicely! I really liked how this applied and it didn’t feel drying at all.  But this one is also really close to my lip color, so I can’t really tell if its streaky or patchy.  But that is the sole reason I bought it, because I thought it would be so close to my natural lip color that I could wear it on its own for a little splash of color.  This one was supposed to be my baby step into getting into wearing lip liner on a more consistent basis.  I wore it out last night and can say that it did stay throughout the night.

Hot Red: NYX describes this as a true red and that is exactly what it is, a very true red.  This one was also very creamy and buttery and applied like a dream.  There was no tugging at all on my lips and it didn’t make my lips look or feel dry.  The lasting power seemed even better than Nude Pink, because I wore it for almost a full day without any bleeding and minimal fading.

Currant: this one was much different than the other 2 I picked up.  The color was patchy and it didn’t go on as smoothly as the other 2.  Also, I took this picture the same day as the other 2 and the other 2 don’t show any dry skip or problem areas.  I know that this color is a plum berry color so it might be a little harder to deal with, but I was a little disappointed.  But to be perfectly honest, I didn’t buy this liner to wear on its own or even as a base for a dark plum lipstick.  I bought it to pair with the Hot Red for an ombre style lip, shown below.

Currant on the outer corners fading into Hot Red in the center

When I wear Currant with Hot Red, I love it.  I love the look it gives, it just adds depth to the average red lip.  On its own, I’m not impressed with Currant.

Overall, I really like these! Besides from Currant, the other 2 go on really smooth and stay on a long time.  I think Currant is a tough color to work with because it is so dark and its a slim pencil liner, and that could be why it went on so patchy.  Also, because it is so dark it might show the imperfections in my lips a little more.  I want to pick up more colors and have been looking on NYX.com at all the shades.  I know have a larger wish list!

Grade: A-

Price: $3.50 available on NYX.com and at Ulta or your local drugstore

What do you guys think? Do you like a strong red lip? Do you have any of these liners? What are your favorite lip products?