Maychiri's Thoughts: Dark Gray

NYX Love Lust Disco Suède Matte Lip Kit [LLDSDKIT06 - Alien] Review

June 29, 2025

Ooh, something fancy this time! This is the NYX Love Lust Disco Suède Matte Lip Kit, shade LLDSDKIT06/Alien!

I found this lip kit in a NYX store, back when they still had physical stores in Croatia. Since they were in the process of closing all stores, there were some absolutely insane discounts! Like this lip kit, for example! It was marked down 70%! I didn’t want it at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I started to want it. Like, it’s a black lip kit, how much cooler can it get?! I couldn’t resist buying it, I didn’t even bother looking at the other options; I wanted to have black lips and black lips I shall have! So, here it is! Let’s see if it’s good!

Firstly, the packaging, since it’s really beautiful! This kit comes packaged in a gold plastic bag that has a clear window on the front to allow you to see the products inside. The text is black, which is a fantastic choice with the gold metallic foil that the packaging is made of! It makes the whole thing look so classy! The lipstick and lip liner are kept safe inside their own plastic container inside. I love the design of the packaging, it makes it look like you bought something really expensive and luxurious!

This lip kit contains one Suède Matte Lip Liner and Suède Matte Lipstick, both in the same colour, which is Alien, a classic black.

“Outfit your lips in rich, velvety color with this sexy little twosome. Includes one Suede Matte Lipstick and one made-to-match Suede Mayte Lip Liner to make your Pout pop.”

Now, let’s check out the lip liner, first! By the way, all the photos of me wearing the lip liner are with just this lip liner, without the matching lipstick!

Packaging: just a simple wooden pencil that is black, just like all the other Suède Matte lip pencils. This one, too, has a coloured part that matches the colour of the pencil lead quite well.

Only, you cannot actually distinguish that part from the rest of the pencil here; it would be difficult to differentiate black from black, no? Because of its design and colour, you might mistake this lip pencil for an eye pencil (hmm, I wonder if that would work...)! The white text is stunning against the all-black pencil, it makes the pencil look so modern and sleek. The cap closes very tightly... sometimes even too tightly!

Ingredients: vitamin E for nourishment. No parabens. The scent is pleasant, smelling like a wooden coloured pencil, although a bit more waxy. The expiration date is 24 months after opening.

Colour: black! Well, as close to black as you can get with a lip product, anyways! In reality it is actually a very, very dark gray, slightly lighter than the matching lipstick. It’s so incredibly cool! Like, it’s so gothic and awesome, especially on pale skin! People always stare at me when I am wearing this liner, it definitely steals the spotlight every time!

Pigmentation: incredibly intense and vibrant. With one layer it is already basically black, and further layers only make it richer. The slightest touch is enough to get good pigmentation, although, the lighter the pressure, the more it will look like soot. Which I think is actually cool! Like, when I smudge out the edges of my lips it looks all sooty and intense! This is a classic wooden lip liner, so expect it to be super precise when properly sharpened.

The formula is waxy and quite dry, but at the sane time creamy and easy to apply! It’s perplexing! It’s incredibly easy to line the lips precisely the way you want to, without any smudging or feathering, since the pencil deposits a rich layer from the start. Just a sharp black line. If you want to fill in your lips that’s where things become a bit tricky! Since this is a waxy formula, it tends to tug on the lips and pull them.

I suggest using smaller strokes to fill in the lips, that way you will minimise how much it is tugging on them. It is a bit annoying, I must admit. Pro tip: instead of filling in the lips using just the tip, turn the pencil sideways and fill the lips with the entire surface of the pencil. It’s so much easier this way!

The texture of this lip liner is ultra matte, and it really does look like suede! Although it looks dry, it does not feel very dry. Don’t get me wrong, it still feels drier than most lip liners, but it’s more of a powdery dryness that isn’t uncomfortable. And despite looking so ultra matte and dry, it does not actually dry out my lips, fantastic! However, if you aren’t used to these types of ultra matte textures, you will need some time to get used to them. Me, I adore them! I love how soft and velvety and matte my lips are with this liner!

Although, this super matte texture can exaggerate the fine lines on the lips, so I’d suggest exfoliating your lips prior to using this liner.

While this is a long-lasting lip liner, it’s not at all that impressive. It starts to crack and fade slightly on its own after a few hours. However, the edges usually stay in excellent shape, with no smudging or feathering. It’s the main part of the lips that suffers. This lip liner doesn’t do well with eating or drinking; it will start cracking a lot and fading while eating. After a meal it looks so much worse, all cracked and uneven and somewhat faded. Not at all good.

Shame, other Suède Matte lip liners are more food-resistant. Shame that the black one got shafted like this.

Removal: as easy as can be, no matter what you use! Micellar water, specialised cleanser, whatever it is, it will remove this liner in an instant! And despite being black and sooty, it doesn’t leave any stains! Great!

This pencil is super easy to sharpen. Rarely does it break, and even if it does, it doesn’t damage the lead further down. Just a few turns in the sharpener and it’s perfectly sharp and good to go!

All in all, such a shame that this liner has bad longevity! The colour is awesome, although not truly jet black like the lipstick. It’s more of a very dark gray; still, super cool! The pencil is pretty easy to use and it’s incredibly simple to line the lips precisely and have a sharp line. It’s just like drawing with a coloured wooden pencil! Easy as that! The pigmentation is quite rich, although it can be a bit uneven in places. That, I feel, adds to the suede effect; it really looks like real suede! And that’s thanks to the ultra matte texture that, while it does exaggerate the fine lines of the lips if they aren’t exfoliated, in the end manages to look soft and velvety and luxurious! The longevity is only alright, sadly. This pencil starts to crack after only a few hours, and that’s about how long it takes for it to start to fade, too. Thankfully, the fading is less prominent. So it will stay intensely pigmented for hours, but it will have definitely started cracking by then. And it would prefer if you didn’t eat or drink while wearing the pencil! Food, any kind, not just greasy food, makes it fade significantly and worsens the cracking. So you’ll definitely have to reapply it after eating. Out of all the Suède Matte lip liners I have, this one has arguably the worst durability. Such a shame, as the damage is most visible on this dark, almost black colour. As you can see, with everything there is a caveat; it’s good but..., I like it but...; nothing is truly excellent here, but (here it is again, haha!) the whole package ends up being actually really good. However, it is definitely meant to be used with the lipstick, not on its own. I doubt that I will recommend it, as it only really works with the lipstick.

Rating: 7.5/10

Now, the lipstick! This is the Suède Matte Lipstick, shade SDMLS36/Alien. Again,. all the photos feature me wearing just this lipstick, without the matching lip liner.

Packaging: it’s pretty simple, just a black tube with white text. The cap matches the tube and closes extremely tightly. I really like the little heart detail, it’s so cute! And it keeps the cap closed tightly. It also functions as a colour indicator, as it’s exactly the same colour as the lipstick.

Ingredients: glycerine, vitamin E for nourishment. No parabens. The scent is relatively intense; it’s also extremely sweet and perfumey. I like the scent. The expiration date is 18 months after opening.

This lipstick has a wicked cool colour! It’s basically jet black, or, as close to jet black as possible. It looks especially intense on pale skin, and super dramatic and even goth. I instantly fell in love with this colour, especially because it’s such an alt colour, rarely seen, so people tend to stare at it! It’s a real head turner!

The pigmentation of this lipstick is extreme! Even the softest touch gives you intensely black pigmentation. The formula is wonderfully soft and velvety. It is thick but so creamy and luxuriously soft, I love it! I would suggest exfoliating your lips prior to applying this lipstick, as it is so thick and creamy that it clings to any uneven parts. But, since it’s not too dry, it doesn’t exaggerate fine lines or uneven parts in the lips. After it sets it becomes powdery but not too dry.

It also tends to start collecting in the inner middle of the lips, where it may crack a little. It is extremely comfortable to wear and not one bit dry, even though it becomes powdery. It’s not at all drying for my lips. The texture is soft matte; there is still a bit of shine, so it’s not ultra-matte.

This lipstick is extremely long-lasting! It stays in perfect condition for hours and hours, not smudging or fading one bit! It handles food with ease, there are hardly any smudged or faded areas after eating. Only if I am having a really greasy or oily meal, otherwise it remains in superb condition!

And despite being so long-lasting and so intensely black, it is super easy to remove! Be it with micellar water or with a specialised remover. And it does not leave any stains!

Overall, this is a really wonderful lipstick by NYX! I really love the colour, the intensity of pigmentation, the longevity and how easy it is to remove. I also really like how light it feels on lips after it sets; at first it is rich and creamy and somewhat heavy but it soon becomes powdery and air-light. Which also makes it super comfortable to wear! And it is incredibly food resistant, only very greasy/oily food will destroy it, anything else will barely make a dent in it! So, as you can see, this lipstick is so good that it has almost no flaws! Just like the other Suède Matte lipsticks, this one, too, is phenomenal! So, if you are looking for a stunning dramatic black lipstick, look no further than this one! Absolutely recommend it!

Rating: 8.5/10

So, yeah, this is such an epic lip set! An all-black set for when you are feeling particularly edgy or dark or dramatic! Incredibly cool and just plain awesome, and it looks even more dramatic on my pale skin! The lip liner and the lipstick a both very good, with the lipstick being slightly better. The lip liner isn’t quite black, sadly, although it is very dark gray, which is acceptable, I guess. It’s so a bit difficult to apply as it likes to tug on the lips, even more so when they haven’t been perfectly exfoliated. The lipstick, on the other hand, glides super easily across lips and it really feels luxurious and creamy! The lipstick is much darker than the pencil, it’s almost totally black. The pencil does look somewhat patchy and uneven even when you try your best to make it even. I actually don’t mind it that much as I think it makes the liner look like real suede! Of course, it would be better if it was even, but my point is that it doesn’t look too bad like this. You can definitely wear it alone. However, it does function best when worn under the lipstick, and vice versa. The lipstick’s longevity will be prolonged by having the pencil under it, and you’ll get a sharper line on the edges of the lips. The lip liner doesn’t last very long, unfortunately; however, having the lipstick on top, which is super long-lasting, will fix things. Both don’t tolerate food too well, fading after eating (the lipstick only dislikes greasy/oily food). Don’t worry, they are super easy to remove.

So, having said all of that, what do I think about this set? I freaking love it! The lipstick saves it, though! The lip liner is good, but not nearly as good as the mega cool black lipstick is. Now, when I want to feel dark and edgy I have the perfect set that will make everyone turn around and look at my jet back lips! I love it so much that I will gladly recommend it, even without any discount!

Also, one thing to note: despite this set being purchased years ago, both the lip liner and lipstick are still available for purchase on NYX's website at the time of this writing, though not as a set. So, if you want this set now, you can get it there!

Rating (overall): 8/10

Would buy again? YES

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Cute

I Heart Revolution Donuts Eyeshadow Palette [Sugar Coated] Review

March 14, 2024

Here’s something interesting!

This is the I ❤ Revolution Donuts Eyeshadow Palette, shade Sugar Coated!

So, the story of how I got this palette is quite interesting! I had ordered something else and didn’t get one of the items so I messaged Revolution and decided to have it replaced with this palette. I love cute stuff, and doughnuts are awesome, so to have an eyeshadow palette that looks like a cute little doughnut was too good to pass up. But it's not enough to just be cute - is it actually good?

First, the packaging. It looks like a doughnut (one of those doughnuts that don’t have a hole in the centre); the bottom half is white plastic that closes quite securely while the upper half is rubbery, spongey, and can be pressed, which feels so fun! The doughnut is indeed sprinkled with sugar (and some glitter, apparently). It’s really super cute! And there’s a mirror inside, too!

Ingredients: vitamin E for nourishment. Sadly, there are parabens here, specifically methylparaben and propylparaben, in all 5 shades. The scent was subtle, and kind of like cocoa or chocolate, but it has quickly become that typical waxy, powdery scent that reminds me of when products expire. It’s really not good, honestly. The expiration date is 12 months after opening.

The pigmentation is ridiculously intense! Every single shade is super pigmented. I would say that the darkest shade (2), is perhaps the most pigmented. And every shade looks true to its colour in the pan. They look gorgeous when you use all 5 at once to make a dramatic smoky eye! Excellent colour story by Revolution here!

The textures are shimmery and matte; the only matte shade is the darkest gray one (2), while the silver (1), dark gray (4), eggshell (5), and rose (3) shades are quite shimmery. But the shimmer is super finely milled so it looks beautiful on lids. The application is extremely easy, and all the shades blend like a charm! Since it’s so finely milled I couldn’t even feel it on my lids, but there was also some fall-out while applying it. Shame!

It’s really, really long-lasting, but there was just a smidge of creasing present at the end of the day, after about 6 hours of wearing it. It’s really not too bad though!

Removing these eyeshadows was a breeze; I’d say that it was pretty much equally easy to remove with micellar water as with an oil-based remover. And there were no stains, in spite of how extremely pigmented these shadows are.

Wearing all 5 shades

To sum up, this palette is as cute as it is good; an adorable squishy doughnut that hides 5 great eyeshadows that are extremely pigmented and last for a very long time and are super easy to apply and remove. The only things I don’t like is that there are parabens and that it loses its nice scent too quickly, way before the end of the expiration date. And I guess the fact that it really only looks this good when you use all 5 shades at once. It gives you a dramatic smoky eye with all 5 shades. The darkest gray shade might be awesome for a gothic, dark type of look if used all of its own. I was honestly quite surprised by this palette; I really didn’t expect it to look just so amazing, so it gets my recommendation for sure!

Rating: 7/10

Would buy again? YES

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Dark Gray

Trend it Up Easy & Speedy Nail Polish [400] Review

February 10, 2024

One nail polish was free, one was not. This one did not come free with a coupon. This is the Trend it Up Easy & Speedy Nail Polish, shade 400.

I quite fancied the first few Easy & Speedy nail polishes that my mum bought me, so I thought I could go and see if there are any other colours I might like. Indeed, there were a couple that seemed very nice. Now, I didn’t really need new nail polishes, but DM had a promo where you’d get a ton of extra points on their loyalty card if you bought products from certain brands, and that included Trend it Up! Besides, I was already going to pick up a free Trend it Up nail polish anyways, and I had a couple of Depend O2 nail polishes on my mind, so what’s one more nail polish? This is one colour that I don’t yet have in my collection, and it looks sick! So in my cart it goes! Now, let’s see how good it is!

Packaging: my, what a cute tiny bottle! It’s a tiny cube! There’s not much in the way of details, just the standard logos. The text is white, so that it is clearly visible. I like that Trend it Up keeps adapting the colour of the text based on the colour of the polish: when it’s a light colour the text is black and vice versa. Much better than when you have white nail polishes with white text... anyways, the cap. It’s black and much taller than the bottle. It closes super securely (I had to use most of my strength just to open it the first time). Simple packaging, but it’s cute!

Ingredients: vitamin E for nourishment. Zinc sulfate to help make your nails strong. Also, interestingly enough, Lithothamnion calcareum extract and diatomaceous earth! That is just so curious! 3-free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). The scent is quite like any other nail polish, although it does smell sweeter... hmm. The expiration date is 24 months after opening.

Like with the other Easy & Speedy polishes, this one, too, has a small dopey brush. It’s flat, wide and small, so it looks squat and just amusing. Not my favourite shape/size of brush; I prefer larger flat brushes. This brush is okay, I guess, but definitely worse than what the other Easy & Speedy polishes have. It seems to be easily frayed? Like, at one point a large cluster of hairs just decided to separate, I managed to put them back, but this shouldn’t happen. Also, this is one of those extremely rare times when I don’t actually need to tap off excess polish from the brush – and this isn’t exactly a compliment! I tapped it off automatically and noticed that there is a strangely small amount of polish on the brush. Like, it quickly became goopy and streaky and a mess.

So I started applying it without any tapping off, and that seems to be exactly what was needed. It’s strange, like, the formula is not much different compared to the others in this range, so it must be the brush that is noticeably worse. At least it spreads nail polish evenly... but even this has a caveat: it seems to cause air bubbles to form. I really don’t think it was my nails, they were smooth and shiny, so they were definitely properly buffed. And no other Easy & Speedy had issues with air bubbles... no, yeah it must be the brush. It wasn’t even that easy to use, it kept running out of polish and made the application needlessly tricky. Darn...

Hmm, well this is one interesting colour! It’s gray, but it’s not pure gray. It’s got just a smidge of brown pigments inside that give it a nice warmness. Yeah, it’s like taupe. It looks a tiny bit more brown on pictures online compared to how it actually looks on my skin, but I don’t mind it. It’s still a very cool colour! Bit unusual, isn’t it? But I like how grungy this colour is, especially on pale skin. It’s a good colour for winter or when you’re feeling punky. Quite a moody taupe. I really like it!

The formula doesn’t seem quite as thick as with the other Easy & Speedy Nail polishes. It still feels odd, though. Like, it definitely feels gelly, but it is also incredibly smooth and almost... creamy, I want to say. It is super easy to use though, as it always spreads perfectly evenly across the nails. I did notice some air bubbles, although I am pretty sure that is due to the brush.

With one coat it is almost opaque. Depending on how thick that first coat is, it can even be fully opaque. But, as it is better to apply thinner coats, it usually looks about 75% opaque. You can just barely see the nail underneath. With two coats it is totally opaque. The colour looks right now and it’s rich and deeply pigmented. It also doesn’t look thick at all with two coats, although I definitely wouldn’t apply more than two as the nail polish already started to feel slightly goopy with two. It would be a nightmarish goopy mess with three coats, I think. The texture is quite glossy; it looks less gelly glossy compared to the rosy brown Easy & Speedy Nail Polish.

Longevity seemed to be excellent, like all the other Easy & Speedy nail polishes, but it then took a turn for the worse. About 2 days in, I started to notice some light chipping; I thought that was due to me working with wood trying to sort my bed base situation, but it didn’t stay like this over the next two days, and I did not do any physical labour. It slowly chipped more and more on the free edge of the nails, which wasn’t too bad at first, especially with how careless I had been with my nails while hammering nails and trying to fit the damn base into my bedframe, but then it started chipping off in large chunks. Like, I am talking, huge pieces that fell off my nails! And that’s before a hair wash!

After a hair wash there was more damage, which made the nail polish look really bad and ugly with how destroyed it was. Two of my nails literally didn’t have any nail polish on half of the nail! No idea why this one has such awful durability, when the others survive almost anything... it’s a real shame, as I quite like the colour. But, if nothing else, at least it doesn’t get scratched up (it does have those pesky air bubbles tho).

It’s super easy to remove. It comes off without a lot of rubbing, which is good for sensitive nails. Also, it doesn’t stain nails despite being a darker colour.

All in all, oh no, this one is not like the other Easy & Speedy nail polishes... it’s much worse. The brush is the same old mini wide brush that isn’t too difficult to use; it applies polish evenly and richly, but it’s just too small for me. The formula is again weirdly thick but creamy and not at all heavy. So that stayed the same. The colour is gorgeous, actually! I didn’t know how much I would end up liking it until I saw it on my nails for the first time! It’s a taupe gray with some brownish pigments inside that make it very slightly warm toned; it’s a very grungy, cool colour. Perfect for winter! Or for when you are feeling moody! Not my usual choice of colour but it is really awesome! It is also neutral enough that you could use it for formal occasions, although it really looks best with casual outfits. I’m sure it would look great on many skintones, but on pale skin it really pops! Now, this was the best thing about this polish. Time for the negative, and it’s pretty bad. See, for some reason, I get air bubbles when I am done painting my nails with this nail polish. No idea why because I did everything the same as usual and the other Easy & Speedy polishes don’t suffer from this. Even though the bubbles are tiny, they are very annoying. But that’s minor compared to the other issue, which is how easily this nail polish is to chip! The other Easy & Speedy nail polishes survived almost anything I threw at them, but this one starts to chip soon after applying it. And it’s not tiny chips, either. After it chips on the free edge of the nails it then starts chipping off in larger chunks, like literally a-quarter-of-the-nail size. This means that, by the end of the 5 days that I have been wearing it for, it ended up looking extremely messy and badly chipped. A few of my nails only had half of the polish remaining on them! Such a shame... wicked colour but marred with numerous issues. Sigh. I guess I was bound to find a dud sooner or later, huh? Shame it was this colour though. So, if you are looking to buy an Easy & Speedy Nail Polish, I’m afraid this one won’t be a good choice. It’s just too problematic. No recommendations.

Rating: 5.5/10

Would buy again? Hmm, NO (sadly)

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Older Posts Home

NYX Love Lust Disco Suède Matte Lip Kit [LLDSDKIT06 - Alien] Review

I Heart Revolution Donuts Eyeshadow Palette [Sugar Coated] Review

Trend it Up Easy & Speedy Nail Polish [400] Review

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