Purchased & Reviewed: Nudestix Matte Lip & Cheek Pencil

I’m usually all oooh’s and aaaah’s when it comes to my reviews because let’s face it – my choices are almost always impeccable. [Not so humble brag].

It was a ominous day from the get-go. Let me set the scene – crows squaking, a bite in the air, a cool sinister departure from the otherwise sunny and cheerful week… Ok not really but I’m doing all I can to take the blame off myself and put it on the shitty weather that come to think of it, is completely inaccurate. 

I was looking to add to my collection of nudes. Not those nudes, ain’t nobody need to see those priceless artifacts. I’ve never used Nudestix even because I’ve been on a Marc Jacobs kick since the debut of his lipsticks but the trial in store looked so good I figured why the hell not?

Here’s a real life story as to why you shouldn’t always trust love at first sight. 

Packaging: The pen itself comes in a sleek-ish black tin with a lift top case. I was pretty impressed to find a sharpener with it as well, most pencils leave you to your own devices so I thought it was handy to include a personal sharpie. 

Product: I was fooled by the Mayfair halo Sephora’s mirrors created around me during the initial meet and greet. The texture seemed unlike a typical matte – it was smoother and applied without any pulling or tugging. The description on Sephora’s site claims it’s a non drying , smudge-proof, non feathering matte lipstick, liner & cheek blush in one. The shade I picked was Entice (a soft fleshy nude with light orange undertones). It seemed flattering and worked with the rest of my makeup so I gave it a little kiss and took it home with me. 

Wearability: This is where it all went wrong for me. I usually condition my lips before bed and once again when I wake up so I can’t blame the product on shoddy routine. I applied it without any other liner and/or lip combination and thinking it would do me right, left without any qualms. An hour later my lips felt dry and cakey and all I was contemplating rubbing it off completely and going at naturale or ripping my lips off in frustration. Au naturale won and in all honesty – I hardly ever go sans lipstick (I feel that my lips succumb to dryness without a shield from the elements), but dire circumstances led to dire decisions. Anyway the point is that it was insanely dry and cakey, although the descriptions boast otherwise and I was disappointed and hurt by something I thought was going to treat me right. 

Price: CDN $28 was attractive but not worth having to deal with a sub par product. Thankfully I was able to take advantage of Sephora’s empathetic refund/exchange policy and opted for a matte from the new Marc Jacobs Lip Cremés (which I’ve posted on in the past to rave reviews complete with dripping saliva).

Verdict: A resounding no from me. It was my first heartbreak with a lip product since Kat Von D’s Studded Kiss lipstick and it brought back some pretty unsavoury memories so..my short lived romance with Nudestix could be attributed to poor chemistry, bad application or a defective product but the end result was the same – we were doomed from the start.