Peach Bronze, Deep Bronze, Hawaiian Coffee

I was recently lucky enough to stumble upon a store that was going out of business and had a $1 sale on NYX products. The display was very picked over and most items were opened, but I managed to find five still-sealed eyeshadows that I was interested in! I bought three neutral eyeshadows: Peach Bronze ES58A, Deep Bronze ES09, and Hawaiian Coffee ES102.  I also got a lovely purple, Morocco ES122, and a red that I plan to use as blush, Africa ES 160.

Morocco, Africa The packaging of these eyeshadows is fine; it’s sturdy, and I appreciate the clear lid, as it makes it much easier to tell them apart! I’ve actually depotted them, as I don’t really use eyeshadow singles very often.   Overall, I think NYX eyeshadow is of reasonable quality – it’s not exceptional, but it’s decent. The quality varies quite a lot by color.  I wouldn’t buy most of these at full price, but I am happy to have spent $1 on them. Peach Bronze is the one eyeshadow that I would absolutely buy at full price.  The swatch doesn’t show how soft, buttery, and smooth it is – it is of the same exceptional quality as the best of my Urban Decay eyeshadows.    Deep Bronze is an average quality eyeshadow – it is pigmented and smooth, a little bit more sheer than I would like, and a lovely color, but it’s just not anything special.  Hawaiian Coffee, which has a satin finish, is similarly average.  It’s soft, but a little bit sheer, though buildable. When I swatched Morocco, I was immediately reminded of Half Truth, from the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette. They are extremely similar in color, but Morocco is a little bit patchy, while Half Truth is quite buttery and smooth.    And finally, Africa is surprisingly smooth for a matte – though it has a little bit of sheen. I wore this as a blush yesterday, and it worked beautifully; it blended easily and lasted until I took it off.   It’s much less intensely pigmented when swatched than in the pan – so it wouldn’t be good for a deep red eye look – but that works very well for my purposes when using it as blush! One last note – as I mentioned, Peach Bronze has by FAR the best, softest, silkiest texture –  and the bottom of the eyeshadow looks different than the others. So, I looked a little more closely, and while the other four are 2.4g and made in China, Peach Bronze is 2.7g and made in South Korea. I don’t know if all of the eyeshadows made in South Korea are better quality than those made in China (and Google didn’t turn up any information), or if NYX changed manufacturing locations at some point, but I thought it was worth noting! What do you think of NYX eyeshadows?