NYX Stella Lipstick Review, Photos, Swatches and Comparisons!

NYX Stella Round Lipstick

NYX Stella Lipstick ($4) is a soft, yet vibrant watermelon pink. Although not hugely noticeable, it contains some fine silver shimmer. On the lips, you can see small flecks of glitter here and there, but it's not a shimmery shade overall.

Because of my warm skintone, I'm very partial to watermelon (or sometimes I call them flamingo) pinks - basically meaning a pink with yellow (warm) undertones.

In my experience, NYX Round Lipsticks are creamy, pigmented and are very lightweight on the lips. They have almost a slippery texture due to the creamy, yet very lightweight texture. Stella is actually a bit different than the typical Round Lipstick I'm use to. Unless I happened to fall upon a dud, it's slightly drier in texture and has a semi-matte finish. The pigmentation is light with one swipe, but buildable to opaque when layered.

It has a very striking resemblance to MAC Viva Glam Nicki. Nicki is more pigmented with one layer, but when applied sheer, they look almost the same. When built, the differences are barely detectable - Nicki is slightly darker and pinker in tone and Stella is the slightest bit warmer. Illamasqua Fable Lipstick is somewhat similar, but lighter (more pastel) in tone. Comparisons at the end of this post.

NYX Round Lipsticks are a great buy as they are cheap, perform well and come in a huge variety of shades. How "huge" do you ask? Well, as of right now there are 144 shades in the line. Yes, you read that correctly. There is a shade for everyone, and if you ever dreamt of certain shade, you'll most likely find it in the NYX Round Lipstick range.

NYX Stella Lipstick on my lips.

You can see the shimmer better in this photo. 

Comparisons:

Swatches from left to right: NYX Stella Round Lipstick, MAC Viva Glam Nicki, NYX Hippie Chic Matte Lipstick, MAC Blossom Culture Sheen Supreme Lipstick and Illamasqua Fable Lipstick.

Overall, I love the color of this lipstick, but I'm almost positive I purchased a dud (bad batch). I own several Round Lipsticks and they all have the same feel, but this one was noticeably drier and doesn't have the shiny finish most of the NYX Round Lipsticks have. Temptalia also has this lipstick reviewed, and on her lips, it has a shiny finish. It's nearly matte on my lips. 

The Round-Up

Pros:

• A cheaper alternative to the popular MAC Viva Glam Nicki
• Pigmented
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• It looks dry on my lips, but nothing a little lip gloss can't fix.
• This particular shade seems to just sit on top of my lips like a film (never experienced this with other shades)

Repurchase: I won't be re-purchasing only because I own other similar shades and most likely won't wear it enough to finish the tube. I love the color, but don't love the formula. If it was creamier with a glossy finish, I could see myself using it more.

Price: $4, NYX, Ulta, Cherry Culture. Note that ULTA only carries a fraction of the shades.