NYX Cream Eye Shadows in Suede, Chocolate, Aqua and Pinky Beige

I believe NYX Cream Eye Shadows are a fairly new product, or at least new to me.  I was browsing the aisles at Ulta on Monday and came across a display of these cream shadows, and since they were 40% off, I decided to pick up a few.  Available in 20 shades, the display had about 10 different colors, and I chose Suede, Chocolate, Aqua and Pinky Beige.  Aqua is not a color that I usually wear or that I think looks particularly good on my face, but the color in the tube was so pretty I told myself I'd make it work, somehow, some way. 

From top to bottom:  Suede, Chocolate, Aqua, Pinky Beige

The four shadows that I picked up are nicely pigmented with an obvious but not overdone shimmer.  To create the look below, I applied Aqua using the doe foot applicator on my upper lash line.  In the tube and on the skin, Aqua has a greenish gold duotone shimmer, which is what attracted me to this color.  It applies darker than it looks in the tube and makes me think of mermaids.  It was fairly easy to line using the applicator, although a thin line might prove difficult.

Suede is a medium beige gold that makes a great neutral shadow for everyday wear.  I applied this above the Aqua up to the crease using the doe foot applicator and it smoothed out fairly well.  I used my finger to smooth out edges or clean up areas I didn't want shadow. 

Using a shadow brush I applied Chocolate, a medium bronzy brown, in my crease and on my lower lash line.  The main problem I experienced was the shadow drying before I blended well, visible by a too definite line of demarcation on one eye.  I was afraid to mess with it too much and make myself late for work, but blending is the challenge here.

Pinky Beige is another great neutral color that applies as a medium peach tone and will work well with Chocolate. Update:  I added a picture of Pinky Beige with Chocolate at the very bottom.   It applies lighter than it looks in the tube and is more peach than pink on me.  I really like it.

I had read a few reviews that indicated these shadows took a lot of patience to get them looking right, so I was expecting more trouble than I experienced.  They applied well with both the sponge applicator and a shadow brush, you just have to work quickly because once they dry, they are set.  I used an eye primer, which I do with all shadows since my lids are quite oily.  Nine hours in and I had no fading or creasing, although I read other reviews that indicated they creased easily. 

You will see "water resistant" prominently listed on the tubes.  Um, no.  They're not.  When I got in the shower I looked down at my arm swatches and these rinsed away immediately, no rubbing involved.  Do cosmetic companies not test their products or do they just make claims that sound good regardless of product performance?  It wouldn't be an issue to me if they hadn't claimed these were water resistant!

At $5 each, these are a nice budget cream shadow with a really great selection of colors!  Ulta currently has them for $2.99, but that sale ends Sunday, April 7th.  So hurry if these appeal to you!