NYX

For the money, NYX punches well above its price. The brand was built to deliver department store beauty at drugstore prices, and shoppers consistently say its lip products and long-wear eyeliners hold their own against pricier names. As with any affordable line not every shade or formula will be a personal hit, so it rewards a little reading of reviews before you commit.

NYX started life selling only to beauty professionals before going mass-market, and that pro-leaning DNA still shows in its pigments and finishes. Reviewers describe it as reliably solid for everyday wear across a wide range of skin tones. The trade-off tends to be packaging that can feel modest rather than the formula itself.

The Soft Matte Lip Cream is the natural gateway: it goes on creamy and sets to a comfortable, pigmented matte that feels less drying than many liquid lipsticks at this price. If lips aren't your priority, the brand's eye pencils are the products it was literally founded on, so they're a safe first pick too.

Against the long-wear liquid mattes, the Soft Matte Lip Cream trades some staying power for a softer, more moisturising feel. If you have drier lips and want something you can reapply without it caking, it's a lovely choice; if you want lock-it-and-forget-it wear through meals, a dedicated transfer-proof formula may suit you better.

NYX is a subsidiary of the French beauty giant L'Oréal, which acquired it in 2014 for $500 million. The brand continues under new management as part of L'Oréal's makeup portfolio, which is part of why its distribution and product range have grown so much since.

NYX was founded in Los Angeles in 1999 by Toni Ko, who was just 25 and started the company with a $250,000 loan from her parents. Her first launch was six eyeliners and twelve lip liners priced at $1.99 each, and they sold out in under thirty days.

The brand is named after Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night. It's a fitting nod for a line that leans into bold colour, eye looks and creative expression, and the founder chose it deliberately when she launched the company in 1999.

Yes. NYX is acknowledged by PETA as a cruelty-free brand and offers a wide range of vegan-friendly products. If avoiding animal testing matters to you, it's one of the easier affordable lines to shop with confidence.

NYX is sold in over 70 countries at thousands of retailers, from specialty beauty and fashion stores to its own freestanding shops and corporate website. It also runs standalone stores in markets including the USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada and Australia, and Ulta Beauty carries its mass-market range.

It rode the early wave of accessible, pro-quality colour cosmetics, with jumbo eye pencils that brought in $2 million of revenue in the first year alone. By leaning into makeup education through programmes like its Masterclass content library and festival tie-ins, it cemented a following among makeup enthusiasts who wanted to experiment without overspending.