LA-based company NYX Cosmetics brings its virtual vanity to life this fall by launching its very first stores across North America. Paying homage to its cyber come-up, the beauty line has incorporated the talented makeup gurus of social media outlets such as YouTube and Instagram into almost every aspect of its brand.
During the unveiling of the Mississauga, Ont. location at Square One Shopping Centre late last month, Canadians got their first look at what NYX is all about.
Plastered up around the store are pictures of the dolled-up faces of various beauty bloggers and vloggers, such as Vancouver makeup artist Samantha Ravndahl and Instagram beauty queen Shayla Mitchell.
Rather than the unattainable faces of models and celebrities NYX uses images of online makeup experts giving eyebrow shaping demos around the beauty bar or pouting a pink lippy on the plasma screens along the walls.
Even some of the staff got their start online, like beauty expert Vince Racanelli, who landed a spot in NYX’s top 30 during last year’s Fine Artistry of Cosmetics Elites (FACE) Awards, a makeup competition where contestants compete for the title of “Beauty Vlogger of the Year on YouTube”.
“It’s really what boosted my career. I used to work at Shoppers Drug Mart and when NYX started saying they were going to open a store they reached out to me,” Racanelli explains, adding NYX Cosmetics stands out to him amongst other makeup lines.
“Everything is just very ‘with the people’. It’s a brand that speaks to people, listens mostly and really reaches out through social media to demo products or get the word out on new product and basically everything grew out of social media and it became a family.”
A few members of that family rolled through the Square One NYX launch including YouTube beauty vloggers Raschelle Smith a.k.a. @MsRoshPosh and Sonjdra Deluxe.
Deluxe, who looked radiant as always, only just started taking her makeup channel seriously last year after quitting her job to do beauty full-time. The guru’s channel holds a slew of tutorials providing tips on everything from celebrity looks to the popular technique of highlighting and contouring.
After discovering NYX Cosmetics through social media Deluxe found the products to be perfectly suited to her lifestyle and beauty needs.
“I found that I could find highlighters, blushes, eye shadows, lip colours for myself and that’s what made me fall in love with the brand as well as the price.”
“I like that it’s affordable,” Deluxe shares.
“There’s a large range of colours that suit every skin tone and I appreciate that because I’m kind of an odd skin tone, I like to look more tan. I found that I could find highlighters, blushes, eye shadows, lip colours for myself and that’s what made me fall in love with the brand as well as the price.”
Deluxe’s love also extends to the brand’s newest arrivals like the Liquid Suede Cream lipsticks and Rocker Chic palettes.
The new cream lipsticks glide on smooth, then dry into a matte finish and come in 12 vibrant colours for $10 each in-store and online which is a huge save compared to similar lippies on the market.
The Rocker Chic eye shadow palettes have three-colour combinations to choose from and are one of the products that Deluxe demos and helps promote. Each palette holds five striking shades that can create a dramatic or softer look depending on the occasion.
Bringing in some of the oldies, but goodies, the brand’s most popular cosmetics like the Pore Filler and Shine Killer face primers, which claim to help minimalize the look of pores and reduce shine, are also in stock.
The Wonder Stick is another product that was swept up by a number of guests at the launch. The double-sided cosmetic stick includes a highlighting applicator on one end and a contouring applicator on the other, effectively reducing the hoard of products usually used for this process to just one simple beauty tool.
NYX proudly dubs these bestsellers as some of the brand’s ‘Hero Products’ as they tend to fly off the shelves and are in constant need of re-stocking. It also helps that they cost less than $20 a piece.
As the fan base for NYX Cosmetics continues to flourish more stores are set to pop up worldwide. Next stop in Canada: Toronto’s fashion district. Luckily for men and women in the 6ix, a stand-alone store is set to open on Queen Street West within the coming months.
Photos By. Sadé Powell © Urbanology Magazine
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