NYX The Crimson Amulet Collection review and swatches

Hello everybody! Second makeup post in a few days! Today I'm going to talk about a NYX palette that I recently got, namely The Crimson Amulet Collection. I'm a big fan of this brand and I saw this a few weeks ago when I was browsing the Beauty Joint website. I immediately had to have it because it's inspired by the movie Dark Shadows. I love everything Tim Burton does and of course I loved this movie. So naturally, this makeup kit was a must for me. I actually got it from Ebay for a great price. I really wanted to get the review up because this was limited edition and it's still available but who knows for how long. As usual I would like to  point out that I'm not that good at reviewing makeup, so please bare with me. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet Collection

The kit comes in a nice box that protects the actual product from any damage. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet Collection

This is how the palette looks like. The packaging is sturdy and is made out of glossy and thick cardboard. It's the size of a book, so it's perfect to hold in your hand. I really like this type of packaging because it's light, it's not bulky and it's very travel friendly. Inside you will find: 24 eye shadows, 1 illuminator, 5 blushes, 4 lip colors, a mini HD shadow base, a mini liquid eyeliner, 4 sponge tip applicators and a mirror. For the rest of the review and swatches keep reading after the jump! 

NYX The Crimson Amulet Collection

The first segment of the palette contains 24 eye shadows on the left and a large mirror on the right side (that's my wall reflected into the mirror). The mirror is a nice touch because this is a complete makeup kit. It's not one of those small mirrors where you can only see one eye, you can actually see your whole face in this one. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet Collection

Flipping the middle divider will take you to the second segment of the palette. On the left there is a little description for the makeup looks of the three female characters in the movie. On the right you have the cheek and lip colors, the shadow base and the eyeliner. 

Now let's take a closer look at the eye shadows. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet eye shadows

There are 24 eye shadows in this kit, with a large variety of shades and finishes. Overall the quality of these is kinda mixed. There are a lot of really good shades in there, but also a few that are not that good. They are mostly neutrals with a pop of color here and there, but nothing too crazy. Here are the swatches, as they appear in the pan, without any primer. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet eye shadow swatches

The shimmery colors are generally great quality. There are a few neutral mattes, especially in the 4th and 5th row and the pigmentation of these is not that great. The last shade in the 5th row has almost no color pay-off and is the only dud in this collection. The shades in the 3rd row deserve a special mention. They are gorgeous, pigmented, creamy and just amazing. You can see for yourself from the swatches. I would say that the palette deserves to be bought just for this row of shadows. Even if some of the shadows in this palette are less pigmented than others, they are all soft and creamy. 

Now let's get to the rest of the products. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet lip and cheek colors

First we have a large size illuminator that is just gorgeous. It has a very subtle shimmer, just enough to make you look pretty and not like a disco ball. The blushes are also great. I wanted to try NYX blushes for a long time now because I've heard a lot of great things about them. Well, let me tell you that they were all true! The quality and pigmentation of these blushes is spectacular. The first two are matte (the second shade has crazy pigmentation) and the other three are shimmery. I've swatched the cheek colors below starting with the illuminator and then the blushes from top to bottom. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet cheek color swatches

Finally we have the lip colors. I have to admit that I'm not too crazy about these. I have another NYX palette with these kinds of lip colors in it and I didn't use them at all. They are too sheer to be lipsticks and too matte and thick to be glosses. I do appreciate the fact that there is a separate foil that covers them so that the powder products don't fall inside. Another downside of these is that you need a brush to apply them as the sponge tip applicators are no good for that. The liquid eyeliner is plain black and is very pigmented. I'm not too crazy about it either because it comes with a brush applicator that is unable to create very thin lines. It also seems to dry pretty matte, which is unusual for a liquid eyeliner. You can see my attempts to create a thin line with this in the swatches below. 

NYX The Crimson Amulet lip color and eyeliner swatches

I didn't say anything about the HD shadow base because I didn't get to test it properly. I have a bad history with eye primers and bases because none of them really works on my lids. All I can say for now is that this one seems to work a little better than others have. 

All in all, I'm very happy I got this kit and it's now my favorite item in my makeup collection. It just has so many amazing products inside and the packaging is so beautiful. If you are thinking of getting this you should hurry to either Ebay or Beauty Joint because it might not be available for long.