NYX brand promises to make over O.C. faces
A place that can be thought of as “a candy store for makeup junkies” has made its way to Orange County.
NYX Cosmetics, touted as a high-quality yet affordable cosmetics brand, opened its first Orange County location — at the Brea Mall — this month.
NYX was founded in 1999 but the products were primarily sold at professional trade shows. A few years ago, Target and Ulta started carrying the brand. In October 2015, NYX opened its first standalone store, and soon it had 20 shops, with Brea boosting the number to 21.
The line was acquired by L’Oréal in 2014, but the brand has remained fairly independent, said Nathalie Kristo, NYX’s Los Angeles-based general manager of marketing and global business development.
“We’ve been on a rapid expansion, and the brand has just exploded because we’re one of the unique companies to celebrate social media,” she said. “The team really invests a lot of their time and resources into the products. What you’ll find is you get amazing pigment payoff, amazing color deposits and that’s what the team really focuses on.”
She calls it “a candy store for makeup junkies.”
Many of the products range from $3 to $20, are comparable to more high-end brands and are “cruelty-free,” meaning they are not tested on animals, she said.
Kristo said NYX — pronounced “nicks” — is one of the first brands to embrace the power of social media. The company will often re-post fans’ looks on its Instagram page, which has more than 9.2 million followers, as well as advertise new products on the page.
The standalone stores also have beauty bars where customers can watch tutorials on the latest looks and try them out themselves with tester products at the counter.
“This is a place where they can really relate to the looks that people are using,” Kristo said. “With our professional makeup store, we thought it was really important for us to create some digital features to help empower people to learn makeup on their own.”
The store carries all 2,000 NYX products, as well as exclusives like pre-curated and customizable eyeshadow palettes.
Some of the most popular products are the liquid lipsticks — which come in variations like Liquid Suede, Lip Lingerie and Soft Matte Lip Creams — Kristo said.
The eye products and face palettes — like the highlight and contour kits, which can help accentuate a woman’s facial features by blending neutral colors — are also big sellers, she said.
The brand is popular not only among newbies just learning how to use makeup but industry professionals as well, Kristo said.
Katie Amezquita, an Orange-based cosmetologist who does hair and makeup for weddings, said she plans on adding NYX liquid lipsticks to her regular kit so her clients have an affordable product to purchase for touch-ups.
Jamie Nicole Rocha, 31, of West Covina said she estimates that more than 90% of her makeup collection is from NYX. She especially loves the lipsticks, she said.
“I love NYX because you can’t beat the price for the type of quality you get,” she said. “I love makeup, and I tend to collect many products. I have found NYX to be a good majority of my collection. ... But my ultimate favorite is the NYX Liquid Suede. I pretty much own almost every color. I love the quality, and for $6 to $7 it’s a steal.”
Kristo said it was only a matter of time before NYX opened a location in Orange County.
“We think that Orange County is perfect for NYX,” she said. “We love the diverse clientele here and seeing our consumers in the store. I look around the store and I see exactly the kind of girls that I know love NYX. We’re from L.A., so coming to Orange County was natural for us. It feels like home, and yet we know it’s a place where people were eager and waiting for the NYX store.”
NYX is located at 1065 Brea Mall in Brea. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, visit NYXCosmetics.com.
Twitter: @BrittanyWoolsey
