Question: what do you get when you cross a chemical engineer mom with 2 impossibly gorgeous teen daughters? Answer: why, makeup, of course. Introducing  NUDESTIX™, a line of beauty pencils to help you achieve the ‘no makeup makeup’ look, or as the brand’s tagline says “go nude, but better”. With her daughters Ally & Taylor as muses, Jenny Frankel – a woman with over 20 years experience in the beauty industry (she was the creator behind M.A.C’s Lipglass), decided to streamline the everyday woman’s beauty routine. Observing how her daughters preferred minimal, neutral shades and used fingers instead of brushes for tools, evolved into a luxury beauty range comprised of portable ‘crayon’ style pencils (with the exception of their mascara, which comes in a usual format with a brush).

The collections consists of 2 types of eye pencils: the Magnetic Eye Color Pencils which come in 4 shades (Angel, Moon, Twilight, Night) – long wearing with a deep shine factor, 8 shades of Eye Pencils (Cream, Shimmer*, Stardust*, Golden*, Bronze*, Burnish* Pewter*, Smoke) – with all-in-one shadow, liner & highlighter properties for most hues (shades marked with * are soft metallics), 1 Mascara (in black), 8 shades of Concealer Pencil (from light to deep), and 8 shades of Lip + Cheek Pencils (Whisper, Love, Blush, Mystic, Ripe, Soul, Sin & Flesh) – that can be used just as effortlessly on the face as on the lips (you can also check out a few other shades, reviewed by Sabrina of The Beauty Look Book).

Each pencil (and the mascara) comes housed in an eco-friendly and reusable black tin that supports a full-sized mirror on the inner lid, an insert with easy & helpful instructions, as well as a total genius touch: a sharpener that not only fits snugly on one end of the pencil, but comes complete with its own cap to keep shavings (and messes) at bay (with the exception of the mascara that doesn’t need a sharpener *doh*). No more fighting with dull pencils when you’re on the go plus each unit has its own sharpener, so no sharing means no colours bleeding in to each other. Like I said, genius.

All NUDESTIX™ products are preservative and fragrance-free.

 

Ally & Taylor, the brain[children] behind NUDESTIX™

 

NUDESTIX™

 

NUDESTIX™ | Shimmer Eye Pencil, Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil & Love Lip + Cheek Pencil

 

NUDESTIX™ | Shimmer Eye Pencil, Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil & Love Lip + Cheek Pencil

 

NUDESTIX™

 

NUDESTIX™ | Open tin with insert

 

NUDESTIX™ | Inner cap holds a full-size mirror

 

NUDESTIX™ | Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil

 

NUDESTIX™ | Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil (ingredients list)

 

NUDESTIX™ | Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil + sharpener (included)

 

NUDESTIX™ | Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil + sharpener (included)

 

Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil (CAN $28.00) | A nude shimmer eye shadow with a warm peachy tint, in a waterproof pencil format. The texture is incredibly creamy and glides effortlessly along the skin, leaving behind a rich shimmery veil of colour that can be sheered out – although you do have to work quickly to do so, or layered for more depth & intensity. Once applied, you have just a couple of minutes to blend this out because once it sets, it’s there for the duration; a swatch test on my inner arm even lasted through showering. On my eyelids (prone to oiliness), I was able to wear Angel without any primer and experienced no visible creasing at all – a highly impressive feature of the staying power of this pencil. NOTE: You will need a dual-phase eye makeup remover to take this off (I swear by the one from Neutrogena).

 

NUDESTIX™ | Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil

 

 

NUDESTIX™ | Angel Magnetic Eye Color Pencil

 

NUDESTIX™ | Love Lip + Cheek Pencil 

 

NUDESTIX™ | Love Lip + Cheek Pencil (ingredients list)

 

Love Lip + Cheek Pencil (CAN $28.00) | A petal pink hue without shimmer, in a highly emollient formula that can be worn either on the lips or cheeks. I love how easily this goes on and I experience no tugging or pulling in application, and even though this shade is just a touch too pale for my colouring, I am still able to pull it off for an easy daytime look. As a blush, I found it to be too sheer and it never really ‘set’ – especially on bare skin, unless I added a powder blusher on top for added longevity (which then defeats the purpose of using Love as a blush), although it did give a nice glow while it lasted. I had better luck wearing this shade over foundation, but again, the colour slides a bit too much to be built up. On the lips, this is an amazing pencil – soft, gliding and leaving a hydrated feel behind, with an average staying power of about 2.5 hours.

 

NUDESTIX™ | Love Lip + Cheek Pencil 

 

NUDESTIX™ | Love Lip + Cheek Pencil 

 

NUDESTIX™ | Love Lip + Cheek Pencil 

 

NUDESTIX™ | Shimmer Eye Pencil

 

NUDESTIX™ | Shimmer Eye Pencil (ingredients list)

 

Shimmer Eye Pencil (CAN $28.00) | An eye shadow pencil in a champagne hue that has an excellent mix of both cool & warm tones, making it wearable for basically all complexions. The smudger that is built in to one end, is of an excellent quality and soft enough to help you blend this shadow with ease. Not as long wearing as the Magnetic Eye Color Pencils, you may find you need to apply primer first for added staying power (especially for those with oily lids), although I didn’t see noticeable creasing until a few hours in – and that’s without primer. As an eye shadow applied to the mobile lid, Shimmer gives my eyes a nice ‘wide-awake’ shine that’s not overly blingy – just add a quick swipe of mascara and the look is done. This shade also works beautifully as an inner eye or brow bone highlighter, as well as to accentuate the cupid’s bow and even along the tops of cheekbones, although the latter means a bit more work to blend it out seamlessly there.

 

NUDESTIX™ | Shimmer Eye Pencil

 

NUDESTIX™ | Shimmer Eye Pencil

 

NUDESTIX™ | Shimmer Eye Pencil (smudger end)

 

 

NUDESTIX™ | Shimmer Eye Pencil

 

What can be easier than using a pencil to apply all your makeup needs? There are enough shade variances in the eye, lip/cheek & skin (concealer) pencils available, to accommodate basically all skin tones and colour preferences, and the pencil-cap sharpener is an addition that makes you wonder why no one has thought of this before. The quality of the 3 pencils I tried is amazing and I’m also a fan of all the little details that went into this entire range – from the reusable tin (perfect to store several of your NUDESTIX™ pencils in), to the simple & clean concept, making these pencils a truly on-the-go product. For anyone who’s a fan of a more minimal makeup look while still appearing ‘done’, I find the NUDESTIX range to be definitely worth looking – and investing – in. Personally, I’ll be checking out some of the darker hues available … there’s something very addictive about scribbling on one’s face, and it actually looking good!

Available through select Sephora stores (Canada & US), as well as Space.NK – Find more information via:

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*Disclosure: Press samples provided by the company/PR for my unbiased consideration