NYX Professional Makeup is an affordable color cosmetics brand founded in Los Angeles in 1999 by Toni Ko and bought by L’Oreal in 2014. Before you buy NYX cosmetics, the channel matters more than most shoppers expect. Ulta, Target and the pharmacy chains each carry a different slice of the catalog, the brand’s own site carries all of it, and the resale market carries risks the authorized sellers do not. This guide covers who stocks what, what the low price tier actually gets you, and where the counterfeit problem shows up.
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What NYX Professional Makeup Is and Who Needs It
NYX Professional Makeup is a mass-market color cosmetics line covering eyes, lips and face, sold at budget prices through beauty specialty chains, mass retail, pharmacy chains and its own website. L’Oreal, the French consumer-goods group that also owns Maybelline and Lancome, has owned the label since 2014 and markets it under a Proud Artistry platform.
Who it suits: anyone assembling a full routine on a small budget, people who want to try a bold shade without a $30 commitment, and shoppers who need a shade range wider than a pharmacy endcap offers. That accessible price point is the whole proposition.
Who it does not suit: buyers looking for a clinical or dermatological benefit. This is makeup, not skincare.
What to Look For: Features and Buying Criteria
Check the shade range in the category you are actually shopping, because that is where this brand separates itself from other budget lines. Five things are worth weighing.
Shade breadth where you need it. Complexion and lip color ranges run deeper here than at most brands in the same price bracket. A near-match forces you to blend two items, and blending eats the savings.
Finish, read off the package. Most lines sell in more than one finish. Matte, satin and gloss versions of the same shade land completely differently, and a longwear formula behaves differently again. Read the front of the box.
Price band per category. Individual items generally run about $5 to $16, with lip gloss at the low end and foundation at the top. Knowing the band tells you instantly when a marketplace listing is priced strangely.
Cruelty-free and vegan labelling. The brand publicly positions itself as cruelty-free. Vegan status is decided item by item rather than line-wide, so read the package or the brand’s own product page instead of assuming.
Packaging condition and date code. Cosmetics carry a period-after-opening symbol, the small open-jar icon with a number of months printed inside. Check it when the parcel arrives. That matters more for a heavily resold brand than for a prestige one, because old inventory circulates for years.
What to Avoid When Buying NYX Professional Makeup
The mistake with the highest cost is treating every seller as equivalent. A widely resold, low-priced brand attracts grey-market listings, and the discount you think you found is often warehouse-aged stock.
Marketplace listings from unfamiliar sellers. Third-party sellers sometimes list expired or counterfeit cosmetics. Buy from Ulta, Target, the pharmacy chains or the official site when authenticity matters, and read the seller name on any Amazon or Walmart.com listing.
Assuming a shade name carries across lines. A shade name used on a gloss formula does not describe the same color on a complexion formula. Pull up the color chart on the brand’s own product page before ordering a face item unseen.
Bundle lots with no visible packaging. Large mixed lots priced well under the normal band are the classic sign of liquidated or aged inventory. If the listing will not show the actual packaging, skip it.
Where to Buy NYX Cosmetics In Store
Five national chains stock the brand in physical retail: Ulta Beauty, Target, CVS, Walgreens and Macy’s. Shopping in person is worth the trip for complexion items, where swatching beats guessing from a screen.
Ulta Beauty
Ulta, the US cosmetics specialty chain, gives the brand a dedicated bay rather than a shared pharmacy endcap, so its shelf assortment is usually the widest of the physical options. Ulta also runs a rewards program and regular promotions, where the real savings on an already cheap label come from.
Target
Target stocks the line in the makeup aisle alongside other mass-market labels. Assortment differs by location, so check yours on the Target site or app first. Order pickup is available on items held locally.
CVS
CVS, the pharmacy chain, carries a curated subset in its beauty department. Treat it as a restock stop, not a place to browse the range.
Walgreens
Walgreens is the other pharmacy chain carrying the label, and its shelf holds a fraction of the catalog. The chain is also closing underperforming locations, so check its site for your area first.
Macy’s lists the brand in its cosmetics department too, though not every location carries it. Call ahead if you need one specific item. Shelf assortment is the main variable in physical retail, not price.
Where to Buy NYX Cosmetics Online
Four online channels matter: the brand’s own site, Amazon, Walmart.com and eBay. The brand site is the only one that reliably lists the full current catalog, including shades the retail assortments skip.
The official brand site
The brand’s official online shop at nyxcosmetics.com lists the complete current range, new launches and online-only shades. If a shade is not turning up anywhere else, look here. Buying direct also removes the seller-authenticity question. Shipping thresholds change, so check the cart at checkout.
Amazon
Amazon #ad carries the label through an official brand page and through independent sellers. Check the “sold by” line before ordering: the brand page and an unfamiliar marketplace seller are not the same purchase.
Walmart.com
Walmart.com lists a broad selection, some fulfilled by Walmart itself and some by marketplace sellers. Same rule as Amazon: read the seller name. Pickup works on locally held items.
eBay
eBay is where retired shades resurface, which is genuinely useful if you are chasing something the brand stopped making. It is also where aged inventory and fakes are most likely.
Before ordering from any marketplace seller, work through four checks:
- Read the “sold by” line. Platform-fulfilled and third-party listings look nearly identical until you look for it.
- Compare the price against the $5 to $16 band. A price far below it usually signals aged or fake goods.
- Look for a real packaging photo. Stock images hide the batch code and the period-after-opening symbol.
- Check feedback on cosmetics specifically. A high overall rating built on unrelated goods tells you very little.
Comparing budget makeup labels at the same retailers? Our Milani Cosmetics guide and the Jordana Cosmetics buying guide cover two direct alternatives, and the MAC Makeup guide covers the prestige tier above.
How Much Should You Pay for NYX Professional Makeup
As of September 2026, individual items generally run about $5 to $16 at authorized sellers. Three tiers make the range easier to think about.
Under $8. Gloss, single eye items and basic pencils. At this tier, buying two shades instead of one costs almost nothing.
$8 to $12. Longwear liquid formulas, liners and setting items. Most of the brand’s best-known launches land in this band.
$12 to $16. Foundation, concealer and multi-pan palettes.
Where paying more is often not worth it: the large palette bought to get more shades. Per pan it looks cheap, but a palette is only a bargain if you use most of it.
Timing is the bigger lever. Ulta and Target both run makeup promotions on a regular calendar, and pairing one with a rewards account does more for the final price than choosing between retailers.
Top Picks
These five are the items carried most consistently across the retailers above, chosen for range coverage rather than any single test.
Best overall: NYX Butter Gloss. The brand’s best-known gloss, sold in a wide shade range and carried at nearly every retailer listed here. Around $5 to $6. Check price on Amazon
Best matte formula: NYX Lip Lingerie XXL Liquid Lipstick. Marketed on wear time rather than shine, and one of the picks Allure singled out in its own NYX roundup. Around $9 to $10. Check price on Amazon
Best eye liner: NYX Epic Ink Liner. A felt-tip liquid eye liner, and one of the brand’s most widely carried formats. Around $8 to $9. Check price on Amazon
Best budget: NYX HD Photogenic Concealer Wand. A concealer at the bottom of the complexion price band rather than the top. Under $6. Check price on Amazon
Best newer launch: NYX Buttermelt Bronzer. A cream bronzer from the Buttermelt family, which the brand keeps expanding. Around $10 to $12. Check price on Amazon
For adjacent aisles, see our OPI Nail Polish guide and the Lush guide for bath and body.
Start on the brand’s own site to pin down the exact shade you want, then check Ulta or Target for that item near you, since in-person swatching is the only real certainty on complexion products. If the shade has been retired, eBay is the fallback. Buying NYX cosmetics well is less about the lowest sticker price than about a seller whose inventory you can trust.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to NYX Cosmetics?
The brand is still operating and widely sold. L’Oreal acquired it in 2014, and it now trades as NYX Professional Makeup rather than under its original name. What did end were the standalone US shops the company ran in malls, so a company-run locator is not a live way to buy today. Ulta, Target, CVS, Walgreens and Macy’s are the physical channels now.
Is NYX a USA brand?
It was founded in Los Angeles in 1999 and is still run out of Southern California, but its parent company is French. L’Oreal, headquartered in Clichy just outside Paris, has owned it since 2014. Manufacturing is spread across several countries, so the country printed on a given package will not always read United States.
Is NYX drugstore makeup or prestige?
It sits in the drugstore tier on price and distribution, at roughly $5 to $16 an item in pharmacy and mass channels, while prestige lines at a department store counter typically start near $20. The word Professional in the name describes the artistry positioning, not the price bracket.
Does Sephora sell NYX Professional Makeup?
Sephora does not list the label among its stocked brands. Ulta Beauty is the closest substitute if you want testers and shade matching, since it carries the line in a dedicated bay. Target, CVS, Walgreens, Macy’s, Amazon and Walmart round out the US options.
Reviewed by the wheretobuyguides.com editorial team. Prices and retailer availability verified September 2026.