NYX's Matte Balm Is Juicy, Nostalgic & Strategically Brilliant

Matte is back, but not as we knew it.

NYX Cosmetics just dropped a new matte balm-gloss hybrid and it’s gaining traction across TikTok and IG thanks to its joyful packaging, nostalgic flair, and formula that delivers both payoff and play. But underneath the cute, shelfie-ready exterior lies a strategic masterclass in trend-led marketing, cross-category innovation, and go-to-market timing.

Curious how NYX turned a single balm into a full-blown moment and what beauty brands can learn from it? Of course you are. That's why you're here.

The Product: A Balm, a Matte, a Gloss... All at Once

This isn’t your traditional chalky matte. NYX’s latest lip product lives somewhere between a tinted balm, a soft matte lipstick, and a gloss with grip. The result? A juicy-but-matte finish that satisfies the contradictory demands of today’s lip trends.

Consumers want pigment, but not too much. They want hydration, but not slippage. They want shine, but also softness. NYX delivers on all fronts and at a drugstore price point.

And then there’s the packaging: playful, tactile, and overtly nostalgic. With its rounded edges, bold colors, and a nod to Y2K beauty toys like Lip Smackers and Polly Pocket, it’s practically engineered for virality. This is dopamine beauty that knows what it’s doing.

The State of the Lip in 2025

This launch lands right in the middle of a lip landscape that’s shifting in real time. The era of hard, drying mattes is long gone and in its place is a wave of softness, blur, and hybrid texture play that feels both nostalgic and newly relevant.

We’re calling it Soft-Matte 2.0: a K-beauty-inspired evolution of the matte lip that’s more forgiving and more wearable. These aren’t the flat, chalky mattes of 2016. They’re diffused, balmy, and light-as-air. Lips that look lived-in, kissed-off, or casually filtered, not painted on.

At the same time, gloss is still holding strong, but it's evolved, too. Today’s gloss is less vinyl and more juicy. Plush, cushioned textures with sheer or stained payoff have taken over, offering a shine that looks fresh, not sticky. It’s a finish that pairs perfectly with the rise of the low-maintenance face and gives just enough polish without the pressure.

Blurring and blotting are also big. On TikTok, in editorials, and IRL. Smudged lips, bitten tints, and balmy pigments that melt into your skin tone are having a moment. It’s the beauty equivalent of “I woke up like this,” but with a little more strategy underneath.

And perhaps the biggest shift of all? Hybrid everything. Lip oils that stain. Balms that mattify. Glosses with grip. The consumer is no longer interested in binary formulas. She wants payoff and comfort, staying power and slip. The line between categories is blurring, just like the lips themselves.

Finally, we can’t talk about lip trends without mentioning nostalgia. Not just as an aesthetic, but as a texture cue. Twist-ups, jelly glosses, tinted balms. If it looks like it belongs in a Y2K Caboodle, it’s trending. This kind of packaging doesn’t just tap into shelf appeal. It activates emotion, memory, and joy. And when it’s paired with smart formulas? It’s a dopamine hit in a tube.

In short: lips in 2025 are soft, strategic, and sensorial. And NYX understood the assignment.

Marketing Strategy: Trend Hedging & Nostalgia Play

NYX didn’t just launch a product. They launched a mood.

Trend Hedging via Texture Blending

By fusing balm, gloss, and matte in one product, NYX sidesteps the need to pick a side in the great lip texture wars. It’s a smart move that captures multiple micro-trends while still feeling cohesive.

Kidcore for Grown-Ups

The packaging leans into nostalgia with bold, toy-like designs, but it doesn’t talk down to the consumer. This is playful, not juvenile. Aesthetic, not childish. It’s a strategy that taps into tactile virality and emotional recall.

Accessibility as an Aesthetic

NYX consistently makes trend-driven beauty feel democratic. While prestige brands are debating $30+ lip oils, NYX shows up with something fun, functional, and under $10.

Dopamine Beauty with Daily Use Appeal

Unlike other bold lip products that read costume-y, this one fits into an everyday face. It rides the wave of maximalism while remaining wearable. A subtle but critical distinction in a post-pandemic makeup market.

Social-First by Design

Everything about this product from shape to finish to packaging is optimized for short-form beauty content. It looks good in a GRWM. It begs to be swatched. And it photographs perfectly.

Go-To-Market: Hype, UGC & Distribution Discipline

NYX didn’t rely on a splashy campaign or celebrity face. Instead, they leveraged smart GTM tactics designed for speed, scale, and resonance.

Prioritizing Influencer Seeding

NYX seeded the product to a curated group of TikTok and IG influencers who specialize in aesthetic routines, GRWMs, and nostalgic beauty hauls. The result? More natural, on-brand content that doesn’t feel overly sponsored.

Shelf-Ready, Scroll-Optimized

The design works just as well in a Target endcap as it does on Ulta’s homepage or a TikTok FYP. That’s not an accident. The rounded tube, bold colorways, and satisfying click-closure all lend themselves to both in-store discovery and digital shelf appeal.

Timed to a Texture Shift

The launch arrived just as matte lips started creeping back into the trend conversation. But instead of going full 2016 with liquid lips and dry downs, NYX delivered a modern update. Soft matte with a hint of balm. It feels timely, not tired.

UGC-Friendly Prompts

NYX encouraged creators and consumers to participate through casual prompts like “GRWM for summer” or “what’s in my bag,” lowering the barrier for user-generated content and avoiding high-stakes tutorials.

Multi-Channel Momentum

The launch rolled out across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and retail partners simultaneously, creating a full-spectrum moment that felt everywhere without being overwhelming.

The Violette_FR Dupe Discourse

If the concepts feels familiar, you’re not alone. Some beauty insiders are pointing to conceptual similarities between NYX’s new balm and Violette_FR’s cult-favorite Bisou Balm, a prestige soft-matte, sheer lipstick with a blurred finish and iconic French-girl cool factor.

Where Bisou Balm delivers a whisper of pigment in a sleek tube for, NYX offers a brighter, louder, more playful spin that's priced accessibly and styled for dopamine dressing. It's not a copy; it's a re-translation.

It’s prestige-to-mass evolution done right. The soft-matte balm texture? A smart nod.The blur-and-go application? On trend. The packaging? Less Parisian chic, more toy-store joyride.

In the same way E.l.f. turned prestige skincare trends into mass-market hits, NYX is democratizing a luxury texture and making it feel fun, not formulaic.

The Takeaway: How to Win at Trend-Speed

NYX’s matte balm drop is a reminder that you don’t need to reinvent the entire wheel. You just need to read the room and put an original spin on it. This launch didn’t hinge on a celebrity collab, a viral mishap, or a once-in-a-lifetime ingredient. Instead, it succeeded because NYX understood the current consumer mood, moved fast, and showed up with a product that felt fun, easy, and culturally in sync.

In an era where many brands are struggling to keep pace with trend turnover, NYX proves that staying relevant isn’t about chasing everything. Instead, it's about choosing the right thing and executing with intention.

Matte may not be fully back. But this launch? It’s a win.