In America, NYX is the cheap one — the $7 lip cream on the drugstore shelf. In India, that same 8 ml Soft Matte Lip Cream carries a ₹699 MRP, which at the current exchange rate is more than its American price. NYX returned to India in November 2025 as a Nykaa exclusive, and on 2 September 2026, 29 of the 30 prices we checked sat at full MRP. The cheap American brand is a full-price brand here.
NYX Professional Makeup is a Los Angeles brand, founded in 1999 by Toni Ko and owned by L’Oréal since 2014. Its Indian prices run at 86–105% of the brand’s own US list — sibling Maybelline sells at 52–60% — on a single channel, Nykaa, with 29 of 30 prices at full MRP on 2 September 2026. The cruelty-free claim checks out in PETA’s own directory; the wear claims publish no evidence.
Snapshot
- Founded
- 1999, Los Angeles, by Toni Ko — named for Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night
- Current owner
- L’Oréal S.A., Consumer Products Division, since 2014
- Runs it in India
- L’Oréal India Private Limited; sold only on Nykaa since the November 2025 return
- Price band in India
- ₹550–2,000 across 30 products checked, 2 September 2026; most items ₹699–1,499
- India versus US
- 86–105% of US list on matched packs, at ₹95.38 a dollar
- Animal testing
- PETA lists NYX as cruelty-free since 2015; parent L’Oréal sits on PETA’s “does test” list
How it started
Toni Ko was 25 when she started NYX in Los Angeles in 1999, with $250,000 borrowed from her parents. The first products were eye and lip pencils at $1.99, and first-year retail sales came to about $4 million. The name is pronounced “nix”, after the Greek goddess of the night — it has nothing to do with New York, whatever the three capital letters suggest.
By 2013 the company reported net sales of $72 million, up 46% on the year before. In the twelve months to May 2014 that ran to $93 million, up 57%. L’Oréal signed the agreement to buy it on 18 June 2014 and disclosed no price; Forbes reported the figure at about $500 million, and put Ko’s personal fortune at $260 million in 2016, with a five-year non-compete in cosmetics.
- NYX CosmeticsFounded 1999, Los Angeles, by Toni Ko, then 25
- L’Oréal signs to buy it18 June 2014 — no price disclosed; Forbes reported about $500 million
- NYX Professional MakeupA L’Oréal consumer brand today, sold in over 70 countries
The brand was bought as NYX Cosmetics and trades today as NYX Professional Makeup — the same company, renamed somewhere along the way. L’Oréal has published no NYX revenue since the purchase; it reports by division, so the 2014 numbers above are the last public ones.
What they actually make
The Indian range on Nykaa runs 36 products: lip glosses and lip creams, liquid liners, setting sprays, primers, concealers, blushes and a handful of palettes. The famous names are all here — Butter Gloss at ₹550 for 8 ml, Soft Matte Lip Cream at ₹699, Epic Ink Liner at ₹825, the Up To 16HR setting sprays at ₹899–999 (all checked 2 September 2026).
The claims on those products are numbers: “Up To 16HR” on the sprays, “up to 24-hour wear” and “waterproof” on Epic Ink, “up to 24h makeup lock” on the Face Glue duo, “12-hour hydration” on the Lip IV gloss stain. None of the pages we read, Indian or American, publishes a test protocol, a laboratory, a sample size or a report behind any of those hours. The absence of published evidence is the finding — we do not say the claims are false, only that nothing on the record backs them. One small tell: the relaunch press described the Buttermelt skin tint as SPF 40, while the Nykaa listing sells it as SPF 30. The shelf beats the press release; count on 30.
Who makes the Indian stock is a blank. None of the eight NYX pages we read in India — six product pages and two brand listings — carries a manufacturer’s name, an importer’s name or a country of origin. So this audit does not say where any NYX product sold here is made. That is the make-or-market question our Campus audit answers cleanly for shoes, because Campus declares its own factories; here the declaration sits on the box, not the listing, and you should read it there.
The shade story cuts against the marketing. L’Oréal’s own brand page credits NYX with the “widest and deepest shade ranges” — its words, no source or year given. On the Indian shelf, Butter Gloss lists 3 shades against about 40 in the US, and Soft Matte Lip Cream 8 against 18 (both counted 2 September 2026). India gets near-American prices for a fraction of the American wall.
What NYX costs in India
Every price below is from Nykaa, the only Indian channel, on 2 September 2026, converted at the US Federal Reserve’s ₹95.38 per dollar. Pack sizes match on all four rows, so the comparison is clean.
| Product, same pack both markets | US list in ₹ | Indian MRP |
|---|---|---|
| Butter Gloss, 8 ml | ₹572 ($6.00) | ₹550 — 96% |
| Soft Matte Lip Cream, 8 ml | ₹668 ($7.00) | ₹699 — 105% |
| Epic Ink Liner, 1 ml | ₹954 ($10.00) | ₹825 — 86% |
| Setting Spray Matte, 60 ml | ₹954 ($10.00) | ₹899 — 94% |
US list prices from nyxcosmetics.com; Indian MRPs from nykaa.com; both read 2 September 2026. American street prices at Walmart and Target often sit below list, which would push India’s relative position higher still.
- US price, Soft Matte Lip Cream 8 ml
- $7.00 — ₹668 at ₹95.38 a dollar
- Indian MRP, same 8 ml
- ₹699
- Gap
- +5% — India pays more than America
- Checked on
- 2 September 2026
That lip cream was the one discount we saw all day: its product page offered 30% off, at ₹489, while the brand listing showed the same shade family at full ₹699. Every other price — 29 of 30 — sat at MRP. Held pricing is a posture, and it is the reverse of the MRP-versus-street-price theatre our Sparx audit documents in footwear, where the printed price exists to be discounted.
Same Indian company, three price postures: Maybelline at half the American price, L’Oréal Paris at two-thirds, NYX at par.
L’Oréal India Private Limited sells Maybelline here at 52–60% of US list, with street prices 35–45% below MRP on top. It sells L’Oréal Paris at 61–75% of US list at full MRP. NYX lands at 86–105%. Three brands, one balance sheet, and the “professional” label carries the smallest India discount of the three. Per millilitre, the spread inside NYX is its own lesson: the Epic Ink Liner is ₹825 for a single millilitre — not a typo, the pack is 1 ml — against ₹14.98 per ml for the 60 ml setting spray. The liner costs about fifty-five times the spray per unit of product.
Who NYX is actually for
The relaunch pitch aims at “creators, professionals, and everyday makeup users”, led by the Lip IV gloss stain, the Face Glue primer and spray, the Buttermelt tint and Fat Oil Lip Drip. In practice the range prices as mid-market: most items sit between ₹699 and ₹1,499, with one palette at ₹2,000 (checked 2 September 2026).
The honest buyer profile is narrow: someone who knows a specific NYX product — an Epic Ink liner, a particular lip cream — and will pay roughly the American price to get it. A value shopper is better served two counters over, where the same company’s Maybelline sells at half the US price before street discounts. What you will not get here is the American brand’s breadth: 3 Butter Gloss shades against about 40 is a sampler, not a range.
Reputation and controversies
Start with the claim that survives checking. PETA’s own directory lists NYX Professional Makeup as cruelty-free — the entry says neither ingredients nor finished products are tested on animals — while the same directory keeps parent L’Oréal on its “companies to avoid” list as one that does test. PETA documented the split in March 2015, when it confirmed the brand’s pledge would hold under L’Oréal’s ownership, and L’Oréal’s brand page says “PETA Certified since 2015”. The certifier’s record and the company’s claim agree, which is rarer than it should be. Context for Indian readers: animal testing of cosmetics has been illegal in India since 2014, and the parent’s listing concerns markets that required testing.
The advertising record is short and fully decided. The Advertising Standards Council of India’s outcomes database shows four NYX matters, and all four were not upheld: two on influencer posts for the Soft Matte Lip Cream sold at Nykaa, with Nykaa E-Retail as advertiser, both decided 14 February 2023 (cases 2210-EXRS.28 and 2211-CCC.27); and two on Lip IV influencer ads, with L’Oréal India as advertiser, decided 6 March 2026 (2602-CCC.31) and 27 April 2026 (2604-CCC.01). Four complaints examined, none upheld — that is the whole NYX record there as of 2 September 2026. ASCI is the advertising industry’s own self-regulatory body rather than a statutory regulator, and each of those decisions went to the single advertisement put before it.
Buying it in India
NYX has been in India before. It launched fully in 2016 with about 550 products, went online on Nykaa that July and into physical stores by August, and opened its first flagship at Inorbit Mall in Malad, Mumbai in 2017. Then it left.
- 2016Full launch — about 550 products; Nykaa from July, stores from August
- 2017First flagship opens at Inorbit Mall, Malad, Mumbai
- ExitThe brand left the market; no public record dates it
- November 2025Returns as a Nykaa exclusive — 36 products, no stores announced
The relaunch range is about a fifteenth of the 2016 assortment.
NYX left India at some point after its 2016–2017 buildout; no public record we could find dates or explains that exit. Treat the November 2025 return as a fresh start rather than continuity — the shelf, the range and the prices are all new.
Today the brand and the shop are different companies: L’Oréal India runs NYX, and Nykaa owns the only authorised shelf — the same brand-versus-seller distinction our Bata audit draws, where the global brand and Bata India are separate listed companies. NYX’s own Indian website is not trading, and its global site shows an Indian catalogue with no prices and no way to buy.
Buy on Nykaa, nowhere else
Nykaa is the only authorised Indian channel since November 2025. A NYX listing on any other marketplace has no authorised supply route behind it, so treat it with suspicion.
Read the declaration on the box
Imported cosmetics must name the importer and carry a registration number on the pack. No listing we read shows this for NYX — it is printed on the box, so check it before you pay.
Do the per-ml arithmetic
Divide the price by the millilitres on the pack. Epic Ink is ₹825 for 1 ml; the setting spray is about ₹15 per ml. The number tells you what the format costs, not the formula.
Do not wait for a sale
On the day we checked, 29 of 30 NYX prices sat at full MRP. This brand holds its price in India; a listing far below MRP is a warning sign, not a bargain.
Count the shades before you commit
Compare the Indian shade list against the brand’s US site. If your shade is one of the 37 Butter Gloss colours India does not stock, no Indian store will order it for you.
Common questions
Who owns NYX Professional Makeup?
L’Oréal S.A. of Paris, since 2014. It sits in the Consumer Products Division alongside L’Oréal Paris, Garnier and Maybelline, and L’Oréal India Private Limited runs all four in India. The founder, Toni Ko, sold the whole company and exited.
Does NYX stand for New York?
No. The name is pronounced “nix” and comes from Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night. The company was founded and headquartered in Los Angeles.
Is NYX cruelty-free?
Yes, by the strictest available test: PETA’s own directory lists NYX Professional Makeup as cruelty-free, and has since 2015. The parent company L’Oréal sits on PETA’s “does test” list, so the brand’s policy is stricter than its owner’s.
Where can I buy NYX in India?
Only on Nykaa, which has carried the brand exclusively since its November 2025 return. There are no NYX stores in India now, and the brand’s own Indian website is not trading.
Is NYX cheaper in India than in the US?
No. On matched packs checked 2 September 2026, Indian MRPs ran at 86–105% of US list — the Soft Matte Lip Cream actually costs more here. Sibling brand Maybelline, from the same Indian company, sells at 52–60% of US list.
How we research and verify brand audits: our methodology.
References
- L’Oréal Finance news release, 18 June 2014 — founding in 1999 by Toni Ko in Los Angeles; 2013 net sales of $72 million and $93 million for the twelve months to May 2014; no purchase price disclosed
- Forbes, “Banking On Beauty”, 20 June 2016 — the $250,000 parental loan, $1.99 pencils, first-year sales, the goddess-of-night name, the reported ~$500 million sale, Ko’s $260 million net worth and non-compete
- L’Oréal, NYX brand page, read 2 September 2026 — 70-plus countries, the “widest and deepest shade ranges” claim, “100% Cruelty-free… PETA Certified since 2015”
- L’Oréal India corporate page, read 2 September 2026 — NYX among L’Oréal India’s four consumer brands
- Nykaa NYX brand listing, 2 September 2026 — the 36-product count and 30 captured prices, all but one at MRP
- Nykaa, Soft Matte Lip Cream listing, 2 September 2026 — 8 ml, ₹699 MRP, ₹489 on the day, 8 shades
- Nykaa, Epic Ink Liner listing, 2 September 2026 — 1 ml, ₹825
- Nykaa, Buttermelt Glaze Skin Tint listing, 2 September 2026 — 30 ml, ₹1,450, SPF 30 on the shelf against SPF 40 in the launch press
- nyxcosmetics.com, Soft Matte Lip Cream, 2 September 2026 — $7.00, 18 US shades; companion pages for Butter Gloss ($6.00, about 40 shades), Epic Ink ($10.00) and the matte setting spray ($10.00)
- US Federal Reserve H.10 release, 31 August 2026 — ₹95.38 per dollar, the rate used throughout
- PETA cruelty-free directory, NYX entry, read 2 September 2026 — “Yes, NYX Professional Makeup (L’Oreal) is cruelty-free”
- PETA directory, L’Oréal entry, read 2 September 2026 — the parent on the “does test” list
- PETA, “NYX Cosmetics Remains Cruelty-Free!”, March 2015 — the brand-level pledge under L’Oréal ownership
- ASCI complaint outcomes database, searched 2 September 2026 — four NYX outcomes, all not upheld: 14 February 2023 (2210-EXRS.28, 2211-CCC.27), 6 March 2026 (2602-CCC.31), 27 April 2026 (2604-CCC.01)
- Indian Kanoon search, 2 September 2026 — no decided judgment naming NYX on three query forms
- LBB Delhi, 2 June 2016 — the 2016 launch: about 550 products, Nykaa from July, stores from August
- Retail4Growth, 4 September 2017 — the first Indian flagship at Inorbit Mall, Malad
- Indian Retailer, 14 November 2025 — the return as a Nykaa exclusive, the launch lineup and its claims
The products are the genuine American article, sold through one authorised channel, and the marquee ethical claim holds: PETA’s own directory lists NYX as cruelty-free since 2015 even while it lists the parent as a company that tests. If a specific NYX product is your product — the Epic Ink liner, a lip cream shade India actually stocks — the quality argument for buying it is intact.
The value argument is not. India pays 86–105% of US list for a range with 3 Butter Gloss shades against about 40, wear claims with no published test behind the hours, and no readable line on who makes or imports the stock. The same Indian company sells Maybelline at half the American price and discounts it on top.
At near-American prices for a fifteenth of the old range, buy NYX for a specific favourite — as a default makeup counter, its own sibling undercuts it by half.
