H&M Beauty
I've been waiting for what feels like months to get my hands on some H&M Beauty and after finally giving up on it coming to a store near me anytime soon the stock online was limited. I picked up what I could but I have a feeling there will be another haul in the not to distant future. Today's post is just first impressions and swatches.. once I've tried enough from the range I'll do a full review but for now I wanted to show you what I managed to get and what it really looks like in and out of the packaging..
First up, blushes. I got 2 powder and 2 cream, left to right they are Dusty Rose, Sunrise Pink and Apricot. Dusty Rose is cream to powder and actually quite blendable, not too sticky. The powders both have a slight sheen to them which isn't apparent in the pan but I quite like. The pigmentation is poor when applied with a brush (as you would) so if you like a bold colour these aren't for you but I actually quite like something more sheer I can build up. What let's these down is the packaging, it LOOKS gorgeous but it feels so cheap and flimsy and for £6.99 it's a major disappointment.
Next up are the lip products, always my most exciting item from a new line and these were no exception.. and possibly the stand outs from what I've tried so far. Left to right we have 3 cream lipsticks in Brunette Ambition, Hey Day and Deco Ruby, all super saturated bold colours that wear nicely and feel comfortable on the lips. They are very creamy so a liner is advised to prevent bleeding but if you're anything like me you'll have embraced the lip liner trend and will be using one at every opportunity anyway. Last in line is the Velvet lip cream in Enchante. I haven't worn this yet so I can't speak to wear time but it sets to a gorgeous matte liquid lipstick which I have high hopes for. The lipsticks win the packaging award for me as they look luxe and don't feel light/flimsy so the £7.99 price tag when compared to say Revlon/Maxfactor I think is good. The £6.99 Lip cream feels a little pricey for what it is, however.
Next we have the Colour Essence Eye Cream in Dauphine Truffle, this was another winner. Glass jar, creamy, blendable product.. competitive price point. It's comparable to the Maybelline Colour Tattoos and at the same price, a touch creamier and not quite as long-lasting but a very nice cream shadow. There are 5 colours available, 3 neutral, a black and a deep burgundy.
I couldn't not pick up a palette as I knew that would be something you guys would want to see and after some really poor packaging elsewhere in the line I'm glad I got this because it's so much nicer. I don't know if it's just the mirror in the lid or whether they made the whole thing more substantial to protect the contents but it has a much less plasticky feel and a much ore satisfying 'click' when you shut it. What? That matters! The shadows inside are hit and miss (I hear the singles are better but that's almost always the case) but not bad, some are actually very good. I will do a Get Ready With Me with this soon to show you them in action but for now I'd say it's nice but it's not worth £9.99. This palette is 'Twilight & Rose'
There is one item I didn't swatch and that's the powder, it's mattifying and there really isn't much to show, I haven't given it a true day test yet (like to see how mattifying products fare in an air-conditioned office) but there are a couple of red flags already. Again it has a very hollow, plastic feel so I wouldn't like its chances rolling around in my handbag and it doesn't have a powder puff or mirror to touch up so it's really something I'd only use at home which for me defeats the point of it being mattifying. Whether it really makes an impact we will see but like I said, full review to come when I've tried more of the range.
In the meantime if any of you want to add your own experiences with H&M beauty please do! There's so little information out there right now and so many of us will be stuck ordering online, the more reviews we can read, the better!
Miss BB