I bought this little palette the other day when I was in H&M – it was around the £3.99 mark I think – because I wanted to get an idea of their new make up offerings. I know that it’s not brand, brand new but their old stuff was so awful, I was curious to know if the new is any better. And, it 100% is. You know, if I was a luxury make up brand right now, I’d be very worried. Budget beauty brands are really taking a hold because they’re able to make very good quality products, simply packaged, in high quantity (bringing the prices down) and it’s only a matter of education via blogs and other channels and soon, I think, there will be a shift.
Nothing at all can replace my lovely Chanel or Dior, for example, but you do have to ask yourself why you’d spend an extra £30 or more on exactly the same end result. I don’t know.. I rather feel that’s a decent pair of shoes worth of difference. If you’re all about the results rather than the wrapping, it doesn’t seem to make sense not to expand your beauty stash with budget brands such as Makeup Revolution or Collection and now H&M.
Not all budget brands are equal – there is still a big variety of quality; hopefully blogs can lead you through the trial and error and flag up the ones that give results. The palette above is called Smoky Black but I noticed they had several colour-ways.
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8 comments
I have to say I wasn’t expecting much when I came across this range (I was only in the shop to return some clothing) but boy was I wrong – not only is there a vast choice (so many nail polishes Iiterally couldn’t choose!). I bought a couple of single eye shadows and a lipstick – quality of both absolutely brilliant, and for the money…!? My only tiny niggle and it may not be the same in every branch is how cramped the whole display area is, there is so much to look at from a very low to about chin height but if there is more than one person browsing a section then you just can’t get near anything.:(
The pigment looks amazing from those shadows I may have to try it out! I prefer to go for the budget priced good quality make up brands.
Nicola x
As a matter or interest, Jane, do you try these on your eyes? I tend to find with the budget brands that they swatch infinitely better on your arm using your fingers than on your eyes with a brush. I recently bought a budget range brought out recently by a well-known blogger and it’s awful. The colours look sensational in the two palettes and even swatch nicely…and a snip at £6. But they’re so chalky that you get eye shadow everywhere but on your eyes and end up with a morning-after-the-night-before look. That’s what has me running back to my (and your) trusty Chanel and Dior.
Hi there Cathy – mostly I do – it might be just one shade but I do try and give them a run. If I know the brand really well (such as YSL or Chanel) I tend not to do so if there’s no formulation change. The difference is of course that lids are more oily than arms – with the H&M palette someone said they had found them difficult to blend and that’s always good feedback for me, but I almost always use a lid primer so that might make a difference.
This is actually not part of the new range though which has much nicer packaging and its own displays – I’ve tried some bits and they are pretty good. The colour range is huge and overall it looks more expensive than it is.
Could you review some of the new H&M Beauty collection?
I am still huffing over my store not having the new collection in yet. It looks so beautiful 🙂
http://www.makeerinover.co.uk
The brand new collection is very impressive – I’d say the best i’ve seen in terms of High Street – more extensive and inclusive than Top Shop. The packaging looks chic though feels very plastic-y which can’t really complain about. Seems to be moving closer towards sister brand & Other Stories.
jane as a make up junky you are my god thank you for your very being xx