Zara Cosmetics

[unpaid/sample] Zara had a crack at make up a few years ago but obviously decided to completely revamp the range with a much more stylish collection which is available from 12th May (although I think you can put things in your basket from now). I’ve got a small selection here which I’ll run through although it’s quite difficult to know what shades I have as nothing is labelled. I don’t know if that’s because they’re samples or Zara is taking minimalism to a whole new level.

I have one from each of the lipstick textures here – the pink shade you see is in Cult Satin (with shade 8 shades) is called Bonnie, I think. The Ultimate Matte shade is called Winner. The white shade is in the Tinted Balm texture (which I want to see more of) in Holo. I tried it – very comfortable and gives a golden glisten to the lips. They’re really not expensive at £11.99 each with refills costing £6.99.

Next up is the Bronzer which comes in 9 shades. They’re made with very fine powder which does mean a bit of drop -so you may not want to do this while you’ll wearing your best white dress! However, they are highly pigmented so you need only whisper a brush across the top to get the amount you need. I’d advise using the best brush you have for pick up so the bristles keep hold of the bronzer and it will drop less.

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This is the Cheek Colour In 3 Palette with a bronzer, a blush and a highlight. Again, they’re very fine milled powders. Mine is in Impeccable Touch and there are two other colourways for this.  At £12.99, and refillable, this is a great price. The two Lip Stilettos are £9.99 and £5.99 each for the refills – and are, so far, my favourite things from the collection.

I love the vibrancy of the geranium shade – I wore it yesterday and can say it’s a very comfortable wear. There’s a little bit of sheen and the formula is very creamy and soft. I honestly can’t tell which the colours are from the site.

Here are the lipstick swatches and the Cheek Colour in 3. They’re all pretty wearable I think.

The palette is very impressive at £17.99. It’s in the colourway Clash Out with refills at £12.99 if you want change things up with the other four colourways. There are also gorgeous duos for £11.99 and singles for £4.99 each.

None of the shades were droppy other than the first one which is a matte powder – everything else was smooth and easy to apply. There are three finishes – glitter, matte and metallic and I was impressed with the pigment level of all o them – I’m dying to get the black and brown shades on my lids but it’s been such a long time and actually, it’s one of very few shades that has tempted me to get a brush out over using an eye crayon. Shades I’ve used are the mattes which are the palest in the palette, and I don’t have any complaints about their coverage but do need to flag there is a little fall from the first shade. Speaking of brushes – I think these may be the weak point in what is otherwise a strong collection. They’re clearly nylon fibres that don’t mimic hair quite well enough to pick up the product so it stays on the brush. I can’t complain about the hand feel though – instantly at home!

The strongest (so far) elements of this new Zara collection are the lips and eyes – I really can’t fault those lip products in any way. The feel of the collection is minimalist with a bit of edge – see lopsided lipsticks which you will either love or will drive you quite mad and aren’t dissimilar to the recent Byredo collection in terms of curved design. The casings so far are all white, gleaming and weighty. It’s fantastic that everything so far is refillable – once you’ve bought the case, it feels like it will last. The lipsticks have the click that indicates a magnet (hilarious when they all take off in different directions while you’re trying to photograph them) in the base and the palettes have a dropped edge so they’re not just squares. I can really see that any of these items might fall into your basket very, very easily but all sorts of things fall into mine when I’m Zara shopping anyway. The make up artist doing the creative on the Zara make up is Diane Kendal.