Tried & Tested // H&M Beauty

New in for Autumn 2015 is H&M's gorgeous new beauty line, like most people I had never taken the time to check out their make-up line just because it had never looked appealing to me. However, after seeing shots of their fabulous new packaging and hearing of the supposedly better formula I just had to pick some up for myself to try!

First of all I picked up a small make-up bag,
1. Because I was struggling to hold all the bit and bobs I'd picked up
2. Because I thought it would look perfect/ be handy to have in my university bag
I absolutely love it! Its so classic and minimal, and also I can see all my lovely pieces inside.

First off is eyes; One of the products I was most excited about was the eyeshadow palettes, the 'Smoky Nudes Palette' had sold out online so when I went into store I was so excited to see it stocked on the shelves. This palette is a blend of browns, pinks and a little bit of gold and comes with both shimmer and matte eyeshadow; perfect for multiple looks! In terms of consistency I felt the lighter shades didn't really pack a punch and we're hardly visible unlike the darker colours however when applied with a slightly damp brush or primer this pay off issue quickly resolved itself with some beautiful bold shades. I also love the fact the palettes come with a little 'how-to' leaflet which shows you three looks ready made to try out. Overall a gorgeous palette with a wide range of shades and looks to try.

However the New High Colour Impact Eyeshadows won in terms of both pigmentation and pay off, with only one application resulting in a strong gorgeous wash of colour. I picked up the shades 'Sharp as Mustard' (a warm/golden green shadow - actually my favourite out of the three), 'Ginger Snap' (a golden orangey bronze shade - very similar to M.A.C's Amber Lights) and 'Sahara Dawn' (a beautiful burgundy colour - a brilliant dupe for M.A.C's Cranberry). H&M have a great colour selection and supposedly are made in the same factory as M.A.C products so it doesn't surprise me that several of their single eyeshadows are excellent dupes for M.A.C. I also picked up a cream eyeshadow in 'Sirocco', i've mainly been using it as a brown eyeliner however a wash of this shadow over your eye would create a perfect dark eye unfortunately I haven't had occasion to use it yet.

I have quite a love hate relationship with painting my nails however there was such a wide selection of nail polishes I had to try some out! I picked up 'Science Fiction' (a beautiful aquamarine mix of deep blue and green's) and 'Precious' (a pure gold colour). I quite like the brush for a nail varnish as it fits nicely to the nail (less likelihood of painting the whole of your finger too) and the varnishes only need roughly 1 -2 applications for a nice strong colour. However you can still tell they are only £3.99, they are good for drugstore quality but they are clearly still drugstore products so I wasn't expecting them to be my new favourite nail varnishes. I also picked up a Quick Dry Nail Spray (mainly out of curiosity) which it does exactly what it says on the tin. My nails dried incredibly quickly but it did leave a matte effect of my nails which I wasn't fond of as it made my nails texturised and not glossy how I like them.

Last but not least are lip products! I picked up a cream lipstick in 'Ember Glow' (a warm autumnal red) and a lip crayon in 'When in Rome' (a dark nude colour). Both products are high in consistency but my favourite is definitely 'When in Rome' as its so easy to pop in my bag and as a lip crayon it both moisturises and adds colour to my lips.