Good quality for its price point

NOW THAT H&M Beauty has landed in Manila, this writer — like numerous other beauty enthusiasts — was looking forward to trying out some of the products which are said to be affordable and of high quality. After the launch, I got to bring home several products to try out.

My conclusion: these things are work really well for its price point.

LIPSTICK
First things first, lip colors: I got two shades from the Cream lip color line, Brunette Ambition and True Falu.

Brunette Ambition is a mauve-y brown shade that looks perfect for those deeper skin tones if they are going for a nude lip. It looks a bit dark on my fair, neutral toned skin, but it still looks pretty good. True Falu is a gorgeous blue-based red and is perfect for my skin tone. I can see myself rocking this on night events or even in daytime.

Since both are cream formulations, they are not transfer-proof and are generally not long-wearing unlike the matte lip colors — which H&M also has — but what it lacks in wear time and transfer, it makes up for in color as both shades swatched really well without patchiness and are very highly pigmented.

After trying them out over three days, I found that the lip color can last around four hours before fading without taking meals, but if meals are taken, retouching is absolutely necessary.

One would only need one swipe to cover the lips, but another wouldn’t hurt. It’s also non-drying, unlike the matte formulation which reminded me of Mac matte lipsticks which can be pretty drying.

For a person who’s over the matte lip trend, the white bullet-shaped lipstick with a gold-colored base is a beautiful acquisition. (The matte comes in black and gold packaging to make it easily distinguishable.)

BLUSH
The other thing that I’m absolutely loving right now is the Pure Radiance Powder Blusher which I have in Tango Pink, a dusky pink.

Now, the thing about this blush is it is sheer if applied using fingers or a sponge but is highly pigmented when using a brush. Or maybe that’s just my Cargo Magic Brush talking because this blush brush has really dense fibers.

But either way, it’s a beautiful color which goes really well on my cheeks for that almost-natural glow. And the wear isn’t too shabby because it lasted me a solid six hours under humid conditions. One must consider though that my face isn’t oily and I’m only prone to a little shine on my nose.

The packaging is a little cheap-looking as the product is encased in a thin hexagonal plastic compact in black and gold and comes without a mirror, puff or sponge. It might turn one off, but the product works really well for its price so it’s really worth a shot.

NAIL POLISH
A product I’m also currently using is the Copper Rose Nail Polish. During the launch, a lot of people were gushing about the polish and as soon as I put it on myself, I understood why: the formula is pigmented and the brush is fantastic.

I always had problems with nail polish because I have short, stubby fingernails but the brush on this one works really well and in one swipe, covers almost my entire nail sans the usual mess. Copper Rose, as it name suggests, is copper with a slight pink undertone which makes it really wearable.

EYE PENCIL
Lastly, though it might not be my style, I was pretty impressed with the Color Essence Eye Pencil which comes in multiple shades. I got the one called Jade Silver which is a shimmery teal pencil. It’s really highly pigmented and is absolutely waterproof. It’s also not too creamy nor too hard, so it has the perfect texture.

So there, H&M has pretty good stuff out there so I suggest you prepare yourself for a large haul once Sept. 15 rolls in. — Zsarlene B. Chua