First impression: HEMA make up haul

While I was on the hunt for cough drops and other items that would help ease my sore throat last Saturday, I decided to stop by HEMA. It is one of my favorite Dutch stores and they have been branching out! There are now HEMA stores in London, so if you find one near you: go check it out. Their beauty department is one I always love checking out and this time, they were having a 25% discount on all beauty items. I decided to pick up a few items I hadn’t seen before yet. And since some of these items are from their limited edition Christmas/ fall make up lines, I figured I’d get it up asap.

A few HEMA make up goodies

The reason why this isn’t a full review, but merely my first impressions, is because I have been sick for the past few days. So forgive me if you’d like to see these items in full face looks. I might use this products in a Christmas or New Year’s look some time this week if I feel better. But as I am typing this, I am pretty much ready for bed again and I am still feeling rough. So we will see how things fare these next few days. I just want to be better for Christmas with my family!

HEMA false lashes in full (€5)

I never wear false lashes. The only ones I have are from Action and they have a very thick black band which stands out and is hard to work with. These lashes look nice and whispy but the band also seems to be barely noticeable. I hope these are bendy enough and work with my eye shape. Fingers crossed!

HEMA Wet & dry eye shadow in 02 soft peach, 05 rosé brown & 03 soft taupe (€5 each)

On to the items I am most excited about. My biggest make up love are eye shadows. I just can’t get enough of them, so when I saw they had renewed their Wet & Dry eye shadows, I swatched a few and took them home. I was uhming and ahming about the trio or a deep chocolate brown shade, but when I swatched them I opted for the trio instead. Here are the shades.

05 Rosé brown is a trio which consists of warm toned browns and a peachy pink highlighter shade. In store these shadows had the most amazing sparkle to them, in real life and with plain day time light they are a little less impressive.

02 Soft taupe is a just as the name suggests: a soft taupe shade and the first one that caught my eye. I am a sucker for taupe eye shadow and I am willing to try any shade on the market. This has a quite beige feel to it, so I think this can make a great basic all over the lid shade.

02 Soft peach isn’t exactly a peach shade, but more of a gold & beige highlight shade. I think this will look nice in the inner corners and/ or on the brow bone.

The texture of these shadows isn’t buttery soft, but they do feel nice. They are easy to pick up and take some building up to get some color pay off. The soft peach shade shows up the least against my skin, whether you use it wet or dry, but applying these wet will definitely intensify these shadows.

Top: swatch dry
Bottom: swatch wet

As you can see in this picture, applying these shadows wet not only intensifies all of them, but the deepest shade from the trio even shows up having a distinct purple undertone. When I swatched these in store, that shade had an amazing purple sparkle to it, which is what made me pick this trio over the other dark brown single on offer. Overall, I feel the shades from the trio perform better than the singles, but that may be because the shades from the singles are so light to begin with.

Looking at them like this though, I think these are very workable shadows that, provided they don’t blend away too easily, can be a very good basic, every day look. The soft peach shade might make a lovely face highlight as well, as it surely has a bit of a golden sheen to it. And I am a little bit in love with the two deepest shades here. That rose toned brown and mauve brown shade are just gorgeous!

HEMA Soft matt lipbalm in 10 (€3.50)

The Soft Matt Lip Balms aren’t new to HEMA’s line, but this shade is. I have a review pending on the four brighter shades that I already own. And I can say I have been loving those ever since I got them. Don’t be fooled by the name: this lipstick pencils are anything but a balm. They feel comfortable on the lips, pack a punch of color and stay put a decent amount of time. So, seeing them release some deeper shades and this unique brick red shade, made me very happy. This shade is part of their fall make up line, so grab it while you still can, because I think this will disappear soon-ish.

HEMA Glitter eyeliner in gold (€3.75)

Every year, HEMA does a line specially for the Holiday season. Last year, I found their eye mousse and eyeliners to be quite enticing. I reviewed those products for you here. This year the offerings weren’t exactly my cup of tea until I found this gold glitter liner. I don’t wear tons of glitter liner, but if I want to dabble round with it, then now’s the time. And then I’d much rather buy a budget alternative than breaking the bank. They also do this in silver, but that had sold out over here.

Technically this product is a liner and mascara in one. I really only got it for the eyeliner part. I honestly cannot see how anyone could make that mascara work. The eyeliner brush is small and thin. There is a decent amount of glitter on there too, so I think this will be very workable.

All swatches in one go. As you can see the lip product goes on opaque and since it is a slightly darker red it will be a great product for this Christmas season. The glitter liner isn’t opaque with one swipe, but is easy to build up by dabbing on a little more.

As you can see I am quite enthusiastic about these (to me) new HEMA products. Now all that rests is figuring out whether that red lipstick matches my Christmas sweater and I am sorted for this year’s Christmas look.

Let me know in a comment down below if you want me to create a make up look with these products!