New! H & M Beauty | Infinite High Impact Eye Colour in Sahara Caravan + Candied Almond | Swatches & Review

H & M Eyeshadows: Sahara Caravan (left), Candied Almond (right)

I popped into H & M to have a quick look at their makeup and these 2 eyeshadows caught my eye right away; Sahara Caravan & Candied Almond, They are so similar to each other and without trying them on my eyes it was really hard to decide which one to get. They are both mid-tone matte brown shades and they swatched so beautifully!

I was so impressed by the feel of these eyeshadows when I swatched the testers, I wanted to buy them all! They had a great selection of mattes, shimmers, and metallics.

I have been trying to be good about not purchasing things I don't need, so I actually left the store and decided to see if I had dupes at home (I left the swatches on my hand).

Once I got home, I pulled out all my eyeshadows to see if I had any dupes. I only found one shadow that was similar to the colour Sahara Caravan (shared in this post), but as I went through my makeup, I was so impressed with the quality of the H & M shadows that they made most of my eyeshadows seem like junk in comparison!

I find it difficult to find good quality matte shadows and these were the best I have come across, so it only made sense to go back to the store and get both!

I'm not sure why one eyeshadow package says "Infinite Impact" and the other says "High Impact." I'm guessing one is older packaging.

Sahara Caravan (left), Candied Almond (right)

Sahara Caravan

Candied Almond

In-Store Swatches (this photo only)

In-Store Swatches: Candied Almond (top), Sahara Caravan (bottom)

Natural Daylight Swatches, No Primer

Candied Almond (top), Sahara Caravan (bottom)

Candied Almond (top), Sahara Caravan (bottom)

Closest Dupe

Above: H & M Sahara Caravan on top, Wet n Wild Vanity (middle, left shade) on bottom

Closest Dupe (in my collection): 
I only found one similar shade in my collection. The middle, left shade in Wet n Wild's Vanity palette was similar to Sahara Caravan by H & M. I found nothing close to Candied Almond. As you can see, Wet n Wild is lighter, warmer, and tanner in colour. H & M's Sahara Caravan is darker and has more red tones in it. I personally like the colour and the formula of the H & M shadow better.

Description from H & M's website:

"A silky eye colour that blends easily for a vivid, velvety finish that applies easily and stays put. Available in a vast range of curated colours and eye-catching effects. From soft mattes to rich shimmers to bold metallics, the possibilities are endless. 2 g. How to use: Apply on your eyelid, blending as desired. Wear on top of eye primer for even more intense and long-lasting results."

My Thoughts: 
The packaging is pretty but it's plastic and feels rather cheap and there is no mirror. It's not a deal breaker for me as the product is fantastic. Both are super smooth and creamy formulas with excellent pigmentation. A little powdery as are most mattes, make sure to tap off your brush before applying. They blend well and are not patchy at all!

I guess because many are dry, many matte eyeshadows accentuate the wrinkles on my eyes, these do not! These are excellent for aging eyes like mine.

I know I'll be getting a ton of use out of these as they will go with anything! They look great as a single shadow look, as contour colours for the crease, and as transition colours with other eyeshadows.

I can do a quick single shadow look with either one of these blended into the crease and it looks classy and put together as if I put some work into my look. I also love a no-makeup-makeup look and these are great for that. I also love wearing the two of these together, with the darker right in the crease and the lighter one in the upper part of my crease.

These colours make the perfect contour shades for the eyes which can help reduce the appearance of hooded eyes by using these colours in the crease and creating a shadow.

I found the wear time good with very minimal fading by the end of the day. I do wear an eye base underneath as I always do and I didn't have any creasing. I have oily eyelids, so I find that I do have to put an eyeshadow on my eyelids as well or I will get oily.

Although it's wonderful that H & M has testers, I don't like that their makeup is final sale. Swatching colours on your hand is not the same as trying something on your face.

I would love it if H & M would sell these eyeshadows just in the pan and sell some little magnetic palettes to put them in. For those of us with Z-palettes, we could just use those.

I highly recommend these eyeshadows. I'm so impressed that I really want to try more products from their makeup line now.

Have you tried anything from their beauty line that you love? Please let me know in the comments.

These retail for $7.99 CAD each for 2 grams

DIY / Hack: How To Fix Hardpan With Powder Makeup Products

Today I have a DIY beauty hack that I hope you will find useful.

I wanted to use up my IT Cosmetics Vitality Disk. It was getting very old and the bronzer had developed "hardpan." Even using my most dense and rough makeup brush, I could barely pick up any product. So I was getting prepared to have to throw out this product, but I really didn't want to as it was expensive and I really like this palette.

I was considering taking a knife to scrape off the top layer of product, but I was afraid I would waste a lot of product, so I decided to hit-up my makeup loving Instagram buddies for some suggestions.

My Instagram buddy,  Makeup By Starla, suggested packing tape. I doubted it would work so I decided to put it to the test. 

Thanks to Starla, my palette is totally usable again. After I fixed up my bronzer using her suggestion, I went through some hardened eyeshadows and a face powder and repaired them all! Thank you, Starla!

Let's see what I fixed and how EASY it was!

It Cosmetics Vitality Disk

 Shown above is my IT Vitality Disk. Most of the bronzer is covered in hardpan.

Using Starla's suggestion, I put some packing tape over the product.

I was in total shock when I pulled the tape off of my bronzer and saw what it had picked up in a nano-second. I rubbed my finger along the bronzer and voila, it picked up much more product!

Here is my fresh and revived bronzer. It's not as soft as it was when new but it's useable and I couldn't be happier that I don't have to throw it out as I actually really like this product!

Now let's see what else I was able to repair.

Annabelle CC Pressed Powder

The photo in the upper left corner is with hardpan. The bottom right photo is after using the tape method.

This also worked wonders on this Annabelle face powder. This product isn't very old at all but somehow it developed hardpan. Before using the tape method on the powder, I couldn't pick up ANY product where you see the hardpan, now It's like new again!

Quo Back To Basics Eye Shadow Palette

Upper left picture is with harpan, before the tape method. The bottom right photo is after.

Lastly, I tried the same method on my Quo eyeshadow palette and it worked wonders on that too. Now, my shadows are revived and my brushes pick up so much more product!

This method is like a little miracle. It's cheap and so easy! It only takes a second to lift up the dry, hardened product. It's really an amazing way to save your favourite products and give them new life. 

You can also go over the same product as many times as you like to pick up the more hardened product. I went over each item about 2 times with the tape.

I'm so grateful to have this trick now to save all of my powdered products. 

I hope this helps those of you who are looking for a solution to this issue. It's an easy, quick and cheap solution to the once annoying harpan!

If you have any Beauty Hacks, please leave them in the comments below!

January Health and Beauty Haul: Makeup, Supplements and More!

I have been placing an order with iHerb pretty much every month for as long as I can remember. This month I ordered some of my must-have items plus a little makeup. I love that iHerb carries health and beauty products (including ELF cosmetics and Real Techniques), it's like a one-stop shop for me.

Here I'll share with you what I ordered this month, with a little info on each product and links where possible.

California Gold Nutrition CoQ10- This isn't my usual brand of CoQ10 but it's on sale for such a great price that I figured I'd give it a try. It's fermented, non-GMO and soy free! I take this for heart health and overall health. I feel that anyone over 40 can benefit from Q10! I take just one a day.

Now Foods Xyliwhite Toothpaste- If you follow my blog, you probably know that this is my favourite fluoride-free toothpaste! It's also SLS free, gluten free, and paraben free! Right now it's on sale for only $1!

Healthy Origins 5-HTP - This is fabulous for mood and sleep. I've read that it's supposed to help reduce cravings and therefore help with weigh loss too. I take 50-100mg if I can't sleep or if I wake and need helping nodding off again.

Nature's Way Vitex- A Woman's supplement used for overall health and balance in a woman's cycle. I cannot take progesterone, even bio-identical, so I take vitex to help raise my progesterone levels. I try to take 2 per day but often only take 1.

Now Foods Evening Primrose Oil- Another great supplement for women. It has naturally occurring GLA (Gamma Linolenic Acid), an omega-6 fatty acid. It's great for our immune system, skin, vascular system, and hormone health. It's also supposed to help with PMS. This supplement also promotes progesterone. This one is non-GMO and Hexane-free! I buy this big-daddy size as it's more cost effective. If I would remember to I'd take 2 a day but I only take one, so this bottle lasts for 250 days!

Elf Eyeshadow Compact in Smokey Eyes- I couldn't resist this palette, it's on sale for a steal! I have this compact in another colour and the pigmentation is just amazing. Elf is Cruelty-free! :D (Note: this one isn't for me.. wink wink)

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I purchased from iHerb this month. I know I love to see what people like to purchase and why. Hopefully you found some of the information helpful too.

If you have never shopped at iHerb before, you can get $5 off your order by using this link (note: this is a referral link and we both benefit if you choose to use it. If you do use it, I do appreciate it very much!)

Please check iHerb's links at the top of their website for fabulous deals under "trials" and "daily deals." 

In Health & Happines
Amy

Maybelline Color Tattoo Bad to the Bronze Dupe for Less Than $3.50!? #Dupe #Swatches #Review

I just love finding a good dupe, especially if it's going to save me some money! I hope you enjoy this one! I think it's a good one so I can't believe I haven't heard about it yet. 

I was doing some grocery shopping the other day and couldn't resist perusing the makeup section, as usual. I came across some eye crayons by NYC that looked new to me. They're called the NYC CityProof 24 HR Waterproof Eyeshadow.  So, they claim to be 24 hour wear just like Maybelline's color tattoo. Although, I don't know anyone who wears eyeshadow for 24 hours straight and I'm not sure about the waterproof claim, but for only $3.47 I couldn't resist picking one up.

NYC CityPROOF 24HR Waterproof Eyshadow in Brooklyn Mocha (605)

Two of a kind:

NYC CityProof Eyeshadow in Brooklyn Mocha/ Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

As soon as I got home I had to swatch my new NYC eye crayon. I notice immediately that it looked familiar and thought it looked like Maybelline's Bad to the Bronze so I decided to compare them.

Top: Maybelline Color Tattoo 24HR Eyeshadow in Bad to the Bronze

Bottom: NYC CityProof 24 HR Waterproof Eyeshadow in Brooklyn Mocha

Left: Maybelline Bad to the Bronze

Right: NYC Brooklyn Mocha

As you can see from the swatches, they are pretty much identical. I swatched them side by side and even when I turn my hand the colours stay pretty much identical.

Trying other lighting:

Left: Maybelline Bad to the Bronze

Right: NYC Brooklyn Mocha

Top: Maybelline Bad to the Bronze

Bottom: NYC Brooklyn Mocha

More lighting (odd lighting but shows how similar no matter what lighting):

Top: Maybelline Bad to the Bronze

Bottom: NYC Brooklyn Mocha

Nighttime:

Left: Maybelline Bad to the Bronze (Here you can see it's a tad warmer in it's undertone)

Right: NYC Brooklyn Mocha

With flash:

Left: Maybelline Bad to the Bronze

Right: NYC Brooklyn Mocha

Top: Maybelline

Bottom: NYC

Packaging and application: They obviously having different types of packaging and application methods. I find that they both apply very easily, it would just be a matter of preference. I for one, don't really like putting my fingers in products that will go on my eyes, but some may find more control using their finger. Although, both application methods were easy. The NYC crayon applies very smoothly with no tugging. To get the pigmentation that I wanted I did swipe the NYC crayon across my lid a few times. I also like that the lid on the NYC crayon snaps on, you can hear the snap, so you know it shouldn't dry out quickly. That's some good attention to detail for such an inexpensive product.  They NYC crayon also twists up, so no worrying about having to sharpen it.

24HR claims: I don't know about 24HR wear since I've never worn a shadow for 24 hours (at least not on purpose). I had trouble getting both off of my hand, it took a lot of scrubbing, a little more scrubbing with the Maybelline. The Maybelline definitely lasted longer on my lids when I wore them as a stand alone eye shadow.

The differences: Although they look pretty much identical in swatches and upon first application, you really see the differences after wearing them for a few hours. The Maybelline Color Tattoo stood the test of time much better. After a few hours the NYC shadow was creasing and wearing off, leaving mostly glitter behind. But, for the price the NYC is still pretty and would make a good eye shadow base. But, if you want a stand alone shadow, the Color Tattoo fairs much better.

Have you found any affordable dupes lately?

Come on over to Fabulous and Fun Life for a great linkup party!

Note to self: In the future, do swatches on your inner arm, not your vein-y hand!

Amy