I Heart Makeup London Chocolate Bar palette review

I first noticed this brand at Easter when they released their Easter Egg palettes, the brand is owned by the same people who created Makeup Revolution and Freedom Makeup. (Tam Beauty UK). I don't know why they have created yet another makeup brand, as Makeup Revolution in particular, is a great budget brand and I would have thought the smarter thing to do would be to put all resources into that to keep their range on point. This line seems to be even cheaper than Makeup Revolution (which is pretty cheap as it is!) I haven't been sure whether to give them a try because I just thought it probably wasn't going to be very good quality and because the packaging just looked like a blatant rip off of other brands. However, I couldn't resist giving them a go in the end, I mean £9 for an eyeshadow palette?? I had to. Pictured below are the products I tried, you'll probably agree, the packaging is pretty cute!

I have to say when I first opened the bronzer and the blush/highlight palette I was a bit dissapointed. The product looked and felt so cheap, it has a wierd, rough, texture like it was made of styrofoam or something, it kind of felt a bit spongey and almost had the feeling of a baked formula, but just not as nice. Literally, the strangest consistency for a blush and bronzer I've felt. I wasn't expecting much from it at all to be honest, however, I was actually surprised at how pigmented they were and very shimmery. The highlight really pops, I did find the blush didn't apply very smoothly and it was a bit difficult to blend out but apart from that, the colour payoff was pretty decent. I don't think I will use the bronzer again as it was too shimmery and a bit muddy looking on me, I definitely preffer matte bronzers for sure, but I had to try it out.

The eyeshadow palettes felt slightly better quality, although the matte shades feel a bit chalky / talcy but again, they seemed to be quite pigmented and swatched well. The shimmery shades are lovely and I'm sure you could create a nice look with these. Again, I didn't find them the easiest to blend out, it felt like it kind of clung to my eyelid and it took a bit of effort to blend it out, but if you stick with it you can definitely make this product work for you. I will definitely use these eyeshadow palettes again, but I doubt I will buy any more of them. The packaging is cute and it's nice to have a few, but I'd rather pay a bit more money and get a product that feels nicer and blends better.

All in all I'm not sold on this makeup brand, it's just another copy-cat brand and I feel like we have enough of those. Makeup Revolution is doing the same thing anyway and has found success because the quality of the product is good. Why would you create another sub-brand doing the same thing when you sold me something similiar already? It just feels like cashing in on the make up craze and its not really necessary. It's like when singers release an album and then re-release it a few months later with a couple of bonus tracks and expect us to buy it again. Um ... Why didn't you just put all the songs on the same album, b*tch? I'm not giving you my money again. Nope. (insert side eye emoji here) The only other copy-cat brand I have happily bought is W7 because they are pretty decent, but in general I find brands that are blatantly ripping off more expensive brands a bit tacky. Obviously, 'I heart Makeup' is aimed at young teens who don't have the budget to buy those other brands, and that's fine and I suppose the product is good enough for someone to practice their makeup skills without breaking the bank, but I don't think I would buy anything else from this brand in future. The packaging is cute, and the product is ok, but I will stick with Makeup Revolution or other established highstreet brands if I want a cheap alternative.