Review: MeMeMe Cosmetics

I recently had a little haul from mememecosmetics.co.uk, which is a new brand to me that I’ve never used before, so I thought I would take the chance to write a short review on my purchases.

Firstly, it seems that there are a few bloggers who went to an event MeMeMe hosted and received lots of lovely goodies. Just to make it clear, I didn’t go to this event and the products I’m talking about here have all been purchased with my own money.

MeMeMe is not a brand that was much on my radar prior to this. I saw it as a very cheap, ineffective brand that was extremely derivative of Benefit, and not in a good way. Cheap products, cheap formulations. Plus, it could only be purchased in Superdrug and I don’t go there very often. It’s certainly never appealed to me before.

But it seems the company got taken over a year or so back, and since then they’ve had a massive shake-up of products and packaging, and really regenerated the whole concept of the line. It still has a few Benefit rip-off products, but they are a lot better quality than they used to be (I don’t mind ‘copying’ per se, but when the product is vastly worse in quality than what its pretending to be it does irritate me). Plus, they have a couple of really nice new products of their own invention.

I am a complete sucker for packaging, hands up, and the new MeMeMe designs are very pretty indeed. They’ve moved away from previous, very plain designs that looked cheap and steered away from the retro-women niche that Benefit, Soap & Glory, and their numerous imitators have over-crowded. The website states that their new inspiration is Greek mythology and the Renaissance, which I really like, and it’s original as well. The containers are really quite desirable now, certainly more so (in my opinion) than Rimmel or an equivalent priced brand.

Price-wise I believe with the image hike, the prices have also drifted upwards, although as I’ve never bought anything from them before, I can’t really compare. I would say prices now sit at the mid-range of drugstore – not as expensive as L’Oreal but not as cheap as Miss Sporty. But I certainly don’t mind this if the products live up to the allure of the packaging. The packaging is also quite sturdy and feels a lot more ‘premium’ than I would expect.

The reason I stumbled across them in the first place was that I saw a Groupon deal- £18 for £45 to spend on the website. For this, I managed to get six products, which is not so bad if you realise I did want a few of the pricier items in the range. I would have bought two of them (totalling more than £18) without the deal, and everything else was a bonus. So, what were they like?

Light Me Up Lipgloss in ‘Luminous’

£6.99

I hadn’t originally been after a lipgloss, but after I’d purchased what I really wanted, I still had a few pounds of the voucher left to play with and this fitted nicely. The idea is that it’s a lipgloss with a light and a mirror in the lid, presumably so you can touch up on the dancefloor or in the back of a taxi. I think Liperazzi were the first brand that did a concept like this. I tend to visit the ladies and touch up all of my makeup at once, but I suppose this could come in handy. And I'm really pleasantly surprised by this- it smells of peppermint and vanilla, gives a really great, non-sticky colour- and my husband liked it a lot as well! The lights and mirror might not sell me, but the gloss itself is really good.

Correct & Perfect Concealer Kit in ‘Nude’

£6.99

 I was not expecting to like this product as much as I did! I bought it as a 'filler', to use up my voucher really but it's now become a new favourite. It comes as a little pot of cream concealer with a pot of setting powder underneath, and there's a little mirror in the lid that's a nice touch, but too small to really be of much use. I suffer badly with baggy, dark undereye areas and always use light-reflecting concealers, which this isn't. However, it did work really well on that area. See the picture I took- the eye on the right has some of the Correct & Perfect, and the eye on the left doesn't. Quite a difference, huh? I'm pleasantly surprised by this one! It didn't settle into the little lines either. I think in future, I would definately repurchase this and possibly combine it with a light reflective concealer on top for a double whammy. On the downside, there is a fairly limited shade range- three, to be precise. I chose the mid-toned one, Nude, and it was a good match for my (NW23) skin.

Beat the Blues in ‘Sunbeam’

£5.25

This product is basically Sunbeam by Benefit. They also have a pink toned highlighting liquid that is a dupe for Moonbeam, and red and pink blush liquids that are clearly Benetint and Poseytint by another name. So if you’re a fan of these cheek colours there will be something here for you. I use Moonbeam at the moment when I go out, but it is quite cool toned, so with summer (and my olive skin) I thought the sunnier shade might be more useful. I absolutely loved it! The sheen it gives is definately golden, but looks a lot more subtle and healthy on me that Moonbeam. The little glass bottle, with its embellished swirls, is every bit as appealing as the Benefit products, and the glow lasted as well. This will be awesome with a tan on summer evenings! It perked up my complexion and gave me a nice lift. And the price is about a third of the equivalent from Benefit, so you really can't go wrong!

Dew Pots in ‘Hollow Haze’

£5.25

I've never been a massive fan of cream eyeshadows, but a couple of products (notably Benefit's Creaseless Cream Shadow and Revlon Five Star Eye Mousse), have been helping me overcome this. Although Dew Pots are a pretty product, they won't be changing this! The colour goes on smoothly with a pleasing depth of pigment, but it does crease and it melts away really quickly. The situation might be improved if you used an eyelid primer first, but for me, having to use an additional product defeats the whole point of cream shadow- which is that it's quick and convenient. I thought this product could still be a success if I just used in in the inner corners though, and it did give a pretty, if short-lived, glow to my eyes.

The last two products are really the heroes for me though, and the ones I would have bought even without the deal. They are the innovative ones that will set MeMeMe apart as a brand, but they are also the dearest, quite a lot more expensive by scale than the rest of the line.

Arch Angel

£8.50

Firstly, the packaging is gorgeous for this product. It's a tinted brow mascara- although at the moment it only seems to come in a dark brown shade, and the other end is a flattering whitish-gold highlighting cream.. I would certainly buy this product again. My brows are quite sparse at the outer edge, so I still feel the need to fill them in slightly with powder- no brow mascara will complete take care of that! On the left, I had just used the brow groomer, and on the right is the finished look after filling in with powder. It's a nice natural brown that's not too reddish in tone. All in all I'm really pleased.

Goddess Rocks

£12.50

This product is utterly gorgeous, and although its one of those things that will last for a long time by its nature, I would definately pick this up again. It's a collection of jumbo bronzing pearls (they really are 'rocks'), of a metallic pink, a bronze and a gold colour. The idea is that you can use the individual nuggets as a lid colour, mix them with a clear gloss to use on your lips, or swirl a brush over the whole and use it as a bronzer. The colours are gorgeous, and I was surprised they're not too overwhelming metallic. The shade is dark enough to give some real depth and contour to the cheeks. I love this product! And the packaging is a little cardboard tub, which seems sturdy enough and is very cute indeed.

On the whole? I'm really seriously impressed with the revamp this line has had. The products are not only beautifully presented but the formulations are great as well. I would definately repurchase all the products, with the exeption of the Dew Pots, but that's probably just me. If you haven't tried this line, I thoroughly recommend giving them a go!