Makeup by One Direction - Midnight Memories Kit

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Warning, photo heavy!

Hey guys!  I finally have my review post up for the Makeup by One Direction Midnight Memories kit from The Looks Collection.  This kit was provided to me for review through Brandbacker and sponsored by Markwin International.  There are three kits available, and Midnight Memories was the one I was hoping to get.  The kit has almost everything you need to create a look.  You just need your foundation/bb cream, whatever you choose to prep your colour canvas.  Each item is named for a song.

Right Now (nail polish) is described as a liquefied metallic steel which seems accurate to me.  I used three coats and one coat of HK Girl topcoat.  It is loaded with micro-shimmers that are hard to capture .  The formula is okay, it's a little bit streaky, but does build up to full opacity after the third coat.  It does dry shiny, but I experienced a few brushstrokes with the finish.  It was minimal, but topcoat really makes it glossy and brings out the shimmers a bit more.  Something to note is the square cap is the handle, so it can be a little bit awkward to hold.  The brush itself is flat and medium wide and spreads out nicely.

Makeup by One Direction - Right Now

I rarely mention wear on a polish unless it's extremely poor and chips on me in a matter of hours.  Wear time is solely dependant on body chemistry and differs from person to person. Usual wear time for me is 24 - 48 hours on average.  Right Now by far exceeded that time frame as I put it on last Tuesday when I received it and wore it straight through until this morning when I finally removed it because frankly I was bored of it.  During that time I had some tip wear, but no chips at all even though I had showers, did dishes and went out and did errands.  I have to say I'm quite impressed!  Usually if I'm out of the house on errands, my polish is sure to chip on me and drive me crazy until I can get home and remove it.  

I took swatches of all the other products on my arm.  I attempted to do lip swatches of the lipstick and gloss for you, but they didn't turn out no matter what I tried, so everything is listed below.

The Looks Collection Midnight Memories Kit Swatches

 From left to right: Midnight Memories eyeshadow, Strong eyeshadow, Half a Heart eyeshadow, Don't Forget Where You Belong eyeshadow, Little White Lies, Little Black Dress Mascara, Better Than Words eye crayon, Through the Dark lip gloss and Best Song Ever lipstick.

Makeup by One Direction 4+1 Shadow Palette

The 4+1 shadow palette comes with a dual ended foam and brush applicator and 5 different shades.  The eyeshadows in this little palette are nicely pigmented except for Little White Lies, I had to use quite a few strokes to get it to show up on my skin.  It would be great under the brow or used in the corner of your eye as a highlighter without going too white.  I do think both Strong and Half a Heart are similar enough once on the skin that they didn't need both.  Of all of them Don't Forget Where You Belong is my favourite and I do like how you can get a shimmery/smoky eye with the colours.

Makeup by One Direction - Little Black Dress Mascara

Little Black Dress (mascara) wasn't anything special for me.  It has a long stem and a standard tapered applicator.  While it give excellent colour and I found it did lengthen my lashes I did have an issue with my lashes clumping together.  I would recommend blotting the wand before use.

Makeup by One Direction - Better Than Words Eye Crayon

Better Than Words (eye crayon) is nicely pigmented and very smooth.  It applied easily without dragging.  Unfortunately it's just too large to be used as an eyeliner for my taste.  I had difficulty getting right up to the lash line and I prefer a much thinner line of eyeliner.  For those that like the fatter eye crayons, they may like it better than I did.

Through the Dark (lip gloss) was my hands down favourite product from this kit.  I love the colour and the shimmer.  It is a sexy bright pink that looks great on my skin tone and the pigmentation was excellent.  The only downside for me was that it had a gritty feeling to it.  Even so, that didn't detract from it being my favourite.  Other than the nail polish, this is what I'm most excited for.  And for those that like going to clubs, it glows in the dark, pretty cool!

Best Song Ever (lip stick) is super creamy and smooth.  The colour glided on smoothly and once fully applied makes my lips feel soft and moisturized without being sticky.  The colour is definitely brighter and wilder than I'm used to, but I could totally rock it on a date night.

Packaging:

It's definitely a collector's item for One Direction fans with the outer sleeve signed by the band members.  The outside of the tin has a grey brick pattern and inside are some tips for some different eye looks using the 4+1 palette.  Unfortunately the lid to my tin came apart and I haven't been able to get the hinge on one side of it working.  So it's not the sturdiest of tins, but it's still a great way to keep your collection together.

Overall:

Kits retail for $29.00 USD.  Looking at it purely as a makeup collection, the price isn't that bad for the quality of the products.  The only products I wasn't happy with were the mascara and the eye crayon.  If the eye crayon was thinner, I would have loved it, so that's not bad at all.  Looking at it as a collector's item for One Direction fans, I think it's a great buy.  Each kit is Limited Edition and you can check out what's in the other kits below.

Where can you purchase them?

The line will be available worldwide starting in the U.S.

US RELEASE DATES:
Macy's - August 11th
Stage Stores – August 25th
Dillards – August 25th
Beauty Brands – August 25th
Lord and Taylor - August 25th

*International release dates TBD.

To keep in touch what's going on, don't forget to follow Makeup by One Direction's Facebook page.  If you also follow along on Twitter or Instagram, be sure to check out these hashtags: #makeupby1D, #thelookscollection, #markwins

I am a Brandbacker community member and I am participating in the Brandbacker Makeup by One Direction Campaign from Markwin International.  I was not compensated for this post.  I received samples to facilitate an honest review, but all opinions will be always be my own  Photos not watermarked PJ's and Polish are property of Markwins International.