The month of January: July 2013

MASSIVE SLEEK REVIEW...EEK!

I adore Sleek, the products are very good value for money, available at selected Superdrug stores, Superdrug online: http://www.superdrug.com/a-z-brands/sleek/icat/sleek
or on their own website: http://www.sleekmakeup.com/

I'll start with (probably) their most famous products, Palettes:
I have 7, "Oh so special", "Lagoon", "i-Candy", "Original", "Primer", "Ultra Mattes IV" & the "Snapshots"

Oh So Special Palette

Swatches

The Oh So Special Palette is a great neutral palette. You can create lovely matte and shimmery nude looks with this palette, though I still haven't totally figured out how to use the Pinky/Peach shades yet. Maybe I should do Nicole Guerriero's Coral eyes & peach lips Tutorial with them....not sure yet :/ I do like it but if you have palettes like the MUA Undressed, Undress me too or Urban Decay Naked's you really don't need it. Overall: C

Lagoon

Swatches

The Lagoon Palette was a limited addition palette as part of the "Aqua" Collection. I do like this palette as you create beautiful sea coloured looks or a really interesting smokey eye with blending black pearl into pretty much any colour. I also love the addition of the Red-ey Coral, Ariel. If you can get this palette and love smokey lilac looks go for it, I kinda think it's lacking a deeper sea green though. Overall: B

i-Candy

Swatches

The i-Candy Palette is part of the latest "Candy" Collection and I do think this palette will satisfy a sweet tooth. With both cute names and nicely pigmented pastel shades, it's definitely worth grabbing if you can! Overall: A

Original

Swatches

The Original Palette is full of really deep shades that are very pigmented. Though this is probably my least used palette! I find this palette a tad bit un-inspiring and so tend to use the shadows individually to add something to a look I am doing with another palette or other shadows. It's a good set staple though as it has a good range of colours in there that blend well. Overall: B+

Primer

These creamy shadows are really not very pigmented at all upon first swatch/use, but are buildable! They DO crease, however! A good primer like Primer Potion (UD) or Shadow Insurance (Too Faced). To be honest, I do like to use these colours under shadows but am always worried they'll crease. I really don't recommend this palette :'( Which is a shame as I was so excited about it! Overall: E

Ultra Mattes IV

Swatches

I really love this Matte Palette, the lighter shades are a bit chalky but with the addition of Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk under them, they show up well and are buildable. However, the darker colours are SO Pigmented and gorgeous! Blendable! (to an extent, don't forget to start with a little and build otherwise you will be left with product where you may not want it :P) I particularly like the pink Pucker. Overall: A -go get this, I think it's a staple for any makeup lover :P

Snapshots

Swatches

The Snapshots Palette is my absolute Favourite Palette-Hence it looks a tad worse for wear! It's got a mix of Matte and Shimmery colours, a good range of colours with a couple of nice blending shades (Sand Walker and Washed Ashore, for example) and a few wild cards like (Magenta Madness and Purple Haze). I love this palette ever so I would really recommend it to anybody who wants a palette you can do so much with. I always take this on holiday with me no matter where I go! Overall: A+

A Generalisation of all the palettes is that they're very "Sleek", the packaging is smart and professional looking and they're nice and thin meaning they fit in most storage units easily and are easy to carry round. They also have a nice large mirror in the lid which is extremely useful!

While we're on eyes...Liner!

Eau La La Liner in White Noise

Swatch

I only own the one Liner but I can tell you now, PIGMENT. PIGMENT. PIGMENT! These liners are smooth and creamy, blend when asked and stay put for a good amount of hours. The colour payoff, is second to none. They come in both matte and shimmer finishes. White Noise is Matte and a perfect one at that. Love it. They're so worth the money! Overall:A++ Good if you're just trying out liner for the first time or if you're a liner pro!

Let's move onto Face/Brows, I have the Oil Free Cream Foundation in the colour "shell" and the brow kit in "Dark":

Oil Free Creme to Powder Foundation in Shell

The only jibe I have about this, well...two actually...is that the packaging was awful, it had this bit of almost super glued on tape around it making it look awful! Also, it was so so difficult for me to find my right shade, the testers were nothing like the actual product colour! (happened to have this problem with a max factor powder a few months ago that...I just can't seem to forgive them for... >.<) Anyway, the actual product itself is lovely! Good coverage, buildable and very reminiscent of Benefit's some kinda gorgeous-which is originally why I bought it. It's a lot cheaper than Some Kinda Gorgeous and is not as oily (if you've tried some kinda gorgeous, you'll know what I mean by that). I like to use this as a touching up product throughout the day :) (Swatch below) Overall: B

Brow Kit in Dark

Now. This BABY. THE WOW BROW Creator. I LOVE. This brow kit is a DUPE for Benefit's BrowZings -for sure. I am so in love with this, it's wax is lovely and highly pigmented and the powder is just pigmented enough to not make my brows look unnatural. Overall: A+ -YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS! :D

Swatches (L-R): Foundation, Brow Powder & Wax

Next up, Lips!

Pout Polish in Lemon Meringue

Pout Polish in Frosting

Pout Polish Swatches

The Pout Polishes are lovely, lovely little things! They're a good size, very nice pigmentation-considering they're really nice balms and come in a good range of colours. I have Lemon Meringue, which is a nice colour to mix other lipsticks with if you want to make them a bit brighter/want to moisturise your lips as well. I also have frosting, and this colour is extremely tastefully pigmented. I LOVE these also. Go buy them :P Overall: A+

Pout Paint in Lol-i-Pop

Swatch

Pout Paints. WOW. just WOW. I cannot believe these. Pigmentation THROUGH THE ROOF. These have been compared too OCC Lip Tars and I don't think I will even bother forking out £9-£14 for a lip tar when I can buy these for £4.99. Warning though! These DO need a good shake and rub the tube through your hands before you start so the product mixes properly otherwise you may end up with a little clear liquid seeping out before any colour. The actual colour is so strong you'll need a tiny, tiny amount. Smaller than pea-sized! more like half ant size! Overall: A++ CANNOT recommend these enough :')

Lip4's Siren Palette (Left), Ballet Palette (Right)

Let's Start with Ballet: (I swatched these lightest first so, I'll name them for you :))

Tutu

Swan Lake

Pirouette

Plie

And now Siren:

Miss Me

Desire Me

Kiss Me

Love Me

I really love both these palettes and can see myself purchasing the others in the future. They contain both Matte shades (like, Swan Lake & Desire Me) and Thick Gloss shades (Like Tutu or Love Me). These swatches were all one layer-with a lip brush so you can see they're nicely pigmented and to be honest the matte shades have a touch of play in them meaning you can move them around a bit before they set totally. For the price £8.99 it works out around £2.25 per shade and for the amount, considering you need hardly any for good coverage, this is good value. The actual palettes themselves are quite large though and a tad on the bulky side for the actual product size inside, the brush that comes with it is not nearly stiff enough to pick up the matte shades and the bristles are slightly too long to make it useful :/ It does have a nice shape too it though. I think if I grab another one, it'll be the Pink Show Girl Palette. Overall: A

Now, for my Favourite-BLUSHES! (All swatches are at very bottom of this section)

Single Blush in Mirrored Pink-From the Aqua Collection

Single Blush in Suede

They also do these amazing palettes of "Blush by 3's"

Lace Palette

Pumpkin Palette

Sweet Cheeks from the Candy Collection (hence the pout polish next too it)

Blush Swatches

Sweet Cheeks Blush By 3 Swatches

Not only are these blushes BURSTING with Pigmentation they come in a huge variety of colours. The blush by 3 palettes are my favourite as they're best value for money, 3 pans for £9.99 instead of £4-£5 a piece. Like the eye palettes they're packaged exactly the same, slightly smaller but same thickness etc. The single blushes are really quite small and fit perfectly anywhere! They also have a little mirror which is a bit small, but helpful still :). They're all great value for money and come in a range of finishes, the Sweet Cheeks palette even has a cream blusher!! Very exciting XD haha Overall: A++ You NEED these in your life if you're a Blush Fiend like me :P

So, I hope this Review has been helpful as to which products are great and not so from Sleek. I think as a brand you can't really go wrong. 99.9% of the time, the products will be fantastic value for money. I would happily compare sleek to be of the same value as MAC cosmetics. Obviously, MAC has the upper hand, but only just. It comes pretty close, I'd say. I think Sleek need to put out a primer as good as UD's Primer Potion or Too Faced's Shadow Insurance and then I really don't think I'd ever buy anything else!

Hope this has helped you guys, let me know! Please tweet me or comment below if this has helped you make your mind up on any products! xxx