Sleek Vintage Romance Collection

Sleek released this collection for autumn 2013 a couple of weeks ago consisting of a blush (around £4.50) and 12-shade iDivine eyeshadow palette (around £8). I really loved the look of the eyeshadows which I thought looked perfect for autumn but I wasn’t sure if I was going to pick up the blush or not. When I swatched it on the back of my hand in the shop though it was so sparkly and pretty looking I decided to pick it up as well.

The products come in brightly decorated cardboard boxes with a lovely rustic autumnal theme. They definitely say autumn but I’m not sure how well they match the theme of “Vintage Romance”. However the products themselves come in the usual plain black plastic packaging, with the shade names printed on the backs.

I really love the eyeshadow palette which is my current favourite, the colour selection suits the current weather and daylight so well with its selection of decadent jewel and earth tones. The shades come in a finish of shimmer, matte and metallic finishes. As is Sleek’s normal practise these days the palette comes with a plastic overlay with the shade names printed on it. As I usually take a photo of this for my blog I just throw the plastic overlay away as I can always check on my computer afterwards if I want to know what a particular shade name is and I find it quite annoying to have to deal with every time I open the palette.

Maybe the text isn’t so clear in the photo above so I’ll type the names out here for reference.

Top row, left to right: Pretty in Paris, Meet in Madrid, Court in Cannes, Lust in LA, Romance in Rome, Propose in Prague

Bottom row, left to right: A Vow in Venice, Marry in Monte Carlo, Honeymoon in Hollywood, Bliss in Barcelona, Forever in Florence, Love in London

I actually think that the names are quite cute!

Here’s a better shot of the colours in the palette, this time with the plastic overlay removed.

And here are the shadows swatched on my forearm, in the same order as they appear in the palette.

As you can see – wonderful colours, wonderful pigmentation – just wonderful!

I’m not quite so enamoured with the blush, Antique. It’s a very warm brown, but the shimmer is blue and I’m just not convinced that the brown and the shimmer actually go well together. The first time I wore this blush on my cheeks I used way too much and thought it looked awful. Since then I’ve trained myself to start by applying a tiny amount and building the colour up if I want more intensity. The more you buff this colour over the skin the more it acts as a highlighter as the shimmer becomes more apparent. It’s quite an interesting effect, but I’m not sure I’m a fan. Perhaps due to the blue it would work better on cooler skintones (my skintone is very warm). It is very pigmented though so I might try it out as an eyeshadow.

My current favourite colour combination from the eyeshadow palette is Court in Cannes paired with Honeymoon in Hollywood. The purple is so intense that I was worried it might stain my lids but I wear it over a primer and it’s simple to remove with some make-up remover. The shadows last all day on me worn over an eyeshadow base. In the photo below I’m also wearing a tiny bit of  the blush which you can see ever so slightly on my cheekbones and the tip of my nose.

Oh and I’ve just noticed that this eyeshadow compliments the hoodie that I’m wearing which is good as it’s one of my favourites, ha! An added bonus.

MUA Cream Blusher in Yummy

Just a quick swatch post today to show a really natural looking blusher that I’ve been reaching for lately.

MUA cream blushers come in four shades and cost £2. The shade range isn’t that interesting to be honest and I think they all end up looking very similar on the face so even though they’re cheap you really don’t need to buy more than one. They’re not very pigmented and just add a gentle, natural looking flush. I apply mine with a stippling brush so that I can push slightly more product onto the skin for more colour payoff.

These don’t last as long on the skin as powder blushes but you can add slightly more product then tone the colour down with a translucent face powder on top – the blush will still show through and should last a bit longer on the skin then, although this method does take away the nice dewy finish you get with the cream alone.

I’m not even sure how well it shows up in the picture above but I’m wearing it on my cheeks and the tip of my nose with a dusting of face powder on top. As you can see, I wasn’t joking about the natural finish!

MAC in Extra Dimension Summer 2013

This collection came out in the UK last month and featured a ton of products in MAC’s special “Extra Dimension” finish, which is meant to be a hybrid cream/powder product. I’ve got a few Extra Dimension products from previous launches and I quite like them so I picked up just a few pieces from this collection.

I got eyeshadows (£16.50) in Zestful (light, shiny golden white green) and Smokey Mauve (metallic plum) and a blush (£19) in Flaming Cheek (fuschia).

I’m not sure how clear it is from the photo above but I hope that you can see that the blush developed a weird waxy “crust” the first few times I swatched the surface, and I basically had to jab it off with a slightly stiff blusher brush before I could get any decent colour pay off from the product. For £19, you can bet I wasn’t impressed! Once the crust was gone the colour payoff was fine.

The eyeshadows apply slightly differently to how they appear in the pan as they are slightly sheer – but I quite like this as I find it lends them an ethereal quality. Zestful looks great as an all over wash of colour or highlighter on the inner corner of the eye, and Smokey Mauve is just a nice, easy everyday metallic to wear all over the lid.

Flaming Cheek, despite looking a bit scarily bright in the pan, is actually very easy to wear as it goes on quite sheer but can be built up. However, check out how my product looked after just one week of use – it looks like I’ve used a massive amount of product already! I think I’ll stick to MAC’s normal powder blush formula from now on.

Sleek Candy Collection

Sleek Makeup have just released a limited edition summer collection called the Candy Collection which consists of a 12-shade eyeshadow palette (i-Candy, £7.99), pout paint (Lol-Lip-Pop, £4.99) and blush-by-three blush trio (Sweet Cheeks).

I did hesitate for a while over whether to buy the entire collection or not. The products aren’t exactly expensive, but they’re not really what you could call cheap either. What I would say though is that Sleek are a great value-for-money brand when you consider the price-to-quality ratio. In the end, I decided to buy them all instead of any other make-up this month.

The products come in cardboard packaging featuring a mouth-watering cupcake and sweets design. I wish they could print these designs onto the make-up packaging itself which is the same slick black packaging as normal.

I have to say that while the blushes and pout paint definitely remind me of candy floss and iced cakes, the eyeshadow shades don’t exactly scream “candy” to me. I think this might have been more suitable as the palette in the Aqua Collection while the Lagoon palette would have been more suitable as a candy palette. Here are the two side by side for a quick comparison (Lagoon palette on top):

First up, here are swatches of the blushes and Pout Paint.

From left to right: Cupcake (creme), Dolly Mix (matte), Candy Floss (satin); Lol-Lip-Pop pout paint.

I was super-excited about this blush-trio and originally this was the only product from the collection that I was going to buy. However, I wasn’t too impressed when the creme blush left staining on my arm when I removed it with my normal make-up remover so it does make me think that these might be just a bit too pigmented for blushes. I’m not too keen on the formula of these.

I have been enjoying the Pout Paint more than I thought that I would though. There’s a whole range of different Pout Paint shades available and they’re designed to be easy to mix up to allow you to create your own custom colours. This one is no different to the others in the range - it offers fantastic pigmentation and opacity, the texture is creamy and very comfortable on the lips, and the product lasts a respectable 3-4h on me. The main disadvantage for me is the packaging, which I find a bit difficult to work with. Pout Paints aren’t the easiest to top up on the go due to the fine nozzle and I always apply them with a lip brush to get a sharp line.

Below, the eyeshadows swatched.

Left to right: Strawberry Sherbet, Bon Bon, Parma Violet, Apple Sour, Pear Drop, Flump, Liquorice, Blue Fizzle, Aniseed, Bubble Gum, Mint Cream, Cream Soda

The quality of this palette is excellent. I think this is one of the best quality Sleek palettes that I own. The pigmentation of Parma Violet in particular is unbelievable – it’s definitely the most intense violet eyeshadow I own. While I think that the colour scheme is a bit incoherent, you can definitely mix-and-match up some fun bright looks with this palette.

To conclude, this collection is brilliant if you love bright colours, but definitely one to steer clear of if you prefer your neutrals. In the pic below I’m wearing Apple Sour, Pear Drop and Flump eyeshadows (along with some purple eyeliner and mascara too), a mixture of the two powder blushes and Lol-Lip-Pop pout paint.

1920s Revisited

One of my friends had a ‘20s style birthday party last year, and it seems like the 20s are still in fashion as another friend celebrated her birthday with a ‘20s themed night out this weekend. Here’s a photo of a couple of us, with some different photo effects applied just for fun.

I did the make-up for my friend and me and did the same look on both of us just to save time. I was actually really pleased with how it turned out; 20s evening make-up is such a fun look to recreate because you can play around with smoky eyes, dark lips and bright cheeks!

Above: original photo

Some Quick ‘20s Make-up Tips

I love this youtube video by the fantastic Pixiwoo on how to create a very authentic ‘20s look.

And here are my own quick tips on how to create a quick and simple evening look with a ‘20s vibe. Disclaimer: These tips are about how to create a fun look, not about achieving a super-authentic ‘20s look!

• On eyes go for a rounded eyeshadow shape in smoky colours and extend your eyebrows with some pencil/eyeshadow. I think eyeliner and mascara are optional as the smoky colours themselves already lend a great deal of intensity to the look. We’re not wearing any in the photos above.
• The lip shape was quite rounded with a very defined cupid’s bow. Use a lip pencil to help draw on the perfect cupid’s bow, and try painting your lip colour on using a slanted eyeliner brush for added precision. Add some bright blush to the apples of your cheeks in a round shape.
• Finish off with tons of face powder, and your ‘20s look is complete!

Garden Eyes

Today’s a Bank Holiday and it’s sunny – double bonus! I took the chance to sit out in my garden and do a bit of reading earlier, though I didn’t sit out for too long as I didn’t want to get sunburnt. Still, it was nice to feel some sun on my skin and the buds, shoots and flowers in the garden gave me the inspiration for this simple bright look.

Above: one of my fruit trees has flowers on it for the first time, hurray! I have forgotten what kind of tree it actually is but that just makes the anticipation of possibly having fruit in the autumn even more exciting!

I used the same pink on my eyes as my cheeks; it’s actually the blush from the recent Sleek aqua collection in Mirrored Pink. It’s very heavily pigmented and as the name would suggest very shiny. I think I prefer it as an eyeshadow in fact. Which works for me as that means I now have an absolutely massive (8g) pink eyeshadow that I love!

Germany 2012 – The Rest!

So here it is, only 4 months after my trip – a post on all the beauty goodies that I picked up when I was in Hamburg way back in Dec!

P2 Moisturizing Ultra Gel (cuticle conditioner) and Base + Care Coat.

P2 is a German drugstore own brand that have some great products at amazing prices. Both these products cost around EUR2 each and this is actually the second bottle of the base coat that I’ve bought. I bought my first one a few years ago and thought it was so good that I used it all up, so I was very happy that I had an opportunity to restock.

I haven’t actually used the Moisturizing Ultra Gel that much yet although I should because the reason that I bought it is that I suffer from dry cuticles. So I just have to hope that it lives up to its claim of being “intensiv feuchtigkeitsspendend” (intensely moisturising). I love how it looks in the bottle too with its tiny floating vitamin E dispensing red beads.

I discovered a new brand of nail polish on this trip in a pharmacists (or drugstore, if you prefer!) called Budni. The Blackbird line of nail polishes costs EUR2.49 per bottle and is shelved in displays that look like birdhouses – cute! I’ve worn both these colours several times now and can heartily recommend them. You can see my swatches of the chocolate brown I Need You here and my swatches of the Azure blue Free As A Bird here.

I also picked up a couple of random items from some limited edition autumn/winter collections: a peachy coloured cream blush by the brand Catrice in the shade Rose’s Wood (Siberian Call collection) and a silver lipgloss again by P2 (Keep the Secret collection).

The lipgloss is amazing; it’s really thick and pigmented and can be worn either as a very sheer layer to add a subtle glow to the lips or in a thicker layer as in my swatch above for opaque coverage. Definitely my kind of lipgloss.

The blush was a bit of an impulse buy as I’m not usually a fan of drugstore cream blushes but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the longevity of this one so far and I’ve discovered that the subtle shade is the perfect way to add a touch of colour to cheeks without overwhelming the face if worn with stronger eye or lip looks.

Next up, my personal beauty obsession – eye make-up! I bought: 3 powder eyeshadows, 2 eyeshadow bases, an eyeshadow stick and a mascara. Phew!

Above: Emporio Armani Eyes to Kill eyeshadow in shade 1 Blast of Blue (reduced from EUR30 to EUR15, hurray! Purchased at the Gaensemarkt Parfumerie, Hamburg)

Catrice Instensif’Eye Wet and Dry eyeshadow in 050 Lunch at Tiffany’s, around EUR4

Essence Home Sweet Home LE collection eyeshadow in 02 Light the Fire, Place! ca. EUR2

I do like the shade but I have to admit that I mainly picked this up because of the super cute knitted pattern!

Above, left to right: Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill in Blast of Blue, Catrice Intesif’Eye in Lunch at Tiffany’s, Essence eyeshadow in Light the Fire, Place!

My favourite shadow is the Catrice one; it’s wonderfully pigmented and easy to apply and blend, and it’s such an easy colour to wear. I got plenty of wear out of it through the winter, but I haven’t worn it so much lately as my attention has turned to brighter colours for spring and summer.

I haven’t actually worn the Armani (above) much at all, despite it being a lovely colour, because it’s very deep and intense and more an evening/night time colour for me and I haven’t gone out that much lately. I am going to make more effort to wear it though as it is definitely one of the most expensive single eyeshadows I own, yet somehow it still seemed to be an absolute bargain as I bought it as it was half price!

Above: Astor Volume Diva Black Velvet Mascara (ca EUR10), P2 Smokey Eye Stylist automatic cream eyeshadow stick (ca EUR3)

Again I did just buy this mascara for the beautiful packaging (but in my defence, I also had happy memories of good Astor mascaras that I owned when I lived in Germany years ago). The metallic-effect lid has beautiful "carvings” of roses in it.

I almost like this mascara – the packaging is beautiful and it comes with just the kind of wand that works well on my stubby lashes – a sparse, narrow wand that simply dumps loads of product onto the lashes for a nice volumising effect, but unfortunately this mascara smudges on me, so it’s never going to make it into my favourites.

I don’t even know why I bought this eyeshadow stick, but it found itself into my shopping basket all the same. I think I must have gotten to the point where I was just grabbing products! I do use eyeshadow sticks and pencils but they’re usually in light colours, and I use them as eyeshadow bases. I also use this as an eyeshadow base, so I can’t really testify as to how it holds up when worn on its own, but it does do a nice job of keeping my eyeshadow in place so I have no complaints. It also works well as an eyeliner – you can create a very thick line or use the in-built sharpener (pull the silver end off the pencil) to create a fine point to draw thinner lines. Oh and I should mention that it has a lovely creamy consistency so it doesn’t drag across the lids as you apply it at all.

And finally, the last two products of my somewhat random selection are two eyeshadow bases, again both by the brand P2.

Keep the Secret was a limited edition collection from Autumn 2012 – the silver lipgloss pictured above was also from this collection. Unfortunately the best thing about the Desirable Eye Base is the rather solid feeling glass packaging, as I’ve found it to be a bit of a flop as far as being an eyeshadow base is concerned. It reminds me a lot of Maybelline dream mousse foundation in both its colour and consistency, and didn’t seem to make any difference to the longevity of my eye make-up at all, which was sliding around all over my lids after just a few hours when I tried it over this.

I have higher hopes for the P2 Perfect Eyes! base which has somewhat simpler packaging but a plethora of positive reviews on the blogosphere already. However, I’m yet to give it a thorough road test myself. It’s part of the permanent collection though so I should definitely test it out before my next trip to Germany so that I know whether I need to restock or not!

Dainty Doll Bargain Pack

I picked up this bargain pack in TKMaxx a couple of weeks ago for £4.99. I haven’t seen Dainty Doll in many shops but I’ve checked the Boots website and the current prices listed there are eyeshadow - £11.50; lipstick £12.50; cream blush £13.50. So this set represented a saving on the RRP of £32.51, cool! (However, I can also let you in on a little secret that this selection of products and more are also available at a reduced price on Fragrancedirect at the moment if you’re interested in checking them out...)

I’m not sure how well known this brand is nor how popular it is really as it doesn’t seem to have wide distribution at the moment. It was launched around five years ago by former Girls Aloud band member Nicola Roberts who wanted to create a range specifically aimed at paler complexions. The products come in cardboard packaging with a cool illustration a lithe-limbed ginger haired beauty.

The packaging itself is very sleek and satisfyingly heavy, although slightly annoyingly the rubberised finish of the pans does pick up dirt and finger prints easily.

Above: eyeshadow in 004 Copacabana

Above: cream blusher in 001 Paper Roses

Above: lipstick in 006 Baby Love

Above left to right: Copacabana, Paper Roses, Baby Love

I bought the pack without being able to look at the products before purchase so it really was a lucky dip. I have to say though, I think I did well! The eyeshadow is insanely bright and pigmented but it’s just the kind of shade that I like. I also got incredibly lucky with the lipstick which is the same kind of cappuccino nude that I usually choose as my everyday work shade.

The cream blush is a lovely shade of pink but unfortunately it’s a bit too light for me – it does show up on my skin, but the finish is too subtle for me. This could be a great choice for somebody looking for an ultra-natural looking blush though.

In the shots below I’m wearing all three of the Dainty Doll products and also a light shade of eyeshadow as a highlight under my brows, a thin slick of teal eyeliner and some mascara.