EOTD: Xsparkage/ Nicoletta inspired Sleek Acid look

So this evening I was watching YT videos and catching up on blog reading and two things caught my eye. Firstly the gorgeous Nicoletta used the Sleek acid palette in a FOTD on her blog . I haven’t used mine in far too long. Then I watched a look by Xsparkage on You Tube featuring similar colours (I love her tutorials). Aha! Why do housework when you can play with makeup? Anyhoo here is my interpretation of the look. It isn’t the exact same outcome and my eye shape is awkward but I had fun and I really like it! Please, be kind. 

I used the following shades from the Sleek Acid palette; matte white, matte neon yellow, matte neon green, matte neon green, satin darker green, matte neon pink, matte purple, matte black, both blue shades. Oh and I used a NYX jumbo pencil in Milk as a base and ELF cream liner in black. 

I love the combination of green and purple. I’m not sure I would use blue on the bottom again but never mind x

Budget Brows

I’m a huge fan of my Benefit Browzings but I’m an even bigger fan of a bargain. On the days when I can’t be faffed with gel and powder  I usually slick some clear mascara through my brows in order to stop my brows looking like they are trying to escape. A bit of colour and definition doesn’t hurt either. These are the bargain beauty products that I’m currently using. 

MUA mascara in shade 1. I’m said this before about the MUA range but I’ll say it again, ONE FREAKING POUND! What can I say about it? It’s clear, doesn’t leave my brows feeling crispy or tacky and does a decent job of keeping them neat. Not as good as the Browzings but not bad at all. Mental note to stock up on these. I just don’t see the point in spending any more on a clear mascara that I’ll only ever use on my eye brows. 

Then we have the Sleek Brow Pencil in Brown. Again this falls neatly in the budget category  costing just £2.49. Oddly they only do two shades, Brown and Black. Brown is a pretty dark colour too so those with fair hair aren’t catered for which seems odd. Now Sleek claim that this is a ‘creamy formula’ that will resist smudging or flaking. I wouldn’t call it creamy. In fact I find the pencil quite hard. If it were an eyeliner it would be too hard however it isn’t and I like it. I’ve swatched it here heavily and more lightly.

The hardness means it’s easy to do light feathery strokes rather than depositing too much colour and leaving me with Jordan brows. 

DO NOT WANT. So there are my brow products for groomed (but not scary) brows for less than a fiver. What do you use on your brows? Let me know in the comments xxx

Sleek Sparkle Palette

Ok Sleek, you know I’m your number one fan. I’ve collected every i-Divine palette ever released so it was a fair bet that I was going to pick up this one but seriously, give me a chance to make a dent in the other new ones first! We are undergoing a little eyeshadow overload here! Anyhoo on Wednesday 24^th November Sleek released their holiday eye palette ‘Sparkle’. ‘Tis the season to be glittery and this fits the bill nicely.

The box is lovely though kind of wasted on me (I don’t keep boxes, I recycle them straight away). 

Once again Sleek have stuck to the black packaging which I do like. Ooh and they have names. I do like that they give the shadows names now however I wish they printed them on the back of the palette like everyone else does. I always chuck the little plastic insert. Clockwise from the top left we have Cranberry (sparkly pinkish red), Dream Maker (sparkly dark grey blue), Galactic (sparkly navy blue), Twinkle (even darker sparkly blue), Starlight (sparkly dark grey), Noir (Sleeks signature matte black), Illusion (sparkly inky purple), Festive (sparkly deep purple), Mistletoe (sparkly deep green), Glitz & Glamour (sparkly black), Gold Ribbon (shimmery yellow gold, more yellow than gold) and Tinsel (shimmery silver). 

The texture of the glittery shadows is firmer than shimmery ones. They are prone to fall out and staining. If you over blend them all the glitter will come away. You can solve both problems by using a sticky base though. Tinsel and Gold ribbon are so smooth that they almost feel like cream shadows. 

I feel a little let down by this palette. I wanted a more true red, and more vibrant green, a true gold. These shadows are nice but I was expecting something amazing. I think maybe I was a little grumpy at the get go because there have been so many releases lately. I don’t want to become jaded about these palettes in the same way we have become about MAC releases. We want quality over quantity  folks! X (oh this is £5.99 by the way from Superdrug or the Sleek website, it's ltd edition too so move fast if you want one!) 

*I bought this myself*

Sleek Good Girl EOTD

A lot of people are nervous about pink eyeshadow. It can accentuate any redness in your eyes and like every other colour it won’t suit everyone. Personally I like it. I think it contrasts well with my dark eyes and hair. Here is a quick EOTD that I threw on before popping out to the shops last Saturday.

Clock wise from top left: Lychee, Meringue, Candy Floss, Lollipop, Pink Punch, Cupcake, Morello, Rasberry Coulis, Papaya, Peach Melba, Pink Grapefruit, Strawberry Sorbet

Wow... you can really see what a tiny lid space I have here. I’m quite grateful for my hooded eyes to be honest as I find it means I can wear mad colours without it looking too much. It can be difficult to avoid over applying though as I just don’t look good when I apply colour above my crease. Any way this is:

Lychee inner corner highlight

Meringue inner half of lid

Pink Grapefruit outer half of lid

Morello tiny amount on in outer corner

ELF Cream eyeliner in Black

Benefit Bad Gal liner water line (this is rubbish by the way...)

I cannot for the life of me remember what pink I used under the lower lash line!

Before you say the pink made my eyes look bloodshot it really didn’t. They were that red before hand... morning after the night before and all that xx

Sleek Pout Polish: Powder Pink

My lips are dry and flaky in the height of summer so you can imagine just how horrid they become in Glasgow’s famous wintery weather. It’s not pretty. As a result I usually stock up on tinted lip balms at this time of year for days when lipstick just won’t look good and this is the latest addition to my lip arsenal.

£3.99 gets you a whopping 10g of balm in a thin, flat pot. It looks kind of jelly like in the pot but feels very creamy to touch. It’s not really waxy feeling like things like Vaseline are. Sleek say:

“A tinted lip conditioning balm formulated with natural oils such as Almond Oil, Shea Butter, Avocado Extract and Vitamin A, C and E to help condition the lips and lock in moisture.

It also includes SPF15 to help protect the lips from sun exposure.”

All good stuff! Powder Pink is hot pink in the pot and the colour payoff is surprisingly good. It’s by no means opaque but it leaves a very pretty hot pink stain on the lips. And your fingers too if you don’t wipe them off quickly after applying! It isn’t particularly glossy but the stain lasts a fair while making it a viable alternative to lipstick for me. It is pigmented enough that I find I won’t apply this without a mirror handy for fear of making a hot pink mess. 

I wouldn’t say that it is particularly moisturising. I find it good for maintenance; it stops my lips drying out any further but doesn’t really add any extra moisture. I was hoping it would be a fit more ‘balmy’ but I suppose the trade off is the colour payoff. The only other down side for me is the scent. Eeeeew coconut. I HATE Coconut. I’m aware that most people don’t though so each to their own. It kind of tastes of coconut too. It’s not so strong that I’m unable to use it though but for this reason alone I probably won’t repurchase. There are too many other tinted lip balm products out there which don’t smell of coconuts. Other than that though I think it’s a decent product as long as you’re ok with alternating applications with some proper lip balm x

*I bought this myself*

October Favourites

Happy Halloween everyone! I love October. It’s all snugly jumpers, deep colours and spicy scents. Here’s what I’ve been making dents in throughout the month:

Mememe Boxed Blush in Rouge – a gorgeous reddish pink with subtle gold shimmer. This is the kind of shade that suits me best and I love blushes with a touch of red in them for getting a ‘just in from the cold’ flush. And it’s less than a tenner, score!

Sleek Storm Palette – This is my favourite of all the Sleek palettes. I have a ridiculous amount of eyeshadow and yet I keep coming back to this when I’m rushing to get ready for work. 

Clinique Super balanced Foundation – My skin doesn’t know what’s happening right now. It’s still oily thanks to my two weeks in the sun but the dry patches associated with the colder weather are starting to appear. This foundation works for all areas. This is the lightest shade (Alabaster) and whilst it’s a perfect match for me in the summer it will probably be a touch dark in the winter so I wanted to get as much use out of it while I still can. 

ELF Studio Cream Eyeliner in Golden Olive – less harsh than black, prettier than brown and office friendly. I’ve already made a fair sized dent in this. 

Benefit Browzings – I find this holds my unruly brows in place far better than even my beloved clear mascara so whenever I have time to use this in the morning I do. Also as I recently dyed my hair darker and redder I’ve been doing a stronger brow and loving it.

No7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Pink Crush – I actually got this free in one of their gift with purchase sets. I love the formula which is completely none drying and the sheer deep pink shade is a wearable introduction to a slightly berry lip. I’ve been wearing it under...

 Lippie on the bottom, gloss on the top ^

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Frankly Flirty – I think this has been discontinued unfortunately. I got it at an outlet shop ages ago and haven’t seen it anywhere else. It’s a gorgeous berry shade. In the tube it has micro fine silver glitter but it doesn’t really look shimmery on the lips at all. If you see it snap it up! (Or if it’s not discontinued let me know ;-) 

If you’ve done a monthly favourites post please leave a link in the comments. I love reading them x

*I bought all the above products myself*

Naughty and Nice!

Ah Sleek. Any thought of a makeup no buy disappears as soon as one of your magic i-Divine palettes pops up. And like the cruel tempters you are you decided to release not one but two brand-spanking-new ones on the same day (yesterday actually). For those of you who don’t know Sleek is a UK drugstore brand who’s crowning glory (in an overall fantastic range) are the i-Divine eyeshadow palettes. They contain 12 shades each and cost £5.99 at the moment. Now don’t panic and think you need to run out and buy both of these right this second. Only the ‘Good Girl’ palette is limited edition. The ‘Bad Girl’ palette is apparently part of the permanent line now. Both come in rather snazzy cardboard packaging but the palette itself has been reverted to the black plastic we used to get before Bohemian and Circus. Personally I prefer the black, it’s easier to keep clean. Here they are:

Good Girl is, unsurprisingly, the gorgeous selection of pinks and corals. I always kicked myself for not getting the Coral Crepe paint pot by MAC. It would have made a great base for some of these shades. All of these have the trade mark Sleek high pigmentation and almost cream like texture. You have two brilliant highlight shades and a bunch of vibrant shades which for the first time in my knowledge have actual names! (Clock wise from top left: Lychee, Meringue, Candy Floss, Lollipop, Pink Punch, Cupcake, Morello, Rasberry Coulis, Papaya, Peach Melba, Pink Grapefruit, Strawberry Sorbet) The only thing missing in my opinion is a really deep crease shade though Morello is pretty dark. Pink isn’t everyone’s cup of tea though and there is an edgier alternative...

Bad Girl is somewhat reminiscent of the Storm palette (permanent) and the Graphite palette (ltd edition and highly sought after). It’s full of darker, moodier colours. Once again you cannot fault the pigmentation. All of these are swatched without a base. I would recommend you use one though. Not because they need extra staying power, they don’t, but because a couple of shades stained my arm whilst swatching! Not badly mind but they took a fair bit of effort to remove. Clockwise from the left we have: Innocence, Gullible, Blade, Gun Metal, Underground, Noir, Rebel, Twilight, Abyss, Obnoxious, Envy, Intoxicated. 

As usual the Sleek palettes represent phenomenal value for money and the i-Divine releases get me more excited than any MAC collection manages to. Yeah, I’m gushing. I really do love these that much! If you haven’t seen already I have done two round up posts of all the previous permanent and limited edition palettes so do check them out X

*I bought these myself*