Monday 12 October 2009

Sleek Haul/Mini Review

So Sleek finally came to one of my local Superdrugs, although I am slightly baffled why. Not that I am complaining! Sleek is a cheap and generally excellent range aimed at those ladies with darker skin, so I am surprised it came to my town. The population is almost 100% white. Half hour away, in a city, they haven't got Sleek and they should, there would be a call for it. However, for everything other than their face products, your skin colour is completely irrelevant!

Almost everything I've tried in this range is highly pigmented, with excellent pay off and even better value for money. In the make up community, Sleek are probably most well known for their excellent i-divine palettes, priced at just under £5. I now own all 7 of these and love them all, with the exception of the Chaos palette, which is full of mattes and therefore harder to work with. But believe it or not, they make a whole lot more! Lipsticks, foundations, eye dusts and blushes as well as the other usual suspects are all there too.

Sleek is such good value for money! Nothing below cost more £5 (it might even be £4 but I can't for the life of me, remember the price on the blushes and I threw my receipt.). I think the priciest items are the foundations, powders and the highlighter at a little under £7, less than a MAC pan refill eyeshadow!

So on Friday I picked up this lovely little lot below:

Three of the liquid liners in Gold, Purple and Pink
Two Pout Polishes in Electro Peach and Cadillac Pink
Two blushes in Flamingo Pink and Pixie Pink

I love pink blush. Seriously. I have probably 20 blushers all very similar shades of Barbie-hot pinkness. These two are fab. I thought the palettes were always going to be favourite item in the range, but since they changed the blush packaging, it's definitely these! They used to be round pans with a silver base and a clear flip top lid and the Sleek logo in gold. Now they are black rectangles, like the palettes and helpfully labelled "blush", just in case you forget :). You also get 8g of product now, instead of the old 4.5g, almost double. *swoon* They come with a mirror in the lid and no brush. I prefer not to have one as I chuck them anyway and that empty space could be filled with product!





The Flamingo is a true vivid Barbie pink. It's awesomely pigmented and smooth. No chalkiness here. I think this colour is great for all skin tones.
Pixie Pink is similarly hot pinkish, as you can see from the pictures, but in reality between the two is quite clear. Pixie has almost got a blue-violet turn to it. I feel I've got to use it with a slightly heavier hand to make it work for me.
I don't know whether Sleek changed the formula when they changed the packaging, but I find these too much easier to use than my Flushed and Sahara. Whilst those two are beautifully pigmented colours, they are somewhat harder to blend out.
I wish sometimes my skin were darker so I could really pile these colours on and see the contrast!
Packaging: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Would I repurchase: Yep


Now I have to say, these eyeliners disappointed me and I really wanted to like them!
The swatches make them look better than they are, I'm afraid! It was more so to do with the packaging than the formula I think, so maybe I can save these. First of all, I was disappointed that these colours weren't matte like the bottle. But OK, never mind they still looked uber pretty.
However, the brushes are crap! They are really hard to use, they stop the liner sticking properly, it picks it up fine in the bottle, but on the skin, it leaves, whatI can only describe as track marks. Drag marks? It's hard to describe. It then takes away what's underneath too. Ick. I'm going to try these again, I really want these to work, as they have some beautiful shades, like the pink, that you don't see often in a liquid liner. They might be OK on the side of the eye/face, for artistic looks, but on the eyeline? FAIL.
They are however, good value, think they were under £3.
Packaging: 2/5 (I hated those extended handle things and the stupid brush)
Quality: 4/5
Would I buy again?: Not unless they change the brush, or I can figure out a way to solve my issue myself.

And finally, the Pout Polish swatches. Ignore the mess in the background haha, it's my dad's fault.
On the left is Pink Cadillac is on the left, Electro Peach on the right.
I'm not a huge wearer of lip products, particularly coloured products but I'd been eyeing up MAC's tinted lip conditioner and thought I'd give these whirl, as they are some much cheaper at only £3.91.
My main reason for not wearing lip gear is that I am too lazy to reapply. Not only that, in my job, I don't have the time! I also drink a lot (not alcohol haha!), as I have this crazy fear of being thirsty, so it tends to wear off pretty quick.
I thought these would be good as they are sheer, if they wear off, it won't look stupid, like lipstick. They taste good too! So far, I like them. Even after the glossiness has gone, the tint remains and it looks pretty natural. It's definitely softened my lips too, without any other products.
Unfortunately, Sleek only make four shades, the other two are a plummy colour and a brown. Not my scene. A clear would be great and some more variety!
I've got all the girls in work obsessed with these now!
Packaging: 5/5
Quality: 4/5 (More variety please!)
Would I buy again?: Yes, if I remember to wear them!




EOTD: Purple and Gold

Afternoon everyone! Here's today's eyelook:


I used:
TFSI
Revlon Matte eyeshadow in Sable (brows)
MAC Lightfall
Purple from Sleek Curious palette
MAC Shadowy Lady
Lightest gold from Sleek's Storm Palette
Sleek Liquid Liner in Gold
Sleek Liquid Liner in Purple
Urban Decay Liquid Liner in Smog
Collection 2000 Glam Crystals in Shake it up!
Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Honey
Urban Decay Big Fatty Mascara
Sleek Blush in Flamingo

There's no full face because I hadn't done my hair, was in my pajamas and having a SkinFAIL day. My liner sucks because Sleek liquid liners are shit! Am completely unimpressed, unfortunately. I tried a recovery job, but it wasn't really working. But I'll be blogging about that later!
Have a good day folks!

Sunday 11 October 2009

Review: Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Liquid Liner

Hey guys, I'm gonna kick off with a review. Keeping in theme with my blog title, there's plenty of glitter! Collection 2000 began releasing these liners around 3 years ago and have released them in batches of 3 every few months since. I think they are about due for another!


I LOVE these glitter liners. I don't use them nearly as much as I should, simply, because like most of you reading this, I have so much crap to get through. I'm trying to get round everything and not get stuck using the same thing. I would easily put them up on the same pedestal as Urban Decay's Heavy Metal liners and Too Faced's Starry Eyed liners. They retail at around £2.93 and are so easily available in the UK! You can get them at Tesco's, Boots, Superdrug and ASDA! Nothing like picking up an eyeliner with the bleach and coffee! Usually you can get these on offer aswell.

You get 6ml of product for your money, not bad considering Urban Decay offer 7ml for £12.00 and they come in a dazzling 12 shades! I am only slightly ashamed to say, that I own all 12.


In order of release, the shades available are:

1. Glitz: A fine silver sparkle with a clear base. The most dupable shade. I have NYX's silver liner and it's one and the same. Packed with colour. I've had this one for the longest, going on three years and it has recently began to separate. However, a quick shake and all is well. Applies fine.

2. Pizzazz: A fine true, deep green sparkle with a clear base. This shade is packed with glitter, one stroke and you can't see whatever was underneath. This is my favourite of the bunch and the only one I have had to repurchase. Also had this one going on three years, but no separation at all.

3. Funk: A pale gold glitter with a secondary tone of bronze. Another one packed with glitter, whics really finely milled, so it's not scratchy at all. A good one for subtle looks.

4. Hustle: A greyish-blue and silver sparkle, fairly finely milled, with a grey-blue base. It's similar to Urban Decay's Spandex Heavy Metal liner, only more silvery.

5. Le Freak: A turquoise blue base, with turquoise and pale green sparkle. This is quite thick I have found, it's a bit more difficult to apply on the skin, because it wants to stay on the brush! But it's a lovely, unusual colour.

6. Night Fever: A deep, royal blue colour, with almost a violet-pink reflect to it. It's base is blueish too but the sparkle is sparser than the earlier shades.

7. Rock Chick: A black-grey base, with fine black glitter and slightly chunkier silver glitter. The glitters sometimes separate a little. A close duplicate would be Too Faced's Starry Eyed liner in Ooh & Aah.

8. Dancing Queen: A hot pink shade glitter, with a clear base. Has a slightly chunkier texture than most. Also has a slight irridescent reflect.

9. Retro Chic: This is like, a complete flip of Funk. A bright bronze glitter with a secondary tone of pale gold. Packed with glitter. Reminds me of Halloween and pumpkins!

10. Pow!: A cool mid-blue shade with fine glitter and a chunkier irridescent reflect. I have a shadeless W7 eyeliner that's identical.

11. Shake It Up!: A royal purple glitter and base, a nice fine glitter, but a little sparse.

12. Spandex: A mid green, fine glitter, packed with it too, a lovely gold-y reflect.



The only cons I have to say about these, is that if you apply this on bare skin, you need a slightly stronger eye remover to remove the coloured bases. Cheap make up wipes just don't cut it. The shades that I have noticed this in are: Hustle, Le Freak, Night Fever, Pow! and Shake It Up!. This to me though, is a pretty small con, I usually wear them over something.

The other negative is the wand - it doesn't quite reach the bottom and isn't flexible enough to reach the sides. Wasted product is not good! I'll live though, these are so cheap!

These don't have to be worn alone. They look awesome paired over other liners - black or coloured.

Below I used:

1. Funk over Sleek's Gold liquid liner.
2. Pizzazz over Wet N' Wild's liquid liner in Turquoise.
3. Dancing Queen over Sleek's Pink liner.
4. Retro Chic over the brown Wet N' Wild liquid liner.


They are also great as a base for glitter! Glitter and sequins are big news in fashion over the party season. If a sequinned dress is a little over the top for you, why not a glittery eye? Black is great I find, as it looks very subtle compared to silver, as it doesn't catch the eye so much, less of a shine.



So, the total scores:

Packaging: 4/5 (Pesky wand!)
Quality: 4/5 (A couple of the less packed and more difficult to apply stop these liners from getting a top mark.)
Would I buy again?: A hell yes for most of them. In fact,I already have!


My cat Oscar trying to get some glittery action:




Hello, hello, hello.

Hello everyone, welcome to my little corner of the internet. Like many make up fanatics, I have decided to venture into the world of blogging. There are alot of bloggers out there, but I am hoping I can fit in too!

This blog will mainly be beauty based, specifically cosmetics, but a bit of skincare too, hopefully. It'll also have a little bit of rambling about hair as I am a hairdresser by trade. It should, theoretically, contain product reviews, LOTDs, rants and raves, customer service reviews and my observations of the online make up community as awhole.

So, about me. I'm Chloe, a 22 year old cosmetics freak, born and bred in Wales, United Kingdom. For any potential international readers, this is next to England, not a part of it. I'm sure you all knew that, however there is always one. As I said, I work as a hairdresser, full time and for the most part, I love my job. However, I can't stand the salon politics. I used to be nice, then I started working in hair. It's as bitchy as they say, believe me.


I go into make up big time at the beginning of the year. I won't pretend I was crap at it before Youtube saved my life, or any such nonsense, but I was by no means particularly good. I had, unlike some girls I read about on forums, heard of Urban Decay and MAC, I even owned Urban Decay products. :)

I don't even know why I got into the whole community, I just remember slumming on Youtube and finding and xSparkage video and being hooked. Nowadays my subs box is filled with people like panacea81, petrilude, makeupgeek, MichellePhan, pixiwoo and jpmetz, to name but a few.

I like both cheaper and high end brands. My favourites include, but are not limited to, Urban Decay, MAC, Sleek, Estee Lauder, Collection 2000, Barry M, GOSH, Revlon, Too Faced and NYX. I prefer eyeshadows and blushes to lip products. I own an awful lot of lipsicks though, for someone who never wears them!

Outside of cosmetics, I enjoy hanging out with my friends, including my best friend and her two year old son, my family (I'm the eldest of six kids) and crafting. I love books, films and music. Because silence is so LOUD! I am also partial to a night on the tiles that includes dancing til I fall over and excessive amounts of alcohol.

So, that's me in a long winded nutshell.

I hope you like the blog!