Sleek Pout Paints

 

From L-R: Cloud 9, Lava, Pin-Up, Port, Peek-A-Bloo

Each tube contains 8ml of product which goes a very long way. Thanks to how highly pigmented these are, you probably only need about half as much as you'd think, and even less when you start mixing them. The packaging itself is cute and I appreciate the clear tubes. They have a very sweet almost bubblegum scent straight out of the tube but this doesn't last after application.The Pout Paints are £4.99 each and available at the Sleek website or in most Superdrug stores. 

Cloud 9

Cloud 9 is a pure white highly-pigmented gloss. I wouldn't recommend wearing this alone for fairly obvious reasons. My main issue with both this shade and Pin-Up is that they had a much thinner consistency and the product had a tendency to separate into pigment and clear gloss. I tried shaking and squeezing the tube which seemed to help a little but not as much as I'd have liked. I'm not entirely sure if it's just mine or if the whole line has this issue but it's definitely something to be aware of. Cloud 9 is primarily there to act as a lightener for other shades when mixing and in this respect it does a great job. You may have to use quite a bit to get your desired colours though so this is probably one to stock up on if you're big on mixing your own shades.

Lava

 A really beautiful pure orange shade. Lava had great coverage, stunning pigmentation and didn't settle into lines. Definitely a stand-out shade and ideal for Summer days and nights.

Pin-Up

 A blue-based red with a few technical issues. This is a pretty colour and decent enough for mixing with others but I probably wouldn't wear it alone. It almost immediately settles into lip-lines and bleeds. I have a feeling that it has just separated over time because I've seen some perfect swatches on other sites. Boo! Luckily this isn't a super unique shade and I have lots of other reds in my collection.

Port

 A blue-toned deep raspberry pink. Reminds me a lot of Raspberry Pie in Revlon Lip Butters and Apocaliptic in the Rimmel Apocalips but not a dupe by any means. I always gravitate towards these beautiful berry shades and I'm really glad I got this one! It's easily one of the best for application and looks gorgeous mixed with anything.

Peek-A-Bloo

The dark horse of the bunch, this mid-toned blue is ideal for alien role-play and darkening your unique Pout Paint mixes. Smooth and pigmented, this surprised me in the best ways. Peek-A-Bloo is less glossy than some of the others which makes it ideal for mixing. Also gives your teeth the Ross-from-Friends-nuclear-white glow. Bonus if you're feeling brave.

Here are a few of my own blends, including a perfect home made nude!

Ooh, so peachy.

The biggest problem overall with these products is that they're just a straight up pain in the arse to apply and keep topped-up through out the day. Much like the Apocalips but even more difficult to reapply thanks to the lack of applicator. I applied all of my shades with a lip brush (disposable doe foot applicators would work well too) and used a plastic tray as a palette. Not exactly a bathroom-at-the-pub friendly kit. The best thing I can recommend for these is buying a little pill tray/organiser (you can usually pick them up at Poundland or any chemists) and storing your mixes in there. This should keep them fairly air-tight (not that they dry out, I left my palette out overnight to check) and safe. Then you can keep a retractable lip brush in your make-up bag to reapply on the go. It's still a lot of effort but that's the trade-off for custom lip colours I suppose!
Wear time is nothing to write home about. They matte down a little over time but still transfer on most things. Eating will definitely require a top up afterwards. Saying that, if you apply very thinly to well-conditioned lips you'll be left with a very pretty stain that will last much longer.

Final Verdict: Inexpensive, fun to play with and a great range of shades with infinite possibilities. Awkward to apply and the wear time isn't great.

Bonus: My mess post swatch session!

Lauren

Daily Make Up/How Much Is My Face Worth?

For the longest time my daily make up was literally just a flick of liquid liner and some mascara but frankly, that wasn't cutting it. I've since upgraded into a full face of make up and love the freedom I have over my look. These are the products that I use pretty much every day for work etc. I don't bother with make up if I'm just nipping out shopping or slumming it around the house so I can give my skin a break.

My base hasn't changed in quite a while. I currently use The Body Shop Moisture Foundation in 03, Lightening Touch Concealer in 01 and All-in-One Face Base in 03. The colour match is essentially perfect for me and I love the included SPF. Check out this post for extra details! Sleek's Face Form (Light) is the most recent addition to my daily make up bag and it's revolutionised my base. I love how transformative it is! I have so much more warmth and definition to my face now and feel much more confident. I tend to always use the contouring powder and highlighter but swap up my blush depending on my mood. For blushes I switch between the blush included (Rose Gold,) TBS Macaroon Blush and Maybelline's Cream Blush in 06 Berry.

I always use some combination of my MUA Undressed Palette, Rimmel Liquid Liner and Illamasqua Sophie pencil for my eyes. As you can see I use every colour in the palette and never wear the same look twice in a row just to make myself experiment more. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut (coming from liner flick and mascara girl, so trust me!) so I love my new philosophy. I don't always wear liner but when I do these are my go to products. The Rimmel liquid is so easy to use and this is my second bottle already, forever repurchase! The Sophie pencil is the blackest of blacks and is really soft and blendable but doesn't smudge when it sets. Pretty much perfection in a pencil. Deborah Milano Mascara is an essential for me; I originally got it  for reviewing purposes but I adore it so it became my daily mascara. I get a ton of volume and length with a couple of coats and it's the perfect finishing touch to every look for me.

For day to day, I just wear a clear balm or lip butter to keep my lips in good condition. That way they're looking gorgeous and smooth for when I go all out with a fabulous bright lip in the evenings. I swear by Nivea Lip Butter for the most kissable lips going!

So how much is my face worth?

Base:

The Body Shop Moisture Foundation SPF 15

£13

The Body Shop Lightening Touch Concealer Pen

£14
The Body Shop All-in-One Face Base

£14

Sleek Face Form in Light

£10

Eyes:

Mua Undressed Palette
£4
Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Liner in Black
£4.29

Illamasqua S.O.P.H.I.E Pencil
£13
Deborah Milano 24 Ore Absolute Volume Mascara
£9.50

Lips:
Nivea Lip Butter (Not Pictured)
£1.99

Total: £83.78

I so was not expecting it to be that high! I didn't include any of my brushes or moisturiser so that's pretty shocking. I don't even use any high end products aside from the Illamasqua pencil. I guess my only defence is that I've seen worse...? Not very good defence!

Do you use any of the same products as me? What do you think of my philosophy of never wearing the same eye make up twice in a row? And how much is your face worth?! Add it up and let me know!

Lauren

Sleek Palette Giveaway

I had long planned a giveaway for my 500 follower milestone but sadly just didn't have the resources at the time. Recently things have started turning around for me and I find myself filled with positivity and excitement for the future. I have just been offered a job and I'm starting a whole new chapter of my life in September when I go to University (better late than never!) This is just a little giveaway to say thank you for sticking by me during my hiatus. I continue to be overwhelmed with gratitude for all your support and lovely comments and I really want to give something back! 

These are my all time favourite Sleek Palettes, the Sunset i-Divine and the Lace Blush by 3. Beautiful reds, coppers and golds and some fab Summer brights in the shadows - there's something for everyone there! Lace is a collection of corals and pinks that are universally flattering and have amazing pigmentation. I know Sleek is difficult to get hold of outside of the UK so this is of course INTERNATIONAL - woo!

Enter using the widget below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

P.S. Please, please, please don't lie about your entries, I do check them and I hate having to remove people so play nice!

Lauren

Review: Sleek Face Form in Light

I've been wanting to try one of Sleek's contouring kits for an absolute age. I'm lucky to have fairly pronounced cheek bones but my chubby face kind of obscures them! I always thought that a bit of help from contouring would do me a world of good and this particular product was recommended to me by a whole host of knowledgeable beauty bloggers. Luckily I had a 25% off voucher so I popped in an order a few weeks ago. See what else I bought here.

The packaging is very typical of Sleek. They're cute little black palettes with a matte coating and shiny logo. They also come in their own box which is always a nice touch and gives a product more of a "high end" feel. It closes very securely and I'd be happy to travel with it if it was well packed but definitely wouldn't want to risk dropping it; the product is so soft I'm almost certain it would shatter. As with all Sleek Palettes, this contains a large mirror which is always handy. Face Form comes in 4 different shades, Fair, Light, Medium and Dark. I plumped for Light which seems to be a good match for most pale skinned girls. Light contains a matte brown contouring powder, a champagne coloured shimmer highlighter and the famed Rose Gold shimmer blush (a supposed dupe for NARS Orgasm.)

Every powder is extremely soft and blendable and feels lovely to work with. I swatched heavily above to show the colours and the contouring powder looks a little chalky but I assure you it isn't. The pigmentation is fantastic so you really need to go slow and build up when applying; the great news is that it'll last forever.

I am new to contouring so I'll admit that my application is far from perfect (also I apologise for the wonky eye liner, whoops) but I was really happy with how the products looked on my face! The colours are very rich but look so natural and pretty when applied with a light hand. I think this is such a versatile palette and could easily be used all year round for a variety of purposes. The shimmer isn't too heavy at all and I love how multi-faceted Rose Gold is. The base is a warm coral-pink which works beautifully with the gold shimmer. I think this is a shade that could work for all skin tones - just build it up for darker skin. Wear time is really good but I do have dry skin and it seems like hardly anything disappears on me.

Final Verdict: Fantastic product for a very reasonable price. Very versatile and well pigmented. Another hit from Sleek.

£10 from Sleek or large Superdrug stores.

Have you tried this product? Have you tried contouring? What products do you use for it?

Lauren

Sleek Haul

A little while ago Sleek had an offer on their Facebook page where you could get a 25% off voucher in return for a quick opinion poll about the products and their image. I'm forever wanting Sleek products and sadly they're not stocked in my local Superdrug so this seemed like the ideal time to get a few of the things I've been dying to try! There's a couple of other things I bought but they're not for me so I want to keep them a surprise.

Pout Paints in: Cloud 9, Lava, Peek-a-Bloo, Port and Pin-Up £4.99    Face Form in Light £10     Blush by 3 in Lace £10    True Colour Lipstick in Barely There £4.99    Kohl Pencil in Green Ivy £1.99

The Pout Paints have been on my wishlist for months and months and I'm really excited to start custom designing my own shade. I think I picked a nice mix of colours and will get a lot out of them. Barely There was recommended to me on Twitter during a #bblogger chat as a pretty much perfect nude so I'll be putting it through it's paces this Spring (if it ever comes.) The stunning face palettes are going to be perfect for injecting a bit of colour into my lacklustre complexion and I'm thrilled that I'm going to be trying the much hyped Rose Gold. And finally, my new kohl pencil was such a gorgeous colour I couldn't resist it. I remember years ago that my Mother had similar one from Avon called Jungle Green which I wore to death in my early teens. I really hope it lives up to my rose-tinted memories!

Have you picked up anything from Sleek lately? Do you have a favourite Sleek product? Is there anything you'd particularly like reviewed?

Lauren

December Eye Make-Up Challenge: Day 7, Cool Winter

The lighting was so bad yesterday I just didn't want to do this! It rained all day and the colours looked awful... luckily things were a bit drier and brighter today, so here is Cool Winter!

I was going for a cold ice Queen look with a halo of silver. I'm always a bit nervous with cool colours and I feel that warmer tones suit me better, but I'm really happy with how this turned out!

I use Jubilee as my highlight (a beautiful shimmering silver) Victoria all over the lid which leaned a little turquoise but was still perfect for this! Picadilly was worked into the crease. I could have used some paler colours but I really wanted to get a good test of my lovely Glory Palette! I only have this and the Sunset palette, but it's safe to say I love Sleek. I want so many of their products but my local Superdrug doesn't stock it. So sad!

Day 1/Day 2/Day 3/Day 4/Day 5/Day 6

I really hope you liked my look for today! I'm still loving this series, I've been so much more creative with my makeup and I feel like my technique is improving with all the practice.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Lauren

December Eye Make-Up Challenge and Tutorial: Day 6, Warm Autumnal

Yet another apology is in order. This should of course have been up yesterday but sadly I received some seriously sh*tty news in that I was given my three weeks notice at work. Essentially, I've lost my job. Being the over dramatic sap I am I spent a good portion of yesterday crying and therefore didn't get to do this look. I'm really sorry it's late but I put some extra effort into this and made it into a tutorial! So you'll be able to recreate this look if you're that way inclined.

A quick disclaimer, I am in no way a make up artist, I probably do a million things wrong. This is just the way that I create this particular look.

This is one of my favourite looks. I've been a bit confused about the colour of my eyes for years but I honestly would really like them to be green and by using red shades for eye shadow I find that the green tones in my iris really "pop." This look is essentially a more intense version of a FOTD that I did recently.
I used my Body Shop Eyeshadow Brush and Eyeshadow Blender Brush with the Sleek Sunset Palette like this:

Step 1.
I start by packing in some of the highlighter in the corner of my eye, across the first section of my lid, onto my brow bone and along part of both lash lines.

This shimmery peach shade is one of my favourites from the Sunset Palette and I'm terrified that I'm about to hit pan!

Step 2.
Add the coppery red tone across the entire lid. I use my crease to create the initial shape and then work down towards my lash line. I can then assess how far to go up and blend it out slowly.

I would probably end it here if I wanted to go for a more subtle Summer "peachy" look. Simple blending out a finish with a brown mascara.

Step 3.
Define the lid shape by working the deep red into the crease and alone the edge of the shadows to create a fairly sharp wing. I also added a little under my lash line to carry the wing downwards.

Of course you can create any shape you like but I find this looks really cool and aggressive. Not for the faint hearted!

Step 4. 

Take a fluffy blending brush and gather up some more of the highlight shade and push it out from the corner of your eye into the rest of the design, blending away any harsh lines as you go. The eyeliner here is completely optional. I feel like without the liner you get a more "editorial" feel to the look but you know how I love my black liquid liner!

Then it's simply a case of adding your favourite mascara! It's easiest to wear this with a nude lip but where's the fun in that?

This is elf lipstick in Sociable and the bright red beanie than my boyfriend's Nan knitted for me!

Day 1/Day 2/Day 3/Day 4/Day 5

Well there we are! I really hoped you liked this look and I'd love to see your interpretation if you try it out! Tomorrow is Cool Winter and I can't wait to play with my elf 100 Palette.

Lauren

P.S. I didn't use any primer or base. Sleek is just that good.

P.P.S. I know I have weird wonky eyes and I need an eyebrow wax. Sorry.

December Eye Make-Up Challenge: Day 3 "Bright and Colourful"

I hope you're still enjoying this series!

With bright and colourful there was a few ways I could go. I decided to go back to basics with primary colours, taking my inspiration from circuses and children's classrooms.

I'm not ecstatic about the outcome of this! I really needed a nice fluffy blending brush to take away the harshness of the lines. I also really wanted a white liner for my waterlines to make my eyes look really big and have the colours "pop" even more, but I'm trying to work with what I have! This is also the most mascara I have ever worn and it took me a little while to get used to it as I swear it feels heavier than usual? Maybe I'm just paranoid. 

The shadows themselves are really beautiful. The blue has an iridescence to it that I couldn't capture in the picture!

The above are my Sleek Palette in Glory and Sunset. The red's in the glory palette weren't usable for this because one was too pink and the other was a matte and I was worried about blending it with shimmers.

Day 1/Day 2

What do you think of this look?

Lauren

Mini Superdrug Online Haul

I've been staring at the Sleek i-Divine Glory Palette for months now and it breaks my heart that we don't have a Sleek section in my local Superdrug so I couldn't even see it up close! I know that it's late to be jumping on the bandwagon but I just had to have this before it was taken out of circulation. It just so happened that Superdrug still had their 3 for 2 offer on when I placed my order so I picked up a couple more pieces because why the heck not?! Here's what I picked:

Sleek i-Divine Palette in Glory (£6.99) Max Factor Liquid Effect Eyeliner in Violet Voltage (£6.99) and Maybelline NY Dream Soft Blush Berry in 06 (£6.49.) They also sent me two samples to try that were Lacoste Rouge for Men and Superdrug brand BB cream.

I think that £7 is a lot to be paying for a single eye pencil from a drugstore brand so I am prepared to be amazed (and probably let down) by this Max Factor Liner. It includes the above "smudger" that has a rubbery texture. I haven't swatched yet so I look forward to reviewing this for you!

This is something that I've been looking forward to trying for a while. I've only recently started wearing blushes because for some reason I thought they would just make my face look even redder and bigger (how stupid am I?) I know that these have been out since the dawn of time but I'm quite excited about the texture of this and I love that soft rose pink shade.

And for the main event:

Tube, Overground, Bakerloo, Jubilee, Platform, Northern

District, Hammersmith and City, Picadilly, Circle, Victoria, Central

Excuse my cardigan in the mirror! I couldn't seem to angle it so I wouldn't be in the picture. 

The colours here are beautiful. I love the mix of neutrals and brights and mattes and shimmers. I can't wait to try these. 

So that's everything! Have you got any of the products here? I would love to see what people have been doing with the Glory palette.

Lauren

FOTD: Warm Eyeshadow Ft. Sleek Sunset Palette

Happy 1st of December! And Happy Saturday! If you're lucky you won't be working today, but sadly, I am. One of the things I like to do on Saturday's when I'm working is to be a little bit more adventurous with my make-up. It somehow makes being there less painful and it instantly cheers me up and gives me a boost of energy and confidence! Here's a fairly simple look I created with the Sleek Sunset Palette. I've had this palette for quite some time and I love all of the shades in it.

Here's how I use the palette to create this eye look (stock image from Sleek website):

This is such a great Autumn/Winter palette and the reds are really wearable. I teamed this with a nude lip because I was wearing it for work, but I definitely feel that you could get away with a red lip for evenings. The eyeliner is Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eyeliner in Black and the Mascara is The Body Shop's Super Volume Mascara in Black.

Hair is my trusty Enrapture Totem Styler on 1-3-3.

What do you think of this look? How would you use the Sunset palette?

Lauren