You know how sometimes things just seem to work out? I was talking
here about being overwhelmed with hospital bills and being I really was unsure how I was going to pay for them. Because of the bills I probably wasn't going to be able to take any classes for several semesters either. So I was feeling pretty bummed and stressed out. But then I got an email from my University saying that I was given full financial aid AND given a scholarship. So much relief! My bf and I have a little bit of money in our savings that I can use to start paying my hospital bills, and while it won't come close to covering them all, it is enough to cover then while I get back on my feet. I am still on a low buy, but instead of just buying random things that catch my eye I am going to plan what I buy and try to branch out and make small orders with companies I have never tried before.
Which brings me to good part of this post. I actually placed this order with Sleek Makeup (a UK drugstore makeup brand) before I found out how much money I owed, but it was the start of my mission to branch out. I first saw swatches of Sleek's Avoir La Peche collection on
Jess's blog and
Robyn's blog and instantly fell in love with it. The prices in USD aren't bad either- the palette is $10, the blush is $6, and the lip conditioner is $6.50.
The bad part is international shipping, which is $13.50. Over a third of what I paid went to shipping. Sleek isn't overcharging for shipping at all, and it is actually a pretty reasonable and standard as far as international shipping goes, but it is a concern if you only want to place a small order. Sleek states that their international delivery time is between 10 and 15 days and I got my order well within that time. My complaint is that after I got my receipt emailed to me I never heard back to get a tracking number or anything. I tweeted them asking if international orders got tracking numbers and they immediately replied telling me that yes they did, and to email them my order number to get it. I never did email them because my package arrived the next day, but they really should have sent the tracking number to begin with.
Everything was packaged professionally and safely as you can see here. Everything arrived intact with no damage.
I love the packaging! My only complaint is that the flowers aren't embossed on the lid of the actual palette, just on the box.
Sleek Pan Tao Blush
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| Sleek Pan Tao blush |
It looks scarily orange right? I never would have bought it unless I had seen pictures of people wearing it.
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| Sleek Pan Tao blush |
Even the swatches look scary. I wasn't too impressed with the blush when I swatched it. It looked a bit powdery and patchy but I didn't have that issue at all when I wore it.
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| Sleek Pan Tao blush |
See, not so scary right? I put this on way more heavily than I actually wear blush so you could see the color better. I barely noticed that all blushes pull pink on me, even the most coral of blushes. Even this one looks slightly pink. I guess I need a bright orange blush to make my cheeks look coral. But I really love this blush. It has moved into my top 5 powder blushes.
Sleek Sugar May Tinted Lip Conditioner
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| Sleek Sugar May Tinted Lip Conditioner |
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| Sleek lip conditioner compared to MAC's |
Sleek's lip conditioner is similar in size to MAC's but Mac's holds 0.5 oz and Sleek's has 0.35 oz.
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| Sleek Sugar May Tinted Lip Conditioner |
The texture is different than MAC's. It is more slippery and glossy. I think MAC's is slightly more moisturizing. The one thing that bothers me about this lip conditioner is the smell. It smells like vanilla frosting made with imitation vanilla. It just smells very fake to me, but it isn't so bad that it would stop me from wearing it. The lip conditioner is on the sheer side, but still deposits a nice amount of color on the lips. It's perfect for those interested in the orange lips trend but want something more reserved than a bright orange lippie.
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| Sleek Sugar May Tinted Lip Conditioner |
Sleek Paraguaya palette
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| Sleek Paraguaya palette |
I was so excited for this palette to come because I have been craving pinks, peaches, corals, and oranges lately. For some reason the pattern pressed into eyeshadows bothers me. I think it looks really cheap and it reminds me of waffles. Random Question Time- Are you one of those people that have to have syrup in every crevice of their waffle? I am and it bothers me to have empty waffle crevices!
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| Sleek Paraguaya palette swatches in the sun |
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| Sleek Paraguaya palette swatches- top row |
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| Sleek Paraguaya palette swatches- bottom row |
There are 8 matte shades in this palette and 4 shimmers. I really like the texture of mattes. I don't have hardly any experience using them, but I found that they blended together well and weren't too powdery. The two orange shimmers I really liked as well. The shimmers have a weird texture... they almost seem flaky? Or chunky? I don't know; it's odd. They still look nice when used but it makes them more difficult to work with and prone to fallout when applying.
I wanted to show you this pictures because I found it really weird. The shadows are really squishy/ soft in the pan. Putting my finger in the pan to get a swatch caused the ugly waffle pattern to smoosh down. The pattern isn't worn away, it's squished away. This didn't really affect the wear of the shadows, but you just need to be careful or you'll end up with way too much powder on your brush.
Here are two looks I did with the palette
Sleek Paraguaya palette matte look
This is Sandstone to highlight, Blush on the inner half of the lid, and Cameo on the outer half. I used Persimmon wide in the cease, with smaller amount of Tangelo in crease as well. I wanted a shimmery lower lash line so I used Parfait. Lastly Bittersweet was used to line the upper lash line and the waterline.
Sleek Paraguaya palette shimmery look
This is Parfait inner corner and to highlight, Persian Orange on inner third of the lid, and peach gold on the outer two thirds. Cameo is in the crease with Parfait on top to make it shimmery and a small amount of Stone in crease as well and on the waterline. The lower lashes are lined with Persian Orange topped with Bellini.
So would I recommend Sleek's makeup? Yes, I think the colors are really nice and unique, especially compared to what we can get at out drugstores here. Can you imagine Revlon or something coming out with a palette like this? I don't think so! The prices are really inexpensive and even with international shipping, it is definitely worth it. Sleek's customer service seems to be a bit sporadic (although I had no problem trying to reach them), but they are a fairly young company who and are growing exponentially, so some growing pains are to be expected. There have been complaints from people about how certain things have been handled by the company in the past, but I can't comment on them because this order has been my only experience with them and it has been very positive.
Available:
Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!
