Sleek MakeUp Haul, Review & Swatches!

Be jealous, all of you non-Europeans, I was finally able to get my hands on some Sleek Makeup products!  *squeal*



Okay, so it's not actually that hard to acquire Sleek since they do ship international, but the $10 shipping is a bit of a turnoff if there isn't a sale. Fortunately I was online when they were having a flash 20% off sale and decided to order a few things.
I had a few problems with the website, every time I would go through the checkout it would dump my cart. It was a huge PITA and finally I sent an email over to customer service and they put in my order for me. Apparently website problems are a common occurrence each time they have a sale but I can't say enough good things about their CS.
I also have a fabulously awesome friend who was willing to pick up a few things that were sold out online and send them to me. <3


















First up are the blushes!

L to R: Suede, Life's a Peach, Pomegranate, Rose Gold

 The love for Sleek blushes is pretty apparent over on my favorite makeup board and since I have a new-found love for blush I was pretty stoked to try these out. I've always had blush issues with my oily cheeks; finding a blush to last more than 3 or 4 hours is a hard job so I end up tossing them or giving them away. I will NOT be getting rid of any of these, I want more!

Suede

Life's A Peach

Pomegranate

Rose Gold

• Suede: A warm light brown matte blush, this is my new favorite contour color. It makes a great natural color for the cheeks as well.
• Life's A Peach: The color is in the name of this one, a matte peach blush that looks scarier in the pan than on your cheeks.
• Pomegranate: A very pigmented berry toned shimmer blush. I am loving the color on this one
• Rose Gold: This is a shimmery pinkish-coral blush which many say is a dupe NARS Orgasm. (Post comparing the two to come.)

L to R: Suede, Life's A Peach, Pomegranate, Rose Gold

All of these shades last 7-8 hours on my cheeks, with the exception of Rose Gold which only lasts for about 5. (Disclaimer: Shimmery blushes never seem to last as long on me, so it's not unexpected.)
My ONLY problem with these blushes is the packaging. I love the simple black rectangular design but the clasps are a little hard to open. I'm always messing up my polish when I open them. :( I believe a de-potting is in their future.


Now on to the eyeshadow palettes!
All eyeshadow swatches are two swipes over Urban Decay's Primer Potion.

The Au Naturel Palette is part of the Nude Collection and has 12 mainly cool-toned shadows. This palette has a variety of both matte and shimmery shades. The bottom row on this palette is full of wonderfully pigmented shadows but the top row has colors that are really meant for transitioning or a very natural look to the lid.

Sleek Au Naturel Palette

Sleek Au Naturel Swatches

I've used my au naturel palette several times and I really like it. I have a love of neutral palettes and this one is no exception.

Can  you tell what her favorite face for photos is? I swear, I do NOT put her up to it.

Next up is the Me, Myself and Eye Palette which Sleek made in collaboration with PPQ, a Bristish fashion store. This palette is packed with great pigmented colors and fabulous names like Barry White, Lilac Allen and Salt 'n Peppermint.
I did a FOTD with this a couple days ago and I couldn't be more pleased with the results.You can check it out here.

Sleek Me, Myself and Eye

Sleek Me, Myself and Eye Swatches

The Oh So Special Palette makes me smile when I look at it because the colors are so pretty and feminine. It contains pinks, plums and neutrals- a must in every girls collection! My picture does quite capture how pretty this is in the pan but I assure you that it is.
I've not used this palette yet other than for swatching but if I needed to carry a palette with me for a day-to-night look, I would definitely choose this one.

Sleek Oh So Special Palette

Sleek Oh So Special Swatches

The Acid Palette. The name of this one really says it all. WOW. It's wild and bright and certainly takes some balls to walk out of the house with any of these shades on. Every shadow in this palette is seriously pigmented with the exception of the matte white shade.
One of these poor shadows had a bumpy ride in transit so I had to preform emergency surgery to save it. No worries, the procedure was a success!
According to US FDA regulations, this palette cannot be sold in the US so if you want one, you need to know somebody who will pick it up in-store.

Sleek Acid Palette

Sleek Acid Swatches

I couldn't help but dive right in to this palette because the colors scream, "PLAY WITH ME!!" I wasn't at home with my brushes so I had to use the sponge applicator for both of these looks. It made me appreciate my brushes even more, haha!

You can find Sleek Makeup products on their website and they are sold at Superdrug stores in the UK.
If you have any questions about particular shades please leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.

Do you own any Sleek products? Which are your favorites?

MAC Matchmaster Foundation Review

 

The newest foundation from MAC Cosmetics, Matchmaster is:

A virtually "invisible" foundation with coverage influenced by your own skin tone. A breakthrough patented formula technology with a spectrum of 14 light to deep dark shades. Discover shade intelligence!
New Foundation technology using translucent pigments to enable a fully personalized finish influenced by the subtleties of your own skin's undertone.

Normally when these types of foundation say things like, "influenced by your skintone" it really means, "so sheer that it basically provides no coverage" which I don't find is the case at all with matchmaster.

Heavily swatched

Lighter dry swatches

It comes in 10 shades, ranging from 1.0 to 10.0. According to MAC, 1.0 is a match to NC15 & N18 and 10.0 is a match to NW58 or deeper. I bought this in shade 1.0 and when I first put it on it looks a tad pale, so I think MAC's shade reference might be a little bit off. (I'm a NW10-15, for reference.) You can find swatches of all the shades on the always helpful Karla Sugar's blog.

It dries a bit faster than SFF so working in sections is a must. It goes on at about medium coverage, but it is easily buildable. If I don't use a green corrector on my red spots I have to go back and add more coverage after the first application. I use a bit more product with this foundation, even before adding the extra coverage to my cheeks. Using concealer with it is a must, both under eyes and on blemishes.The finish is demi-matte and doesn't get cakey or chalky as I build it.

Direct sunlight

One of the greatest things about this foundation is how light it feels on my face, almost weightless. It has a slightly powdery finish which made me want to touch my face all day long at first. It feels so very soft on the skin.

Now most importantly, does it do what it claims? Does it match? Hell to the yeah! I don't think I've ever had a foundation match this well before. It goes on the slightest bit pale but within an hour it looks perfect.

Natural light

I normally try to use foundations with neutral to slightly yellow undertones to combat the pink in my skin since most foundations with pink undertones end up oxidizing to an orange shade on me, and that's just no bueno. This is more neutral with just a tad bit of pink in it. YMMV with it though, since it will change a bit on everyone.










I have to say that it fares wonderfully on my oily skin as well. I gave it a real test run when we had a 84F day and I applied it sans primer, without setting powder and went the whole day without blotting. The end results surprised me. You can watch the day progress on my cheeks.

It lasted up until the 7 hour mark before it really started to settle into my pores and wear off. Any oily skinned gal can tell you that's pretty darn good!

Creepy too close after picture with flash- it had gotten too dark outside and I did not know it.

The only bad thing I have to say about this foundation is that it will emphasize any dry spots on the face. I've been getting a touch of dryness under my eyes from my retinol cream and it will clearly show when I use this foundation.

Needless to say at this point, but I am a fan of this foundation! It's become my "everyday" foundation for picking my son up from school, running errands, etc. I would recommend it to anyone with normal-to-oily skin but if you have any dryness I would make sure to moisturize well before application.

If I were to give this a grade, it would score an A- for me. ;)

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters Review

New to the Colorburst line from Revlon are the Lip Butters!
I already happen to be a fan of Revlon's lip products, and these are no exception. These are all the rage right now throughout the beauty blogosphere, so of course when I saw them at my local Rite Aid during their 40% off Revlon sale, I picked up a few. :D

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters L to R: Candy Apple, Red Velvet, Berry Smoothie, Pink Truffle

Red Velvet has the most pigment and solid color. A fabulous deep red that I think will flatter most. The color automatically makes me think of red velvet cake. Yum!
Candy Apple is bright, clean red shade but a bit sheer on the lips, at least when compared to Red Velvet.
Berry Smoothie is my new fave MLBB (my lips but better) shade, it's a sheer berry pink. I've been carrying it in my purse every day since I bought it. We might be BFFs. <3
Pink Truffle is also a good MLBB shade in brownish-pink. I would prefer a little more pink, but it's still a nice shade.

L to R: Red Velvet, Berry Smoothie, Pink Truffle

Candy Apple

Swatches are 2 swipes each in natural light.











I thoroughly suck at take pics of my lips. They always look like crap. 

This is a feeble attempt, lol.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters L to R: Red Velvet, Berry Smoothie, Candy Apple, Pink Truffle 

These are very moisturizing, creamy and have a good amount of pigment. They don't feel like a traditional lipstick when on the lips, but like I have on a super moisturizing yet pigmented lip balm. The color is easily build-able for the more sheer colors; swipe and go for a hint of color or add a couple layers for an intense color. The packaging is certainly not my favorite and I think that it looks a bit tacky. The good news is that the cap is the same color as the lip butter so if you have several it's easy to grab the one you want. I seem to get about 2-3 hours of wear time with these which is good for me, most lipsticks barely last an hour. These are permanent and not limited edition, so they will eventually show up everywhere. Since this new product is receiving a lot of hype, I don't want to build up your expectations too much for fear of letdown, but I think they're worth it. They're definitely worth grabbing a couple if you see them in your store!

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Review

I have finally jumped on the MAC Cosmetics bandwagon, and I am a huge fan. Seriously, why did I not try this stuff sooner? *SMH*

I have some friends who rave about the studio sculpt foundation but I was a little afraid that it would have a too much moisture for my oily skin right now. (I might give it a try in the winter when humidity isn't such an issue.)

I ordered the Studio Fix Fluid in NC15 online after reading many, MANY reviews and swatches. (Seriously, thank God for Makeupalley and Google. Both are such handy tools when you can't just run in-store.) I'm really fair so going with the lightest shade was a no-brainier, especially after I read so many fair skinned gals complain that the SFF shades run darker than the other MAC foundation shades. According to MAC, I should be a warm shade because of the pink/rosy undertones in my skin but so many reviews talked about how the warm shades in SFF were too orange for them, and I know from previously experience that I certainly cannot do foundation with an orange tint. Oompa Loompa, anyone?

SFF applied with quickness on greasy skin

I was so excited to see that black box on my doorstep that I ran inside and applied it on top of my 6 hour old tinted moisturizer greasy skin with my fingers. If it can look good on top of THAT, there must be something special about this stuff.

Morning application

Evening results

I applied the SFF with a sponge for a couple of days and while it still looks great, neither sponge or fingers are my first choice for applying liquid foundation. It's harder to get an even look with my fingers and the sponge soaks up too much makeup. What a waste! The SFF still looks pretty great with a sponge, if I do say so myself.

Morning close-up

Evening close-up

I also added a comparison pics from right after application to the end of the day. (About 8 hours, I believe.) You might think I look like a hot mess by the end of the day, but with my oily skin, I promise that it's a good thing!



My new favorite application method is stippling with a MAC 187. In combination with the SFF it gives my skin an almost flawless, airbrushed finish. My skin looks great with this on and it covers fabulously. I still use a bit of undereye concealer with it but nothing on blemishes.

Applied with stippling method

Yes, I spent the whole day with my eyes closed. :P

I have combination-to-oily skin, (I occasionally get dry spots but it's very rare and only in the winter,) and this foundation is perfect for me. By the end of the day my skin has a slight sheen to it when wearing this, but that could be corrected with a dusting of powder. That is a first for me since most foundations leave me with shiny cheeks within a few hours.
The coverage is anywhere from medium to full, depending on the application. It's a very easily buildible foundation without becoming cakey or blotchy. It does take a little while to dry, which is great for adding coverage but not for when you're in a hurry. It has somewhere between a natural and matte finish when applied to my skin. I would call it one step under matte, if that makes sense. Another great thing is how little product I actually need to use to achieve this look.  One pump is plenty when using the stippling method.

There are only two things that I dislike about this product and both are related to the packaging. It comes in a glass bottle so I think that traveling with it would be an issue and I also had to buy a pump for it separately. Really MAC, you know we need that pump to get it out of the small opening. Way to make a few extra bucks. ;)

While this formula is fabulous for my oilier skin, I'm not sure that it would work well for those with really dry skin.  There really isn't a "one-size fits all" foundation, but I'm sure that there are those who will love this just as much as I do. This foundation is well on it's way to becoming a HG foundation for me!!