Sleek MakeUP Nude Collection
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*Au Naturel Palette*
*Suede Blush*
*Bare Minimum Pout Polish*
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THOUGHTS and SWATCHES...
Sleek MakeUP’s NUDE COLLECTION resonates from the clean, fresh-faced beauty that reigns over the fashion industry, and no longer is this colour story all about beige. Sleek MakeUP’s new collection is a celebration of ethereal beauty, ranging from earthy browns, variations of tan, and pearly oysters. The dominant makeup trend emerging from the A/W ’11 shows is one of far fewer bold brights and many more neutral, taupe dustings of colour; now the focus is on perfect skin, natural shades of makeup, and a real sense of purity.
Au Naturel Palette
Sleek MakeUP’s Nude collection wraps up your autumn beauty look in one warm, earthy and wearable collection. The Au Naturel i-Divine provides an array of matte and pearlescent eye shadows providing a subtle yet contoured effect for day, that can be built up for a smoky glamorous effect using velvety browns and shimmering fawns. Complete the look with Suede blush and Pout Polish in Bare minimum, for the natural look at its best!
Price: $10.50
Size: 12 x 1.1 g
Suede is a warm, tawny matte blush that elicits a wintery mocha glow. Use a contour brush to define and sculpt the cheeks, or use a large fluffy brush and swirl the colour on to the apples of the cheeks for a natural, radiant complexion. Wear with Au Naturel i-Divine and Bare Minimum Pout Polish for the natural look at its best!
Price: $6.50
Size: 8g/0.27 oz
Bare Minimum Pout Polish
Bare Minimum Pout Polish is a glossy nude with Jojoba, avocado and sweet Almond oils, ensuring that chapped lips are a thing of the past. Team with the Au Naturel i-Divine and Suede blush, for a muted and classic nude lip that allows smoky eyes to stand out.
Price: $6.50
Size: 10g/0.34 oz.
Standard International Delivery within 10 to 15 working days
$13.50
International destinations are considered as all other countries not listed as European. Please note we do not ship to the African continent.
$13.50
International destinations are considered as all other countries not listed as European. Please note we do not ship to the African continent.
The entire Sleek MakeUP Nude Collection is now available on the Sleek MakeUP website for us international beauty lovers with a flat international shipping rate of $13.50.
The Au Naturel i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette retails for $10.50 for 12 eyeshadows at 1.1g/0.03oz each. This means you get a grand total of 13.2g/0.36oz. of product for $10.50. Compare these to M∙A∙C Eyeshadows which are $14.50 for 1.5g of product. Yes, for less than the cost of one MAC Eyeshadow you can get 12 comparable (sometimes superior) eyeshadows! Even with shipping these amount to roughly $2 per eyeshadow. Quite a steal.
The Bare Minimum Pout Polish retails for $6.00 for 10g/0.34 oz. This price has me a bit shaky since this is really just a tinted lip balm. $6 is quite a chunk to spend on a simple balm when Chapstick and Blistex come in under $3...even EOS which is the new craze is still only $3.29. Honestly not worth it to us here in the US unless you want the complete collection for novelty. You can for sure get a cheaper lip balm locally.
The Suede Blush rounds out the collection and retails at $6.50 for 8g/0.27 oz. This is a great price for a blush even at a drugstore level. A NYX Powder Blush is $6 for 0.18 oz while a Wet 'n' Wild Color Icon Powder Blush is roughly $3 for 0.14 oz. So you will get 1-1/2 to 2 times the amount of product in a Sleek MakeUP Blush for relatively the same price per oz of NYX and Wet 'n' Wild Blushes. Come on...can you smell a bargain here?
Now of course we have to factor in the shipping because these products are not available in the US (as yet...rumors are they are coming to the US very soon) and you will need to pay for international shipping. Honestly I don't think the shipping is outlandish either since they are coming from the UK afterall. Now obviously the more products you purchase the better the deal will be since the $13.50 shipping cost covers the entire purchase. Plus you can combine your order with friends to break up the shipping costs.
Now of course we have to factor in the shipping because these products are not available in the US (as yet...rumors are they are coming to the US very soon) and you will need to pay for international shipping. Honestly I don't think the shipping is outlandish either since they are coming from the UK afterall. Now obviously the more products you purchase the better the deal will be since the $13.50 shipping cost covers the entire purchase. Plus you can combine your order with friends to break up the shipping costs.
These are considered drugstore makeup in the UK....our equivalent of say NYX or Wet 'n' Wild. The prices are comparable to our (cheaper) drugstore brands such as NYX and Wet 'n' Wild which is awesome if you ask me!
The Sleek MakeUP Nude Collection is available in the UK at Superdrug Stores but for beauty lovers in the USA we are only able to order these palettes from the Sleek MakeUP website. However, there are plans to supply Sleek MakeUP in US Sephora stores very soon so be on the lookout for that!
The Au Naturel i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette is a sleek (quite fitting) black palette filled with 12 eyeshadows and a full-sized mirror inside the lid. The eyeshadows are a bit smaller than a M∙A∙C Eyeshadow and are embossed with a waffle design. They also come with a double ended sponge applicator which is recommended for 'best results' - for me these are toss-outs!
The palette sports the sleek makeup logo on the front and a label on the back indicating the name of the palette, the ingredients and all that jazz. The palettes also come with a clear plastic insert sheet that bears the 12 theme names for the eyeshadows which makes it easy to reference the colors without creating your own labeling scheme. You may inadvertently mix the inserts up if you own a few of these palettes plus you may lose the sheet accidentally (or on purpose) once you start using the product. I have written the palette name on each insert to keep from swapping them with others.
The Bonaire Pout Polish comes in a flat screw-top jar. The lid has a fun nude ribbon print and product name and information. The thing that bothers me the most about containers like this is the fact that you have to use your fingers or a lip brush to apply the product. This leads to contamination of the product inside and sticky fingers. I prefer a tube for lip balms since it's easy to reapply throughout the day as we normally do with balms. The jar is secure and rigid so it won't break in your purse and it great for travel. It's your preference if you like a jar or a tube of lip balm.
The Suede Blush comes in a sleek rectangular snap-close case similar to the eyeshadow palette with a full-sized mirror inside the lid. I actually really like the packaging of these blushes because they are sleek and compact and sturdy. Nothing cheap or flimsy here. Only drawback, and this is just my personal preference again, is that you cannot tell the blush color by just looking at the package. I love the see-through lids of MAC and Illamasqua Blushes but I also love the sleeker slimmer packages of the NARS and Sleek MakeUP Blushes (which have no see-through lids). This is not such a major deal especially since these blushes have names which are easier to associate with a color. But when you have a big collection your mental inventory system will take all the help it can get.
The Au Naturel i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette is ideal for the neutral lover out there. It is also a great palette for any collection since it filled with great nude colors which are perfect for highlighting and blending. The colors are mainly matte with some satin and shimmery textures.
The colors are great in this palette. The first row is filled with highlight and blending shades and the second row has much deeper shades for smokey looks and creating depth to any eye look. They eyeshadows are extremely rich in color and highly pigmented even without using a primer on the eyelids (even the matte shades). The first color, Nougat, is a matte ivory color with good color payoff which is a nice surprise. Nubuck is an ultra pale grey-ed neutral with a matte finish. The next two colors are almost identical light caramel shades - Cappuccino and Honeycomb - great for blending. Toast is also a great blending shade but is more peach toned. Taupe is not taupe at all but more of a high shine frosty peach gold. It is the most frosted shade of the palette and great for inner corner highlight. The deeper shades are richly pigmented and great for creating sultry looks. Conker is a burgundy shade with chunky sparkles. This shade may be bothersome since the glitter can lead to some fallout issues. Moss is a golden satin shade with a slight olive tone. Bark is a deep grey-ed brown with a slight sheen. Mineral Earth is a shimmery deep bronze-y brown. Regal is a deep burgundy plum with a matte finish. Noir rounds out the palette and is a deep matte black.
The colors work fantastic together to create simple neutral looks or deeper smokey looks. This palette is a great standalone set with a great mix of highlight, blending and deep crease shades. They blend well, stay put all day (use a primer of course). The mattes can be a little tricky as most mattes tend to be but are not chalky or hard to use.
The Bare Minimum Pout Polish is a very sheer lip balm that gets more liquid-y as you apply to your lips. It has a very smooth, soft texture and definitely leaves your lips feeling silky for at least 3 hours. It is not sticky in the slightest and gives the lips a decent level of moisture. It has a faint-to-medium strong cocoa butter scent (each Pout Polish seems to have a different scent intensity) but it isn't too overwhelming unless you have a strong sense of smell or just hate the fragrance itself. There is no significant taste to these (good or repulsive) which is a great thing for me. You also get a lot of product for the price so it will last a very long time....except for the issue with keeping it sanitary in its open jar. While it is a decent product I just don't think it does anything too superior to splurge for on its own. If you want to add to your cart for kicks then it's not a total waste of money because it is pretty decent.
The Sleek MakeUP Nude Collection is great for neutral lovers and for balancing out any makeup collection!
The Au Naturel i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette is the perfect neutral color palette if you have been searching! And is a definite bargain when compared to the other neutral palettes out there.
The Bare Minimum Pout Polish is decent but won't steal the show here. You can skip these if you already have a good lip balm.
The Suede Blush is great for a subtle flush and pairs well with the palette. This one deserves a second look.
Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe
Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino
Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe
Conker, Moss, Bark, Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir
Conker, Moss, Bark
Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir
Bare Minimum Pout Polish (2nd left)
Bare Minimum Pout Polish
Suede Blush
*Products received from Sleek MakeUP for consideration : ) This doesn't affect my opinion just saves me some spending money and allows me to introduce more products to you guys!*