I’m going to share with you that I feel a little bit irritated with Sleek MakeUP right now – you’ll probably have seen plenty of coverage already on this collection because it was a mass send out, but it was sent out as a ‘gift’. Which I just feel is very odd because I’m assuming that they won’t consider subsequent blog posts as a ‘gift’ to them. The reason I don’t like the term ‘gift’ is because it assumes that bloggers are the lucky ones to be the recipients and yet what the brand is clearly hoping for is mass coverage to be seen by thousands of women and therefore promote sales. If I’d taken the gift literally, this would be tucked away in a drawer and never see the light of day on my blog because I’d assume it was for personal use. I know it’s only a word, but it’s a disservice to bloggers who will put a great deal of time and care into spreading the word on Sleek’s behalf. It doesn’t feel like any kind of gift to me, but more part and parcel of my job as a blogger. Anyway, I’ll move along now!
As you can see, the Calm Before The Storm palette is full of mermaidy blues and greens and I love the inclusion of Voyage, the peachy shade, because that’s a natural and striking match to the brighter shades. I’ll run through the shades. Top Row: Starboard, Voyage, Pacific, Caesium, Amphitrite, Sovereign. Bottom Row: Ahoy!, Barque, Adrift, Seaweed, Navy Shower, Lagoon.
As you can see, it’s a great mix of mattes and shimmers and a good colour selection for brights or neutrals.
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Actually, the Blush By Three palette is my favourite piece from the collection – shades are Calypso Island (a kind of brickish shade with shimmer), Phoenix Sound (more for highlighting I think) and Coral Dune which is a glorious orange colour that’s perfect for skin with a smattering of tan.
The Lipstick is described as a semi-matte, but to me it’s just matte, although admittedly not one of those superdry mattes. Ready To Sail is a beautiful red though – and a good amount of pigment so you get a properly red lip.
The Sleek MakeUP Nautical Collection is very summery – I open the blush and think holiday straight away! There’s no indication of when it launches, other than July, and no pricing, but do keep your eyes peeled if you want a splash of nautical for your summer look. Sleek MakeUP is always priced well, so it’s an easy and budget friendly way to catch a transient look.
Transparency Disclosure
All products are sent to me as samples from brands and agencies unless otherwise stated. Affiliate links may be used. Posts are not affiliate driven.
4 comments
This ‘gifting’ is like what Anastasia Beverley Hills does – I see soo many blogs and pages on IG ‘thanking’ ABH for sending them what seems like the whole collection and every new release. As a non blogger I find it really infuriating and makes me not want to buy.Surely if they didnt ‘gift’ so much they could lower the price point for those which actully spend hard earned money on the brands
The blush palette looks fab, the eye shadows are nice but I just think I would struggle to use it.
Tasha xxx
sincereblonde.com
The Blush by 3 palette sounds great! I think out of the three that would be the one I’d be most curious to try.
Sleek haven’t been hitting the spot for me for the last couple of years, and this launch above is no exception.
I feel like older collections were a lot stronger, with a specific concept in mind and more/varied products in each launch that I would want to buy- even if one wasn’t to my tastes, another launch would soon be along that had me tempted! The avoir la peche, berry and Valentine’s Day editions spring to my mind as ones that wowed me. The glo highlighters were wonderful, as were the generously portioned liquid lighlighters.
However in recent years the collections seem to be more sparse, and almost always in very bright colours. Lovely, but not interesting and certainly what we have seen time and again.
Adding to my general disappointment with the brand was the performance of some of the items I picked up from the core collection. The eau la liners were underwhelming (and annoyingly broken all the way through), the face powder oxidises on me like crazy/ doesn’t keep shine at bay and I found the contour/highlight compact patchy, dusty and in general not worth the hype.
Ideally a re-evaluation of some of their formulas to keep them in competition with other brands available at a similar price point, some more wearable shades and new formats for existing products (twist up eyeshadow sticks, anyone?) would help make them a more popular counter at the drugstore. That and perhaps not labelling PR samples as gifts 😉
Quite a long comment I’ve left (sorry *not sorry*) but the thought’s been at the back of my head a while. I do hope the brand find themselves again- it was lovely to see such fun products for a wide range of skin tones at affordable prices!