Sleek Make-up

I've had quite a hard time getting my hands on this brand. My local Superdrug doesn't stock it and whenever I'd head into a bigger town, all they seemed to have were empty Sleek displays with a few testers and nothing else...very infuriating...and bloody pointless.

There were two items that I was really curious to try out so I just bought them online and couldn't wait to blog about them...

Sleek Pout Paint & Blush

Sleek Pout Paints are dupes for OCC's Lip Tars, although OCC's colour range is way more extensive than Sleek's.
Saturated in colour and intensely pigmented, these need to be applied with caution as very little goes a very long way. I'd also suggest applying them to well moisturised lips as they can feel a little drying and emphasise any dryness.

I got three shades -

Peachy Keen, Milkshake, Minx

Pout Paints can be mixed together to create your own unique shade. They also sell a blue one (Peek-a-bloo) which can be used to add depth and warmth to other colours or white (Cloud 9) which is used to lighten your chosen shade. 

Sleek's Peachy Keen is also almost an exact dupe for OCC's Cha Cha: 

Left: Sleek Pout Paint in Peachy Keen  Right: OCC Lip Tar in Cha Cha

I'm also finding the packaging of the Pout Paint's to be a lot more practical as the lip tar ends get quite messy and result in product wastage. 

Pout Paints retail for £5 whereas the Lip Tars are £9 - both contain 8ml of product.

Now onto the blush...

I did of course feed my obsession for peach and got the shade Life's a Peach. 

Life's a Peach is a gorgeous, matte pure peach shade and when I first used it, I was delighted to discover that it was almost identical to MAC's Peaches blush - which just happens to be my ultimate favourite blush ever. 

In the pan they don't look very similar:

...but when swatched:

Left: MAC's Peaches  Right: Sleek's Life's a Peach

I'm delighted with my purchases and can't wait to try some other goodies from this brand. Any suggestions?

Mattes for your lips

If you're a fan of matte textures then I suggest you check out these little gems from Collection 2000.

Velvet feeling, matte looking and moisturising lip creams - and let me just add that they smell delicious.
These come in four shades: Cotton Candy (pink), Angel Delight (beige), Fairy Cake (coral), Powder Puff (nude).
Cotton Candy and Fairy Cake are bold, bright and perfect for summer. Angel Delight is proving to be my absolute favourite. It's a great neutral shade that's perfect for every day wear and neutral looks...I need to stock up on it! Powder Puff is a true nude and the perfect accompaniment for an intense smoky eye.

These lip creams glide on easily, feel soft on the lips and once they set they create a stain like effect. They're also incredibly long lasting - you'll only need to touch up after eating or drinking - other than that you may rest assured that they won't be going anywhere.
Overall, I truly adore them!

Another bargain that I came across in Superdrug was this lipstick from Beauty UK, retailing at £2.99 (same as the Cream Puffs). 

I've walked past this brand countless of times and it's never really intrigued me until I spotted this shade.

It's called "Snob" and my first impression was that it bared a rather uncanny similarity to Revlon's Pink Pout Matte Lipstick (which I love), but when compared with Pink Pout, Snob seems to have a bit more of a lilac hue to it.
The textue is completely matte and the lipstick has a minty scent to it.
This colour is perhaps a little bit too "brave and daring " for my usual look but I seem to be liking it anyway.

Latex Free Make-Up Blending Sponge

I have never tried out the Beauty Blender as I've always fared well with foundation brushes and couldn't quite justify spending £20 on a make-up sponge. These make-up sponges however retail for £3.99 and are available here in the U.K. from www.love-makeup.co.uk as well as www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk.

The principle for using these is the same as with the Beauty Blender - you need to dampen them, they expand in size and then you work liquid and cream make-up products into the skin by using a bouncing motion. The pointed end is used to apply foundation or concealer around the nose or eyes.

Left: dry sponge  Right: dampened sponge

Initially I only purchased one sponge, just out of curiosity and to do a trial run, but after using it only once I knew that I needed more. These are incredibly easy to use and apply liquid and cream foundations like a dream, leaving you with a truly (yes I'll throw in the cliche) flawless finish!

I wholeheartedly recommend these. This might sound dramatic but they will transform the way in which you apply your foundation, helping you achieve a truly natural and well blended finish. 

If you've tried the Beauty Blender as well as these then please leave a comment below and let me know how they compare.

Nude Cleansing Facial Oil

This past while I've been trying out some new cleansers, most of which I've been rather impressed with. I'm not going to mention them all in one post, I'll do a separate one on each...

So to start off...as the post title states...it's Nude Cleansing Facial Oil.

Now I'm sure that you've heard loads and loads about this one - it has after all been labelled as a "miraculous" cleanser. Having read all the wonderful reviews, I'd finally decided to check for myself what all the fuss was about. I do have to say that the fact that it is an oil was the biggest selling point for me. As I have mentioned before - I absolutely freaking LOVE oils - be it facial oils or body oils - I just love smothering myself in them.
I do also keep a little bottle of olive oil in the bathroom that I occasionally like to use as a facial cleanser...works a treat.

Now onto my thoughts regarding Nude's cleansing oil...

The oil should be warmed between the hands and massaged onto a dry face, then a small amount of water is applied in order to form a light milk. As you're massaging the oil into the face you can actually see all the make-up becoming dislodged and melting away. I love the fact that it is completely gentle on the eyes; any cleansers that start irritating and stinging my eyes are a complete no no for me.
It did take me a little while to get used to the scent which is rather difficult to describe...it's not that it's unpleasant...but you do immediately feel that you are using a natural product.

So does it do a great job of cleansing? Hell yeah! This surely is a magnificent cleanser, but I find that I need to use more than the suggested 1 to 2 pumps of oil. I use 3 pumps for the first cleanse and then follow up with 2 more...but I do tend to go rather heavy on the mascara. So around 5 pumps in total me...leaving my face squeaky clean.

Will I continue to repurchase and make this cleansing oil a regular within my bathroom cabinet? Probably not.

Although it is an excellent cleanser that I really can not fault in any way or form, for some reason it has failed to really "wow" or excite me.  I feel that there a lot of cheaper cleansers out there that do just as good of a job as this one and cost a lot less. In fact, I feel that I got the same sort of results by using regular olive oil as a cleanser.

Have you been "wowed" by this cleansing oil?

Random Boots stuff...

I popped into Boots the other day just for a quick nosy and as usual I didn't leave empty handed...no major shopping just three items that captured my attention:

Revlon Nail Enamel in Sunshine Sparkle

This is a very justifiable purchase as I don't own any other yellow nail polish so I'm sort of discovering new territories here:) A great shade for the summer, don't you think?! No sunshine here in Northern Ireland at present so this should brighten up my days. Please excuse the scruffy paint job but I took this pic after about 3 days of wear...

Boots 17 Falsifeye Mascara

Falsifeye claims to create a "false lash effect" look...haven't we heard that one before?...Anyway, believe it or not I did not fall for the promising claims - I just fell for the uber cool, thick, bright pink packaging!!!
What a great looking mascara tube this is:)
The mascara itself ain't too bad either. I wouldn't say that it makes my lashes look like I'm wearing fakes but it doesn't disappoint either.
What the heck, I'll just insert a picture of my eye here so you can see the mascara in action -

As you can see it's nothing mind blowing but I have very short eyelashes anyway so I wasn't expecting a miracle. Overall I'm pleased with this mascara's performance.
At the minute Boots is offering a free gift to go along with the mascara in the form of a gel eyeliner.

Aren't freebies just great?! I didn't actually notice the free gift until the lady at the till informed me about it so that was a pleasant surprise.

Revlon ColourBurst Lipgloss 

I got it in the shade Crystal Lilac - Love this gloss, it's absolutely gorgeous!

Super glossy with a natural hint of pink...and here's me wearing it -

Yeah I thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of my reflection in the mirror:)

Have you made any random purchases lately?

Grimas Cream Foundation

Grimas is a Dutch make-up company that creates cosmetics for professional use and is favoured by face painters, theatres and professional make-up artists around the world. The brand seems to be rather uncommercial and difficult to come across. I discovered Grimas about two years ago, quite by accident actually during one of my many Internet make-up researches:) 

My first ever Grimas purchase was an eyeshadow palette - absolutely brilliant - and I'll do a separate post on Grimas eyeshadows pretty soon...

I love cream foundation and it just so happens that Grimas makes a handy palette of 12 flesh tone shades that have been specifically chosen for photographic and beauty make-up. You can also purchase individual pots of the foundation. 

This is what the palette looks like: 

 ...and you can also unclasp the little pots from your palette if you wish...

 Here are some swatches:

 Top row: 1004, W5, B6, B4, B2, B1

Bottom row: J7, J5, J3, J1, G4, G0

So as you can see - no fancy packaging - it's all about the product.

Anyway onto my verdict regarding this cream foundation - I love it!!!

The foundation is unperfumed and an absolute dream to work with due to the ease of application. In fact, I'd say that the application process of this foundation is absolutely foolproof as it is incredibly creamy and thus very easy to blend. 

You only need a little to cover the whole face and the results are fantastic. This foundation literally melts into the skin and is virtually undetectable on the skin. 

I will most definitely be repurchasing this palette in the future and will probably get a bigger sized pot of my shade for personal use. 

If you'd like to learn more about the brand you can check out their product range on www.grimas.com. 

I purchase my products from 1st Night either by phone or through www.grimasmakeup.co.uk. 

I'm absolutely ecstatic with their great customer service and super fast delivery time - in fact I ordered an eyeshadow palette yesterday and received it this morning! 

Have you tried any products from Grimas?

Kryolan Glamour Glow Palette

Meet the new gem within my make-up kit - Kryolan's Glamour Glow Palette.

Glamour Glow contains an array of eight very practical colours and as the name suggests these serve to create glowing effects on the skin. The palette is however very versatile and can be used as highlighters, bronzers, eyeshadow and blush.

The colours are - top row, left to right: Glamour Tan, Natural Tan, Pale Tan, Blush Mauve

Bottom row, left to right: Blush Peach, Bronzing Summer, Bronzing Sun, Bronzing Agais

The powders have a pearly, satin texture without very obvious shimmer particles. You can achieve either delicate or stronger glow effects depending on the method of application. It's best to apply these delicately, building on the layers as some of these shades can make you look "dirty" or like a disco ball if applied too liberally. When applied carefully, these give the skin a gorgeous, ethereal glow. The fact that the powders are quite hard gives you control over the layers being applied. 

Here are a couple of swatches - 

top row

bottom row

Have you discovered any great palettes lately?

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