The Sleek Storm palette and why you need it! Review, Swatches & Comparisons.

I've reviewed Sleek palettes before (Oh So Special and Sunset in case you're interested) and I've said it before, but I'll also say it again: these babies are excellent value for money. Sleek palettes offer 12 pigmented (mostly) eyeshadows for $9.99. WIN.

Sleek is a makeup brand available in UK drugstore. However, their products are also available for international purchases on their website. I'm a big fan of these shadows - they are smooth and pigmented, and last all day on my primed eyelids. Bonus: Pixiwoo uses these palettes all the time in their makeup tutorials.

The colors look a bit washed out in my swatches, but I promise that these shadows are very potent.

For fun, I compared some of these shadows to what I already had in my collection to see if there were any dupes. Surprisingly, nothing really matched!

Sleek #4, MAC Woodwinked, Bare Minerals The Playlist Palette shadow in Louder, L'Oreal Infallible in Sahara Treasure. As you can see, none of them match up at all. And they're definitely the closest match as everything else I own is much yellower than #4.

Sleek #5, MAC All That Glitters, Bare Minerals The Happy Place palette shadow in Imagine, Estee Lauder Violet Underground's pale pink shadow. Sleek's #5 shadow pulls a bit more mauve than most of my pinky shadows. This shadow is really gorgeous on the lid.

Sleek #7, MAC Bronze, MAC Mulch, Dior Aurora palette the brown shade, L'Oreal Bronze Taupe. (sidenote: I need to use Bronze Taupe STAT it is so beautiful). Sleek #7 is absolutely GORGEOUS. This is definitely my favorite from the palette. It applies so smoothly and doesn't crumble like some of the softer shadows. I think MAC's Bronze is the most similar to it, but Bronze has a dryer texture than Sleek's #7 shadow. Seriously, #7 is one finger swipe. It's awesome.

And finally, Sleek's #10, Estee Lauder's Violet Underground palette in the blue shade, and MAC's Contrast. #10 is quite similar to MAC's Contract, but Contrast was pretty much 15 vigorous finger swipes to make it look even. #10 wins by far.

Now there are minor disadvantages to the shadows. For one, they do have a bit of fall-out if you're not careful when applying them. They do not fall out during the day, but application can be tricky with the softest of shadows (#5 is a bit problematic) as they can have a tendency to crumble. For me, a bit of fall-out is nothing a swipe of foundation brush can't fix. Also, most of my Sleek palettes, including this one, have duds. The duds here are #3 and #7. They're not horrible, but they're not as pigmented as the other shades, and they apply a bit patchy and dry. I don't love MAC's matte shadows, but they are much better than the two Sleek mattes in this palettes.

Favorites in this palette include #1, #5, #7, #8, and #9. Based on these shadows, I think the palette is worth it. Especially at such a low price point. Some of these shadows aren't colors I would consider wearing on a day-to-day basis, but are really great for a dark smoky eye on a night out.

Hope this review was somewhat helpful in helping you decide whether it's worth it!

Sleek's Sunset Palette - Review + swatches

Today, I'm bringing you a short but sweet review of the Sleek Sunset palette. Always a winner with the Pixiwoos, Sleek is a "drugstore" or "highstreet" brand of makeup mostly sold in the UK. However, they do ship to Canada from their website! Of course, this was a great excuse to try a few palettes!

This palette's name really does suit its style - the colors are truly resemblant to a beach sunset. The general warmness of the palette is stunning. I'm not usually one to go for warm colors (especially oranges!) but this palette intrigued me. I was wondering if it would be a day-to-day palette, or more of a special occasion palette. I was pleasantly surprised to see myself wearing these shadows to work on many occasions (just not the bright red and blue!).

Swatched on my arm.

I love this palette. The colors are truly pigmented and a breeze to blend. Some of them do produce fall-out so you have to be a bit careful of that. I'm especially smitten with shades 3, 7 and 10. 7 is a truly unique burgandy/bronze/mauve color - I can't say I have anything quite like it!

Here's a quick look I've done using shades 7, 2, 10 and 1 (the black at the lashline).

If you're a fan of bright shadows, I'd definitely recommend this palette. Its pigmentation is in my experience as good as, if not better, most MAC shadows. And at $9.99, you are definitely getting a bang for your buck. If you like your neutrals, I'd say skip it, and go for their Oh So Special palette (reviewed here). But then again, venturing into brights have never been cheaper than this!

Only one week until my sister's wedding. There is so much stuff to be done before Saturday! And don't even get me thinking about work... if I get out of this week alive, I'll be happy.

Hope you all had a great weekend! :)