Review and Swatches: Sleek Oh So Special Palette

After a few tutorials, I am coming at you with a review of yet another Sleek palette that my husband spoiled me with the other day. The Oh So Special palette has quite the following online and with it's pink tones is great for very feminine, romantic looks. Let's get to it!

The packaging is as usual very pretty, very "sleek" (See what I did there?!) and classic. The box is covered in the colours you see in the palette itself and the actual palette is a matte black with a shiny relief. The only major downside to Sleek packaging is that it is a BITCH to open and they break fairly easily. But then again, it is a €9.99 eyeshadow palette, can't expect the world from it. As long as the shades are good.

And by golly they are! This palette has a great colour scheme for both a soft, defined eye and even a heavy smokey eye. I am loving the pink, romantic theme of this. It's stunning.

Let's look at the colours!

This palette actually comes with a nice, plastic inlawy that names all the colours, which makes it easy to reference the different colours when decscribing it, I like this!

Bow is a matte, cream-nude tint. Great for highlighting, not so much for swatching. Slightly powdery.

Organza is a very shimmery, almost metallic rose-gold colour.

Ribbon is a matte coral shade. It's a bit smoother than Bow, less powdery.

Gift Basket is a shimmery, golden copper colour. 

Glitz is a metallic, blue gun-metal. 

Celebrate is a shimmery aubergine colour, that in certain lighting almost looks black. It's stunning.

Pamper is a matte, light peachy-pink. Slightly powdery.

Gateau is a light purply.pink with a golden shimmer. It's a yummy looking as it sounds!

The Mail is a matte, light camel colour. Smooth, for a Sleek matte shade.

Boxed is a matte, mid-to-dark tone brown with a slightly warm undertone.

Wrapped Up is a matte, taupe-y aubergine colour. Very smooth, for a matte.

Noir is a slightly misleading shade. It might be called Noir, but it is not a proper black colour. It's more of a very deep, dark, matte charcoal. Beautiful colour, none the less.

I noticed that on the back of the box, Sleek provide you with tips on how to apply the eyeshadows, just in case you have doubts. This doesn't really apply to me, personally, but I can imagine that it is helpful to people just starting out with using makeup.

Conclusion: I like this palette a lot. If you're considering getting one of the Sleek palettes, I would advise this, if you're not just looking for browns, but maybe a bit more colour while still keeping it neutral. It is not a dupe in any way for the Naked 3 palette, but if you like a bit of pink, getting this palette surely is a cheaper option! It provides a (matte) highlighter, and several matte crease colours, I am very happy with this palette.

Pros:

• Pricepoint, at €9.99 for 12 colours, there is really no faulting these palettes.

• More matte shades than we normally see in these types of palettes, I like!

• Shadows are well pigmented and easily blended (save a few of the mattes).

• Availability! Sleek is finally available in stores here, they are sold in select V&D warehouses, and luckily one of those in my city, Dordrecht.

Cons:

• I am having a bit of a hard time finding some, but I guess I wouldn't mind a shimmery highlight for the inner corner.

• Packaging is hell to open and can easily break a nail or three in process.

• Some of the matte shades can be a bit tricky to blend, but it's not really the end of the world, just takes a bit more work.

Do you own any Sleek palettes? Other Sleek products? What are your thoughts on them? Let me know down below!

Thank you for reading and until next time!

XXX

Tutorial: Realistic Jessica Rabbit for Halloween

GASP! It's another Halloween post, what is this?! I guess I got a little into it. Let's jump right in!

For a perfect base I applied two layers of foundation, I mixed my Facefinity in Light Ivory and my All Matt Plus in Light Beige. Jessica being a cartoon AND a performer, you kind of need to go all out with your base. I concealed my face using Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 10 and concealed/highlighted under my eyes using Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch concealer in 01. It's a lot, I know. But she's a performer and needs to have her face beat to perfection at all times. I blended in all my cream/liquid products using a Real Techniques Mirace Complexion Sponge. I also set everything with my translucent powder, using the sponge. When performing on stage, you need that face to stay matte!

Jessica, as seen in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, has a very high, rounded brow, with a very 20's feel to it. I opted for a bit more of a realistic look and just went with my natural shape. I filled them in with Naked 2 from the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette and set them with a tinted brow gel.

I primed my eyes using Too Faced Shadow Insurance and then to help add dimension to the eyelook I highlighted the inner corner of my eyes using NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in milk and on the lid itself I blended Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Riot. It looks messy, but that's fine as it's just a base for the rest. It won't show, promise!

If you are familiar with the work of Mrs. Rabbit, you will know that she loves her some purple eyeshadow and I felt that this bright, metallic lavender shade from the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette was spot on. It has the shimmer that will look amazing in the spotlight on stage and I just think it's a pretty colour. I applied the colour Betrayal all over my mobile lid with a flat paddle-shaped brush.

I blended out my crease using this purple-mauve shade from my big Boozy Cosmetics p117 palette and a large, fluffy blending brush. It just helps create some dimension and give a little more smooth transition. You could leave the eyeshadow here, but we all know I am not going to.

With a pencil brush and the colour Voodoo from the Vice 2 palette I intensified the outer corner of the eye and the lower lashline. This colour is a bit tricky, beware of fall-out, I know I had a lot. But it's so pretty and sparkly, which again is something that looks great on stage.

I highlighted my inner corners with this light, shimmery lavender shade from my MUA Pretty Pastels palette, it seemed appropriate for the look.

Now this eyeshadow is obviously not EXACTLY as Jessica has it in the movie, but it's my take on how it would look in reality.

I lined my upper lashline and my waterline using my Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in Black Fever and blended it out with Urban Decays Crave from my Naked Basics palette.

Apply copious amounts of mascara and preferably falsies if you have them available. The bigger the better, she is a diva after all!

To finish off the face I contoured using NYX Blush in Taupe with a Real Techniques Setting Brush, NYX Blush in Peach with a Real Techniques Blush Brush and Dior Shimmer Powder in Rose Diamon and a Real Techniques Setting Brush. I also highlighted the bridge of my nose, my cupids bow (the top of my upper lip) and my browbone using the Shimmer Powder.

We all know Jessica likes her red lip, so to achieve the look I see on her in the movie I lined my lips with MAC Cherry Lip Liner and filled them in completely. I also overdrew my lips a little, for a bit more va-va-vavoom. I then filled my lips in using Rimmel Apocalips in Big Bang. Again with the lips you could go more for the heart-shaped lip she has in the movie, but I wanted to keep it realistic looking.

"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

"Why don't you do right, like some other men do?"

This is just my take on the makeup I think this over-the-top diva would wear in real life. To finish this off for a Halloween party, pair with a slinky red dress, purple gloves the sparkliest heels you can find! And obviously a a bright red, big and bouncy wig.


Thank you for reading and until next time!


XXX

Tutorial: Poison Ivy for Halloween

Fall has fallen and throughout much of the world, the Halloween hype is raging. I didn't grow up in a country where Halloween was a thing, although I would totally say YES if invited to a Halloween dress-up party. (HINT HINT!)

Since I recently dyed my hair bright red, I got the idea of doing a simple tutorial inspired by my favourite red head baddie, Poison Ivy. This is not a "costume-y" type of makeup, more the type of makeup to use if you want to dress up as Poison Ivy and don't quite know what to do for makeup.

Starting out looking a bit more like her day to day persona, Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, with a freshly cleansed and moisturized face, let's get started!

We start out with first removing my glasses and put in contact lenses. Makes for easier application and Poison Ivy doesn't wear glasses. She's too cool for that! Or... Something. I then made an equal mix of one part Max Factor Facefinity Foundation in Light Ivory 40, one part Catrice BB Allaround Foundation in 010 Light Beige and my Essence My Base Illuminating Makeup base. The BB cream/foundation and the illuminating base help add a nice glow/shine to my skin and the Facefinity foundation gives me some coverage, which I need.

To fix up my comicbook baddie brows, I first filled them in with MAC Lip Pencil in Cherry and then used two different red tones from my big Boozy Cosmetics P117 palette with an angled brush to set and shade the brows in a bit more. Now, Poison Ivy's actual hair colour is of course a bright red, unlike my dark red hair. If dressing up as her I suggest a bright red wig to go with this and matching your brows to the wig exactly. The exact match will make the look a lot more cartoon-y/comicbook-y.

With a large, fluffy blending brush I applied Adam's Apple from the Sleek Garden of Eden palette on and above my crease, leaving my orbital/brow bone bare. Any matte minty green will do!

Using the same brush I applied a matte, bright grass green from my Boozy Cosmetics palette throughout my crease and blended it up into the mint green.

Using a flat shader brush, I applied a bright grass green with a golden shimmer across my mobile lid. This colour was also in my Boozy Cosmetics palette.

Going back into the Sleek Garden of Eden palette, I applied Tree of Life on the outer "V" shape of my eye with a tapered crease brush. This just intensifies the look and gives it a bit more OOMPH!

Using a fluffy paddleshadped brush, I applied a light, shimmery mint green to my inner corners and all over my browbone. I would normally NEVER wear something this shimmery on the browbone, as I personally just do not like that look normally, but seeing as this is a look for dressing up, I felt the green glow just added a nice touch. It IS Poison Ivy afterall. As you can tell on the latest picture, I also used the matte grass green and matte dark green along my lower lashline. I only the used the dark green on the outer third of the lower lid.

Using Tree of Life from the Sleek palette on an angled brush, I lined my upper lashline. I then tightlined both my upper and lower water line using Aparthy 24/7 Eye Pencil by Urban Decay, which is a nice dark green.

I contoured using NYX Blush in Taupe, used Catrice Illuminating Blush in 020 Coral Me Maybe (definitely not a coral, more of a peachy pink) and highlighted all the high points of my face using a light, mint green from my MUA Eyeshadow Palette in Pretty Pastels. It is not very obviously green on the face, but it's a slight green sheen when in direct sunlight, so seemed appropriate!

For the lips, I layered two different Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss Lipsticks. I layered two different reds on top of each other, in the colours 01 and 10, to get the colour I wanted. To mattify the lips I applied one of the red shadows I also used on my brows all over the lips. This also helps the lipstick stay on for longer. The matter, the better. Perfect for that famous, deadly kiss!

The finished result! Pair with either a full on Poison Ivy costume OR with a pair of glasses, a labcoat, greens shirt and a brown/black pencil skirt for a Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley costume, both with a bright red wig.

Unfortunately, I won't be going to any Halloween parties, but I will be doing a few more tutorials that are inspired by popular costumes.

Are you going to a Halloween party? What are you dressing as? Let me know!


Thank you for reading!

XXX