Lou's Reviews :: Sleek PPQ Me, Myself & Eye Palette

Aloha Bloggerinos,

Yep, as with all my posts for the next few days, I'm pretty late on this one. Florida and family life prevented me being as on the ball as I (like to think) usually am.

So without further ado, here is the latest Sleek MakeUp eyeshadow palette, just waiting to be added to your collection. Does anyone else collect the palettes?

Sleek's Me, Myself and Eye Palette is said to be inspired by PPQ's S/S11 collection and aims to toughen up a soft feminine silhouette- oh lala.

With a mixture of frost and matte and a wide variety of colours, you would think this would be a winner. For me it isn't. I'm all for lots of colour if it works, like in the original palette, but this seems all a little haphazard. Mint, red, peach and olive all in a row for example, there isn't a happy flow there, in my eyes anyway.

Also, (haha as if I hadn't finished being negative!), matte colours aren't my bag. I'm all for a bit of shimmer and I find matte colours can be pretty chalky with poor pigmentation. Saying that, there will be people out there in the big wide world, who prefer matte shades, so who am I to talk?

Some shmexy swatching for you there m'dears. I think the bottom deep green colour will look beautiful for Christmas.

Apologies for not going into too much detail for this beauty review, but I don't want to rave about something that doesn't float my boat and I'm not in the business of full on slating products. Beauty is only an opinion after all.

-----

In other news, before Baby Glitter pootled off to her cot for nightnighttime, she very kindly picked the winners for the OPI Mini Stems Kit Giveaway. If you have been listed below, well done!! Please drop me an email (louise.pentland@hotmail.co.uk) with your full postal address and I shall pop those in the post for you asap.

Danielle |

@NeonPinkDuckies

and

Laura |

@LovelyLollyB

Thank you everyone who took part in Baby Glitter's Giveaway, she really appreciated it :)

I plan on doing a pretty hefty giveaway if and when I reach 5,000 followers, as a huuugggee thank you for all of your support! I've got a while to go yet though, so give me time!

Have you tried the PPQ Shadow Palette? Are you and OPI Nail Polish fan?

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Sleek Au Naturel Palette

Aloha Bloggerinos,

This September (my favourite month by the way), has seen the launch of Sleek's latest collection- Nuuudeee. Yes, it's actually 'Nude', but I like to say nuuuuuddeee in a high pitched sing-songy tone. Nice and normal then.

The collection comprises of a 12 colour palette, a lip conditioner and a blusher. Fabulous.

With a mixture of matte and shimmer pressed shadows, large mirror and double ended sponge brush, the palette promises something for everyone.

Ever since the first Original Palette, I've been a huge fan of the waffle texture the shadows have. I know it's not to everyone's taste but there is something about it that pleases me immensely. I even like the word 'waffle'. Mmmm waffle.

I'm sure you will have seen other people swatch these better (note to self- do smaller swatches to fit 12 on one arm!), but Sprinkle of Glitter wanted a chance to show them off too!

Top row, L-R: Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe.

Bottom row, L-R: Conker, Moss, Bark, Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir.

All of the above are one swipe swatches- I wanted to be equal. As you can see, the matte colours are not as prominent as the shimmery shades. I'm quite disappointed in the matte pigmentation because the majority of my eyeshadow collection is shimmer or glittery, so it would have been fun to experiment with a more matte look. Never the less, as usual, the other shadows have come up trumps and have excellent colour pay off. Good old Sleek.

Sleek Moss vs MAC Pressed Olive and Sleek Noir vs MAC Carbon.

 

My favourite colours from the Au Natural Palette are Moss and Noir. I was so impressed with them that I compared them to the holy grail- MAC. I think it's safe to say, they fared well.

I've noticed a bit of a trend with the Sleek palettes. I love they way there is a kind of gradiation. Granted they threw in a few curve balls with the Caribbean and Monaco collection, but if you are less out there with you eyemakeup, this could be the cosmetics company for you. Above is the Limited Edition Paraguaya Avoir La Peche Palette, Oh So Special Palette (still available) and the Au Natural Palette from the Nude collection, which, hip hip hooray, is going to be in the permanent line!

All in all, I wouldn't say this is one of Sleek's best, due to the lack of pigment in the rather chalky matte colours, but for £6.49, the other colours are worth it, especially since the some of the colours outshine MAC.

You can pick yourself up a treat from the Sleek Nude collection either from you local Superdrug or the Sleek Website.

Are you into the Nude-ness? What are your thought?

Toodlepip!

xx

A Little Spree

Aloha Bloggerinos,

This is a little late, since I have bought a few more lovely things since this little spree. Yes, it's naughty, I know, but I came into a little bit of money (I'm not talking megabucks here, I'm talking under £200) so I have treated myself to a few things and I thought I'd share.

You may well have seen my Garnier Day Cream review (click HERE if you haven't and want to) and I spoke about the Mother Puker Lipgloss last year. My tube ran out so I had to re buy it because I luurrvvee it so very, very much. I actually entered a little post on it into Abby's (her blog Abbzzw) Giveaway and it won! Woohoo! I still use my Cath Kidston mug- thank you Abby!!

Out of this little haul, I wanted to talk to you about the two lipsticks. It's love. Literally, love. In the snap above they look fluro orange but that's because I had to pop a lamp on because it was dusk and my camera is poopsicles. I've been wearing them in a lot of my recent videos and received a tonne of comments on them so I couldn't not write a blog post. :)

The Beauty UK Lipstick is in Naughty and the Sleek Lipstick is in Candy Cane. They are both a sheen finish, I tend not to like matte or frost finished lipsticks so these are right up my street. Neither of them leave my lips feeling dry and both have great staying power. I would say they don't last as long as MAC but they do fair a great deal better than other drugstore lipsticks I have tried.

The Sleek Candy Cane Lipstick retails for £4 and the Beauty UK Naughty Lipstick for £3.49. I think you'll agree that these are really excellent prices.On the Beauty UK website, it suggests that the product is infused with a minty flavour but personally, I didn't get this. I'm not overly bothered though, I love the colour, finish and price enough for it not to be an issue. The Sleek lipstick is said to contain vitamin E, so this is always a bonus. Gotta love those vitamins!

Swatches:  Sleek Candy Cane one swizz of lipstick (yes, a swizz/stroke/layer, you get my jist), Sleek Candy Cane double swizz to demonstrate how you can build up your coverage. Then, third from the left, Beauty UK Naughty one swizz and then the same but with two swizzes.

As you can see, they are both so similar that I perhaps didn't need to purchase them both, Superdrug mania got the better of me though! Ahaha. Does anyone else suffer from that?

Well that was my mini spree and review. I have actually bought a very spangly perfume and a couple of MAC things too, so I shall do a post on these very soon!

I hope you all had sparkly weekends.

Toodlepip!

xx

FOTD :: Amber Lights

Aloha Bloggerinos,

There are two reasons I tend not to do very many FOTD's, even though I love reading/seeing all of yours.

The First- I don't tend to do a 'fully made up' face very often nowadays because I'm usually rushing. Rushing to make bottles, rushing to sort Baby Glitter out, rushing to get in the car, RUSHING! Even in this one, I had forgotten to do my eyebrows- grr!

The Second- My camera is shoddier than a snail playing tennis, so it is pretty hard to capture a good sharp image. Also, I never quite know how to pose without looking like a goon!

That being said, here I am with a FOTD for you all today! Hahaha!

I recently bought a few more MAC pressed shadows to go in my 15 Pro Palette (someone help me, I have an obsession) and one of them was Amber Lights. The MAC Website describe this colour as a 'peachy brown with shimmer' but I would say that's totally wrong. It is a vibrant copper with reddy gold undertones and I LOVE IT. I seriously do not know how I lived without this shade in my life. Why did nobody force me to buy this years ago??

On my eyes I have gone for Amber Lights on the lid and then Antiqued in the crease, all the way across. I have applied a little black eyeliner (L'oreal Carbon Gloss in Black), mascara (lordy knows, I'm not too loyal) and that was it. It's a really simplepimple look and I've been doing it most days. I like to think it looks like it took more time and skill than it really did ;)

For the face I have used MAC Studio Sculpt in NW15, 2True Bronzer to contour and MeMeMe Moonbeam dupe to highlight.

Quick, simple, perfect for those who live their lives in a constant rush!

I have been sporting this lip colour a lot recently. It is Sleek's 'Candy Cane' lipstick (review to come soon), with a light layer of a coral gloss ontop. Its so fresh and summery, it makes me smile just to see it :)

Little story for you here- After I'd done my FOTD, I popped downstairs to the kitchen to make up Baby Glitter's bottles. I looked down the garden and there was Mindycat hurtling towards the house, pleased as punch, with a dead bird hanging from her jaw!! I knew the lounge window was open and that she would jump through to give me my 'gift' so I turned and tried to race her to the window to close it. What a mistaka to make-a! As I ran, I slipped on her kitty blanket and fell face first onto the tiled kitchen floor and just lay their, sprawled out thinking "Woah, this hurts!!". Fortunately, the bird remained outside. Dead, but at least outside.

On that cheery note....

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Beauty UK Baked Eyeshadow and Pearl Liner

Aloha Bloggerinos,

A little while ago, whilst tweeting about nothing and everything (how did I get so addicted to throwing 140 characters about like that??), the equally twitteraddicted folk at Beauty UK (@Beautyuktweets) asked if I would like to review some of there products. Obviously, I said yes! Wouldn't you?!

So, a short while later, the postman (who I suspect hates me because I always have so much post.....must remember to leave him a nice Christmas treat!!) popped a Baked Eyeshadow In 'Earth' and a Pearl Eyeliner in 'Rich Mahogany' through my door. Hooray!

Those of you with eyes will have spotted a lipstick in this picture. This is something I bought last week and will do a review on it in a separate post :)

Having swatched, played with and worn these shadows, I have decided I rather like them. The pigment isn't as good as the likes of MAC or Sleek but this domed trio retails for £3.99 so I'm not sure I would expect it to rival them.

I found you do need quite a lot of product to create a particularly noticeable look because these are very soft, cashmere like colours which would be perfect for a very subtle day time look, but personally, I prefer something a bit more zingy!

I noticed the shadows have quite a perfumey scent- is this just me or has anyone else stumbled across that too?

What I was really impressed by though is the packaging. I love the simplicity of the black compact (which by the by, makes a fantastically satisfying sound when it snaps shut) and it comes complete with a tiny retractable brush- ideal for on the go application!!

I'm not convinced that the brush would create a stunning effect as it is pretty broad, but if you are looking for a wash of colour- this would easily do the trick.

From the swatches you can see the shadows have a gorgeous satin finish to them. Beauty UK have six different Baked Eyeshadow Trios to peruse.

On the far left is the Pearl Eyeliner Swatch, slightly out of focus (grrr, my camera is dying a slow and fuzzy death) but you can clearly see it dries with a wet, sheeny finish, which I happen to like. I'm not really one for brown eyeliner so this wasn't my cup of tea, but I know this would be loved by a lot of other ladies.

It has super lasting power- all day, no smudges, none found half way down my face, and does look pretty if you are sporting a brown or perhaps even olivey-green look. This retails for £3.49 which I think is a good price and I will definitely be having a mooch at the other colours available.

On a bit of a side note- I LOVE the liner bottle, it's all wonky and unsymmetrical like something out of Willy Wonka Land hahahaha!

I'm really looking forward to sharing my thoughts on the lipstick because it is LOVE I tell you!

What do you think of the Baked Eyeshadow and Pearl Liner? Are they your bag, baby?

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Sleek Pout Paints

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I must confess, I am always vveeerrryyyyy excited when Sleek MakeUp send me a surprise package- it is such a blogging perk and I don't think I'll ever get to the stage where I'm blase! Poor Matt is getting a bit sick of, "Look!! LOOOKKK! Look what came to review!!" hahahaha!

This time, sleek have sent through their latest product, released on the 3rd of August , POUT PAINTS.

Pout Paints are little tubes of superduper pigmented lip colour that dry with a satin finish. You can use just one on your lips or mix them up (like a scientist) to make any colour you like. There are 11 colours in total- lots to choose from.

Concept sound familiar? They remind me A LOT of OCC Lip Tars. Goes on like a gloss, dries like a lipstick, uber pigmented and a little goes a long way. The great thing is, OCC is pretty hard to get over here and twice the price (Pout Paints retail for £4.99), so it's a winner for us English rose's.

With the lids off they look like little craft paints. Sleek suggest using your finger or a lip brush to apply. I'd go with the brush otherwise you're going to end up with multicoloured digits..unless of course that's your thing :)

These are the four colours I was sent dolloped (mmm lovely word 'dollop') onto a plate. My Mother-In-Law described my dinner plates as 'tired'. Sigh. I happen to love my tired IKEA cheapo plates very much. Yeeeaahh, I'm defensive over plates!

Colours shown here are:

White - 153. Cloud Nine

Purple- 154 Mauve Over

Blue- 163 Peek-A-Boo

Red- 157 Pin Up

I used a cotton bud to mix together various amounts of colours to see what I could make. I really thoroughly enjoyed this part! I felt like a kid again!

I must say, with the colours I had to hand, it was pretty tricky to make a colour that I would wear. Saying that, if I were a Makeup Artist or wore a lot of editorial styles, I think this would really suit- where else will you find sky blue to your exact specification lip products for such under a tenner??

Whilst messing about with the colours I made this dusky pink which on plate, I really loved, but as you can see from my rather poorly applied to lips below, it wasn't for me. Saying that, I think some girls would reeallly suit it and look fabulous with this hue.

I did however like the second colour I concocted, which was Mauve Over, Peek-A-Boo and a touch of Cloud Nine.

Also, just to let you know, I applied a layer of lip balm before the paint. I like to give you the full picture! haha.

POUT PAINT PROS

+ Price- £4.99 is affordable. I will absolutely be purchasing a few more colours to have a play with. I really love the idea of making my own colour, that nobody else will have (unless they use the EXACT same quantities to make the shade) and popping it in my own little pot.

+ Unique- I think this is quite an unusual product. The only similar thing I have seen are the OCC Lip Tars.

+ Accessible- As mentioned above, Lip Tars in England are hard to find, so it's great that we can all pop along to Superdrug, or the website, and have a browse.

+ Longevity- I was impressed at how long these stayed on for, non of this one-lick-and-it's-gone business!

+ Versitility- You could create new shades every day! Afterall, they say variety is the spice of life ;)

POUT PAINT CONS

- I applied with the cotton bud I had to hand because I wasn't too worried about neatness (I was only at home and messing about), but this is not a product you could apply on the go. You would need a mirror and brush and if you were to use your fingers, a wet wipe.

- If you were a makeup artist and looking for really crazy colours like green or black, these wouldn't be able to make it but I'm not and I haven't seen many a gal with green lips, so this isn't a biggie! Plus, Sleek could well bring out more colours.

- They are messy! You would have to spend a little bit of time at home creating your colour and decanting into a container. Personally, I like this, but I can see some might find it a chore.

All in all, I REALLY like this idea and these paints. I think it's really cool to bring the fun back into makeup and gives us all a chance to have a bit of playtime.

Do these float your boat or do you prefer something quick and easy?

Toodlepip!

xx

Lou's Reviews :: Sleek Monaco Palette and Santorini Blush

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I know, I know, every blogger and their dog (or cat, I much prefer cats, puuurrrr) have blogged about the Sleek Palettes but her I am, jumping all over the bandwagon and showing you mine. Do you mind too much?

It seems like Sleek MakeUp are releasing new palettes faster than breeding rabbits, but this gets no complaints from me- I love it! I actually collect the I-Divine Palettes (despite the recent price hike- remember the days when they were £4.95 instead of £6.49?!) but not avidly like some cosmetic enthusiasts do. I will only buy them if I really like them, which is most but not all. I saw the Caribbean one and wasn't overly excited so left it and I never picked up the Bad Girl and Good Girl ones (is that what they were called? They came out around Christmas and were a set of blues/blacks/purples or a set of pinks).

I do wish I had bought the earlier ones like Safari and Jewelled but oh well. I'm going to make a video very soon on all the Sleek Palettes I have, but for now, here is the new Monaco beauty!

(I haven't provided swatches of this because I have seen soooo many blogs with swatches on that I didn't want to reinvent the wheel)

This is the perfect 'summer palette'. I find a lot of cosmetic companies interpret 'summer' as lime green, tango orange and sunshine yellow, which are all great, but not every day in summer do I want to wear such vivid shades, this supplies colours that you can wear every day and still feel colourful and fun.

With a mixture of mattes and shimmers, darks and lights, you really can create looks for day, evening, subtle, bold and my favourite kkeerraazzzy! Haha. I think if you were going on holiday and trying to pack light (something I have NEVER achieved), you could get away with packing only this for your eyes.

As always with Sleek, the shadows are all highly pigmented, easy to blend and easy to remove. I'm sure you will all know this but as well as using your brush/sponge/finger to apply as a shadow, if you dip a damp eyeliner brush in them, it will make a coloured liner for you. I've also been told, but never tried, that if you crush up some of the pigment and add to clear polish, you can make a coloured nail varnish from them! I do love a multifunctional product.

What do you think? £6.49 worth spending? I think so.

Also in the Mediterranean collection is the Santorini Blush which is described as 'popping pink' to give you a 'girly butter-wouldn't-melt-effect'. Hmmmm. I'm not too sold on this because it is very, very bright. More neon than popping!

To it's credit, you can apply it lightly and build it up, but it's just too 'out there' for me, I'm more of a bronzer gal. This colour is also limited edition but it reminds me of the permanent blush 'Pixie Pink'.

Something I do like about Sleek Blushes is that the pans are larger than a lot of other blushers I have tried and you have enough space to give your brush a good swirl round. I hate it when I have to kind of just stab my brush about, swirling is so much more feminine!

So beautiful Bloggerinos, what do you think of these summer Sleek staples? I'm rather smitten.

Toodlepip!

xx

London IMATS 2011 and Lauren Luke

Aloha Bloggerinos,

(Picture heavy post. I'm yet to meet anyone who doesn't like to look at pictures of makeup but if that's you, this isn't going to float your boat! haha)

Sunday was my day at the London IMATS 2011 and I has a brrrrrilliant day! I was umming and arring about going, but I'm so pleased I did because I bought some lovely things, feasted my eyes on gorgeousness annnnddd met Lauren Luke!

(bumpaliscious)

I was really fortunate to be given a Press Pass and a ticket for my chum Charly who would have assisted in a 'uh-oh-i'm-going-into-labour-early' crisis, so we were able to have a mooch round the exhibition haul before all the crowds hit.

We didn't have too long though because by 10.50, I was sitting on the front row of the main stage room, eagerly awaiting the YouTube Guru Q&A with none other than....drum roll please.......Lauren Luke! She came on stage and smiled at everyone and I just sat there grinning like an idiot on idiot pills, so I expect she thought I was a bit mentally disturbed. Goodo.

(When I asked my question and went a sexy shade of crimson, it was all caught on this enorrrrmmmous screen, splendid!)

Lauren answered all questions really well, not patronisingly and easily relatable to, if that makes sense. It was like listening to a chum, rather than a tip top Beauty Guru with her own book, nintendo game, column in a major newspaper and makeup line. Hmmm can you tell I'm a fan?

At then end, she stood chatting to us all and was sooooo nice and exactly like how you see her in her videos. I had a snap with her, we chatted about Baby Glitter dans la tum and she gave the bump a little rub- lucky baby is already rubbing shoulders with celebs and she's not even born yet, mwahaha.

After being all excited about meeting Lauren, we headed into the exhibition hall to fight the crowds and buy some goodies.

My first stop was the Sleek stand. I've always really liked Sleek products and was looking forward to talking to the SA's, but was a bit disappointed actually. There was a new primer palette out and I asked if it was solely for primer (as in could only be used as primer) or if it was multifunctional, like so many products are, and I was met with "It's a Primer Palette". Yes, thank you, I can see that Mrs Helpful. I felt like she thought I was a total dumbo and left feeling a bit disgruntled. I did still buy a few bits (it wasn't the product's fault the SA was so unapproachable after all).

The next place I bought from was MakeUpForEver. I've heard a lot about this from YouTube Guru's, mainly Wayne Goss, and was eager to have a look. I was instantly drawn to the gorgeous array of glitters, gems and the famous Diamond Powders. I was going to buy a Diamond Powder but if memory serves it was about £15ish (and that's with a discount) for a teenyweeny pot, so I felt I could live without. I already have a MAC Pigment in 'Reflects Teal' so i will make more use of this. Anyhoo, I bought 2 glitters, 10 and 11 which are black and light copper. I'm really excited to use both of these and when I do, I will show you pictures because I love a Sprinkle of Glitter ;). See what I did there?!

After a little walk round, and being SEVERELY TEMPTED to part with £40 for a stack of Naked Pigments, oh my they were amazing, we fought our way to the Crown Brushes table- no mean feat when you're 8 months pregnant. I was really good and bought 4 brushes and they were all ones I need. I bought a tiny and a normal sized kabuki, a fluffy face brush and a big thick fan brush, which I plan for body use- ie. when I want to dust shimmer or glitter onto my decolletage, arms or legs.

By this point, pregnancy was slowing me down and I was starting to feel a bit bleaauuggh and ready to sit down, so we slooowwwwlly meandered about, looking at all the goorrgeeous makeup stands, honestly I was in heaven, and just soaking up the atmosphere.

The MAC Pro area (they had a whole area) looked really swanky with a raised wooden platform and sexy men in speedos being painted, so we had a little gander. I was hoping they would have all their eyeshadows there because I had a few I wanted to pick up but they just had a few matte pro colours and glitters. I was again tempted by some of the holographic glitters but let's face it, when am I going to wear them? I bought another 15 pan Pro Palette, because I'm going to put my nice MAC shadows in there and then depot allllll my other shadows into the older scruffy one- woop!

We had a bit more of a look round at various brands, I thought about buying an Inglot Palette but funds were low and the stall was rammed and I was tired so we decided to make like a tree and leaf. Just as we were on our way out, we walked past Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics and I asked the man if it was OK to take a few snaps of the pigments and glitters. I was really impressed because he said yes but then said "oh hang on, do the displays look good?" because they had got a little messy earlier. He was the ONLY person the whole day who made an effort like that and I thought it said a lot about his pride in the OCC stall. He must have seen my press pass because as I was leaving, he handed me a little black bag of goodies and a press pack. I didn't really know much about OCC but having tried out the Lip Tars and read the bumf, I think I can feel a new addiction coming along!! Watch this space for a review soon.

(Sorry it's blurry, it was really busy pushy shovey)

After all that, we headed back to the car where bump and I had a good old rest and I felt fully splurged (oooerrr misses!!).

I'm already looking forward to next year and am well stocked for upcoming Lou's Reviews and a YouTube Haul video- yeehhaaa!

What do you think?

Toodlepip!

xx