Not so Sleek

Posted by Lipglossiping On February - 19 - 2010

I was recently sent two products from Sleek Makeup‘s range, focusing on a couple of shades that are suited to this year’s Spring trend.

On the left we have the Dip It in Pastel Green and on the right, an Eye Dust in Livid Lilac.

I’m a beauty addict with eclectic tastes and try not to discriminate based on price or accessibility of products.  So, I approach this review with a fully open mind.  Even when I held the Dip It pot in my fingers, twirling it…. marvelling at how incredibly cheap Sleek had managed to make it look.

The eye dust packaging doesn’t fare much better.  I mean, they’re both obviously plastic, but they’re SO lightweight I’m surprised that they’re not defying the rules of gravity.

Having said that, I ultimately only really care about how it looks if I’m gonna be seen in public with it (shallow soul that I am), how about the actual contents?

How ABOUT those contents…

Well, there they are.  In all their ‘spilled across my new desk cos the sifter fell out when I tapped the bottom of the pot’ glory.  You can only imagine how much I was loving that purple Eye Dust at this point.

When I grumbled about my little dust-spilling incident on Twitter, it turned out that I wasn’t the only one who had nearly ended up with a lapful of Livid Lilac.  Something for Sleek Makeup to investigate perhaps?

Anyway, the colour is pretty… it’s more vivid in the pot than it is swatched, a good thing seeing as it’s called ‘Livid Lilac’ afterall and looks thoroughly ‘Royal Purple’ in the container.

The top swatch shows the Dip It liner in Pastel Green.  It’s an opaque mint, and really does look like a fabulous shade for Spring.  Livid Lilac is far softer once swatched (dry) and slightly metallic.  I was really impressed with the choices for this season’s shades.

Application of the Dip It was a bit tricky.  The wand and narrow tip allowed for a precise sweep across the eye lid, but as I was drawing the line, I found that the applicator dragged at the pigmentation leaving the line of colour less pigmented in the centre than at the edges.  To be fair, nothing that a second coat didn’t remedy.  The liner dried almost instantly without transferring to the hooded part of my eyelids.

I had no issues applying the Eye Dust, it blended smoothly and the colour depth was nicely buildable.

Here’s a FOTD, don’t laugh… the shades are a bit bright for me, but I enjoyed playing!

Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ended, 20 minutes later, I looked in the mirror and saw that the eyeliner had begun to flake…

Bits of Dip It kept getting caught in my eyelashes, so I ended up using an eyeshadow brush to work back and forward until I’d dislodged all the flakes.  I wasn’t left with much.

Fast forward to bed-time and my cleansing routine.  I cleansed with my ever faithful cleansing oil and a blob of Cetaphil to finish, towelled my face dry and then shrieked at the mirror when I saw a matching pair of pink-dyed eyelids looking back at me.  I would have photographed them for the comedy value, but it was kinda late and I’m kinda lazy so you’ll just have to use your imagination instead.

On the plus side, it showed that my sense of symmetry has improved.  Those dyed patches were perfect.

Overall, I was disappointed at the quality of the 2 products I was sent by Sleek Makeup which is a shame, because in the past I’ve been mostly impressed (how ’bout them 12 pan palettes eh?).

Sleek Makeup products are available from selected Superdrug stores, the Eye Dusts and Dip Its both retail for £2.99 each.


21 Responses to “Not so Sleek”

  1. Victoria says:

    Oh dear – sounds like a poor performance all round! x

  2. Phoebe says:

    I had the same experience with the liner. Although it didn’t so much flake, as it dried wavy, as in there were lumps in areas, that weren’t there when i applied.
    I didn’t have pink eyelids upon removal, but it was slightly irrating to the eye when i applied… So it isn’t just you!

  3. Louise says:

    oh dear – the colours look fab on you though – you should try more brights 🙂

  4. SoFroLushes says:

    That is a shame really. Sleek usually sell good quality products. Their eye dusts have never given me any problems as yet. oh well

  5. Sinead says:

    Ah no, that sucks on sleek’s part!!
    Nice bright colours though, but i wont be purchasing!!

    xx

  6. Marce says:

    Too bad about the products…though the EOTD is lovely, these bright colours look fabulous on you (unflaked, LOL). I’d look into something colourful in other brands =)

  7. Olaola says:

    That’s so disappointing – I almost jumped with excitement when I saw the swatch of this mint Dip It 🙁 What a shame it flakes – it definitely rules out the purchase for me. Bah…

  8. Anitacska says:

    Oh dear, that’s unfortunate. I really like Sleek’s 12 palettes, I have 5 of them, but I won’t be getting these products. I hate flaky eyeliners, some of my old Avon ones did that too. Boo!

  9. Amanda says:

    Oh no! What a shame! I agree though about how fab your eyes looked and once again your pics are beautiful! x

  10. Ally says:

    I have been wanting the eyeliners for ages just because they are beautiful and cheap! Ah well, the flaking has put me off. Having said that..the eyeliner (before flaking) looks absolutely beautiful on you!!! It really does!

  11. Oooo I love the seafoam green on your eyes! Too bad about the staining, packaging though. =/

  12. lyn says:

    Too bad they didn’t work out because the colours look nice on you.

  13. Rae says:

    Aww 🙁 It’s too bad that the products were sort of duds due to the packaging, because your EOTD looks absolutely gorgeous! I do agree, though, they’re quite bright ^^

  14. Sarah says:

    How about that for an impartial, honest review 😀

    The mint colour is ace though, and really brings out the green in your eyes. The Beaut.ie chaps did a post about duping gel liners using primer and pigment – http://beaut.ie/blog/?p=11116 worth a try to recreate this colour I think.

  15. Aw that’s a shame I really like the colour of the eyeliner on you for a change, it’s a nice shade. I think it probably keeps getting tangled as your lashes really are very long, I kind of wanted to trim them and use them as eyelash extensions for myself haha!

  16. Megan says:

    Sucky that it didn’t work out for you, as the colours looked gorgeous on your eyes! The green liner really brightened up the colour of your eyes. You really should play with bright colours more, they look good on you! ^_^

  17. Sleekfail 🙁

    Livid Fail looks AMAZING in the pot, I can’t believe how pale and pink it looks when swatched!

    And you really suit that colour of liner, even if the product itself is quite shoddy.

  18. LOL Im going to pretend I called it Livid Fail on purpose 😐 I guess fail is on the brain right now

  19. gio says:

    That’s so disappointing, Sleek products are usually really good. The colors are beautiful, but it’s too bad the eyeliner flakes.

  20. Redtiger21 says:

    That’s a shame, what with the great reviews their e/s pallettes have gotten. I have to say though, i wasn’t overly fussed on either of those colours anyway!

  21. Em says:

    You look amazing with the bright eyeliner!!

    I love that colour, even if it did flake! I’m definately going to get it in a better quality brand!!

    🙂

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