Sleek I-Divine Ultra Mattes pt. 1: V1 Brights

 

I LOVE Sleek!!! I know they are considered a drugstore brand overseas, but they have some of the best products... PERIOD! I often find myself reaching for their palettes over my MAC, MUFE and Inglot shadows because the quality is just that good. The only thing I don't particularly care for is the shipping price to the USA ($13), but that's just because I've gotten used to free shipping for darn near everything!

Anyhoo! I picked up both of the new Ultra Mattes palettes before seeing any swatches based off the fact they've never done me wrong before, and I've got to say I'm glad I did. I love matte shadows, but honestly, they are not the easiest to work with. But these Ultra mattes by Sleek are actually pretty creamy and are easily blended (without the washout effect). There is a bit of fallout from several colors in both palettes, and I've worn with and without primer and have experienced NO creasing. I will say that the V2 Darks palette has the best pigmentation overall, even though I had to build up the black ALOT to get the swatch (more on that later)... anyone else have that issue?

But enough of my rambling, here's what you came here for in the first place... swatches! Enjoy.

Sleek I-Divine Ultra Mattes Palette V1 Brights

** All swatches done dry WITHOUT base/primer **

Part TWO: V2 Darks coming soon...

-Miss Brina

Aromaleigh haul + swatches pt.2

Today is rather bittersweet for me… my final Aromaleigh order came in. I ordered 11 shadows (mostly mattes) from their various collections, and once again, I am kicking myself for not getting multiples of certain colors. The color intensity of every color is pretty damn good, I applied each shadow in the swatch photo WITHOUT a base, and they apply easily and blend well (even the mattes). A few of the shades show up chalky in the photo due to my cleaning the brush in between swatches, but it is not the case when you are working with them. I wouldn’t say they are creamy, but they do apply fairly smooth. I got them during their going out of business sale at about $2.50 a pop (full size), which was pretty amazing. I’m actually wishing that somehow Aromaleigh pulls a “phoenix” and comes back from the ashes (so to speak) because they had some truly amazing and unique shades that I have yet to see anywhere else… they were really killing the mineral eyeshadow game!!!

 I.   II.  

III.  IV. 

As for my favorites so far, I would have to say STARFISH, WISTERIA, UMBER, and ROOM SERVICE are really doing it for me. I wish I’d have grabbed another jar of STARFISH, UMBER and WISTERIA (and a few more colors I passed on) because I have a feeling they will be getting used A LOT, as STARFISH is such a great neutral eye color for anyone and UMBER is just that great deep, flat brown that everyone needs in their collection.

 Swatches in order of appearance on pictures:

 

I. Moss(m), Lagoon (m), Luella

II. Starfish (m), Mela, Room Service

III. Wisteria(m), Umber, Violette(m)

IV. Marsh(m), Severina(l)

Were you able to grab any Aromaleigh before their final curtain call? I’d love to see some of the colors you managed to pick up and hear what you think.

 

And here’s a belated Happy New Year for you!!!

 

P.S- Any resolutions for 2011?

Buried Treasure: Palladio Herbal Eyeshadow + Sally Girl Blush

Don't you just love it when you find things you forgot you even had? Re-discovery is the best... especially when it comes to makeup lol. Well tonight, while searching through storage boxes for christmas ornaments, I came across a box that had these beautiful little gems inside!

I bought these when my SO and I went to camarillo awhile back and had only swatched two of the shadows. First, they blend soooooooo well, and are so freaking creamy!!!! They're comparable in texture to the MAC matte2... possibly even better. The colors I picked up were Matte Brown, Navy Blue and Black Onyx. After finding and playing with these beauties again, I can surely say I will be heading to my local sally's to pick up a few more shades for my ever-growing collection. I can't recall the exact price, but I'm pretty sure that they were only a few dollars a piece. And the blush by Sally girl is called FLUSHED... and it is such a beautiful coral-pink, one of those good on anyone colors. I also had a Sally Girl eyeshadow quad in GUM DROPS.... but the color payoff wasn't any good IMO so I decided not to even post it (if you want swatches of that palette anyway let me know & I'll post them.

My hidden treasures: Palladio Herbal Shadows

L-R: Matte Brown, Navy Blue, Black Onyx, Flushed

For the quality, amount of product and payoff you get, you can't beat the $$$ of the PALLADIO Herbal Shadows (which are $3 per shadow... I googled it LOL). If you haven't tried them, go out and grab a couple, you deserve a few stocking stuffers of your own LOL And if you have been lucky enough to own any of these babies... were you as in love with them as I am?

My DECEMBER Birchbox

I received my 2nd Birchbox shipment a few days ago and I have to say I really LOVE this one. Excuse the pics, as I didn't get the time to edit them. Included in this month's order was:

1. BLOW- Bow up volumizing spray

2. JOUER- Luminizing Moisture Tint (I LOVE IT!!!!)

3. SERGE LUTENS- L'Eau

4. STILA- Lip Glaze in Kitten

I really like the color of Kitten, but this is the 1st time I've tried Stila's lip glaze... and I am not a fan. It was really thick and sticky, and left my lips pretty dry when I wiped it off... and it left tissue stuck to my mouth, so I had to end up using olive oil to get the sticky off. But, the item that I just flat out fell helplessly in love with is the Luminizing Moisture Tint from Jouer. The color I received was Deep Bronze (which was a shade too dark... but I made it work). This is probably the best tinted moisturizer I have ever used. It actually has pretty good coverage for a moisturizer and made for a GREAT base under my Jane Iredale mineral foundation. I would definitely reccommend this product. The Jouer site offers this product in a full size AND a travel size tube for $38-$20.... which is a bit high, but it is soooooooo worth it.

As for the Serge Lutens perfume, I liked it... can't say I would buy it, but I would love to get it as a gift LOL I mean damn.... $105 for 100ml... we're still in a recession!

Have you guys tried Birchbox yet?

Sugarpill... taking over the world! Review w/PICS

I recently placed my 1st order with Amy at Sugarpill after seeing a few great reviews about the brand. First off, there is soooooo much detail and thought put into the brand, imaging and product quality!!! The box itself was stamped in the lower lefthand corner with the sugarpill cat logo (so cute). The actual products were carefully wrapped in bright pink tissue paper, which follows the basic packaging color scheme. Both the actual product AND the box it comes in are decorated gorgeously. I picked up a 4 shadow palette (mirrored) as well as 2 single shadows... and let me tell you... I was PLEASANTLY surprised to see how HUGE the shadows are. They are bigger than a MAC shadow... about the size of a MUFE single shadow (if not a tad larger). Color intensity is great! What you see is what you get. The eyeshadows apply very even and creamy, not at all chalky and would blend well. A neat feature of the palette is the product names and colors are printed on the back so there is no confusion AND it has a magnetic closure so you don't have to worry about it popping open or damaging the shadows trying to get it open. The clasp on the single shadows closes tightly and was very easy to open and close, and has a cute little "tattoo" detail on the clear flip lid. 

Overall, I LOVE Sugarpill!!!! Prices are great, cheaper than MAC and MUFE ($12 for shadows, $34 for palettes), yet you get more product... and the color payoff is AMAZING, as you can see in the pictures below (swatches were done dry WITHOUT primer or base). Have you tried Sugarpill yet? Tell me what you think about their products.

Eyeshadow/Palette Boxes(front)

Palette shadows: Love+, Flamepoint, Poisen 

Plum & Buttercupcake

Single Shadows: Midori & Tako

Back of single shadows

Back of actual palette

Palette & Shadows (back view)

Palette & Shadows (front view)

Swatches!!!! No primer/base