My Stash: Sleek MakeUP i-divine Eyeshadow Palette Swatches & Review

For ladies who don’t know, Sleek MakeUP is a drugstore or highstreet cosmetic brand sold exclusively at Superdrug (and some online outlets) in the UK.

It began life as a range for darker skinned women (in terms of base – concealer, foundations etc.) but the colour products can, of course, be used with any skintone. I have noticed that they have recently expanded their base range so that there are options for lighter skins too.

Anyway – their 12 eyeshadow palettes cause much kerfuffle, simply because they are very good value, very pigmented and are just generally little gems in a sea of rather non-descript cosmetic stands.

Here are all the palettes from Sleek that I have collected (9 in total) – they are about £4.88 (the price seems to shift a little up or down – I can say that they are always less than £5). If I have missed any, let me know but I *think* these are all the palettes from Sleek to date.

Palette & Swatch Images right here!

1. Original Palette:

Swatches:

My View:

The Original palette is such a great palette because its very balanced in terms of the shades it has to offer. Perhaps this is because Sleek never expected for it to be so successful (and that they would be releasing so many variations and palettes), so the Original kind of has a bit of everything – greens, blues, purple ,cream, beige, black, gold.

This palette is lovely and a great starting point for anyone interesting in these palettes.

Pigmentation & Texture: Excellent, Shimmery Shades

Status: Permanent

Keep Reading!

2. Chaos:

Swatches:

My View:

Chaos (I always find that word hard to spell) is my least favourite palette of the bunch. The shadows are supposed to be bright, and in a sense they are, but they are also matte and a little chalky. It makes them hard to wear sometimes and the colours in the palette are a little odd.

Nevertheless, I am glad I have it – I mean, £5 gets me a pencil sharpener and a slap in the face at Chanel so mustn’t grumble too much.

Pigmentation & Texture: Average, Matte, Somewhat Chalky

Status: Permanent

3. Storm:

Swatches:

My View:

Sleek launched Storm along with Chaos, if I remember correctly, which is a moody but stunning palette – neutral but not boring at all. There are some considerate mattes (I think its always great to have some mattes along with the super metallic shades) in there too.

All in all, a gorgeous palette – very practical and wearable but also easily adaptable for the evening.

Pigmentation & Texture: Pigmented, Matte and Shimmers

Status: Permanent

4. Jewels:

Swatches:

My View:

Jewel is a LE palette and with a name like Jewels, you’d expect a knock out palette. However – I think this is the second weakest in this range. There isn’t a stand out colour here for me, and not enough twinkle (remember, its called Jewels!).

Still a nice palette – the dark green and burgundy make it worth the £5 alone but overall, not the best co-ordinated palette.

Pigmentation & Texture: Average to Good, Mainly shimmery metallics, a few semi-mattes.

Status: Limited Edition

5. Acid:

Swatches:

My View:

Acid was released full of hot matte neons! Yay! My kinda fun palette. I’m starting to notice that Sleek put black in every nearly palette..don’t mind this as if I were just taking one of these babies out, I would definitely want a black to line and define. Their black is also very pigmented and smooth.

This palette is not faultless – the white, yellow and orange lack pigment and are a little chalky. However, the stunners in here – the two blues, the hot pink, the silver, the purple make this palette really good fun and well worth it.

Pigmentation & Texture: Average to Excellent, Mattes and Shimmers.

Status: Permanent

6. Safari:

Swatches:

My View:

This palette is very Safari-esque – those stunning greens and golds make it my kind of palette. The black in this palette is also metallic and soooo pigmented – its heaven. It does depend on what kind of shades you like – I love greens and golds and metallics so this palette is a real winner for me.

I also can’t fault the pigment, colour range or textures in this palette.

Pigmentation & Texture: Excellent, Metallic

Status: Limited Edition

7. Curious

(I couldn’t find the palette so had to reuse my old images, sorry):

My View:

Curious is a Limited Palette full of blues and greens. The pigment is good and everything about the palette is pretty and wearable although it lacks a consistent ‘theme’ or the knock out shade which makes the palette.

Having said that, this is a great palette that you can dip into. I have to say, I forgot I even had this to begin with (hence it lacks that ‘killer’ quality some of the other palettes have).

Pigmentation & Texture: Very Good, Shimmer and Metallics

Status: Limited Edition

8. Sunset:

Swatches:

My View:

This palette was only launched this week and I rushed out to buy it. Its absolutely gorgeous – the texture seems more refined than the earlier palettes leaving a finer shimmer on the skin, the colours – that blue with the oranges – divine! Not everyone likes warm colours of course but this is such a beautiful palette and very aptly named I feel.

Pigmentation & Texture: Excellent, Metallic and a fine shimmer.

Status: Permanent

9. Graphite:

Swatches:

My View:

Graphite is the latest limited edition palette from Sleek (Oct 2009) and its beautiful. Once again, Sleek seem to have improved on their previous textures and there is a fine, soft finish.

The colours are all very pigmented and all obviously follow the Graphite theme – so yes some of the colours seem a bit same-ish with just a small variation, but that’s what I like about these palettes. The fact you can spend £5 and get a strongly ‘themed’ palette with all the greys and silvers you would ever need!

The purple is also a nice touch.

Pigmentation & Texture: Excellent, Metallic, Buttery soft!

Status: Limited Edition

10. Circus:

Swatches:

In this palette, the shadows feel firmer than usual which is a good thing. I love the blues and deep purple, though the lilac on the bottom row is the worst Sleek palette colour I have ever swatched – so little pigment – but I think that can be forgiven considering how interesting this palette is.

10. Good Girl:

Swatches:

Just as well that this is LE otherwise I wouldn’t have a reason to buy it.

11. Bad Girl:

Swatches:

Bad girl is the kind of palette that will appeal to loads of people; I think it’s smoky, sexy, lots of fun to use and yes, recommended. There are a lot more dark colours than light, but I personally prefer this.

On the downside?

The case

The case of the palettes can be a little stiff – I know with the latest palettes I had to go through a few before I found one I could open easily…but then again I am quite anal.

Softy!

These eyeshadows are sooooooooooooooooo soft, that you have to be gentle with them. Drop them – they will smash. Press to hard with your brush and tons of product will come off. So be gentle with it!

Always ALWAYS check the palette before buying as I have taken a few broken palettes home.

Too Metallic?

The newer palettes have textures that are spot on, but some of the older palettes are intensely metallic. What I noticed is that if you use too much or you have dry skin, or fine lines, it can sometimes make it look a little worse. Use primer where necessary and use a light hand! Not too much metallic!

Availability

These palettes are sold in Superdrug but they sell out so quickly (especially LE palettes) and some girls have complained that their local Superdrug doesn’t get Sleek or the new palettes in. So sort it out Sleek & Superdrug!

The Last Word

I am just nit picking with the above points of course – I think its only right to list all possible pros and cons.

These palettes are fabulous. Every single palette has colours that are worth owning and 12 shades for under £5 is terrific value. Even the palettes that I didn’t think were *amazing* are still very good. Some of them are just drop dead gaw-jussssss.

I seriously don’t run out for any drugstore make up, but I always do for these palettes.

One word: Winner!

This post has taken me ages to do!!!! Do let me know if you like/have/dislike/want these palettes in the comments, or if you just feel sorry for me generally! )