Quick Swatch Series: Sleek's Liqueur

Sleek's Liqueur is an excellent pink toned nude for women of colour. This is my colour of choice and wear it all the time. It is long wearing and the texture does well to last on my dry lips. 

Sleek Liqueur

Sleek Liqueur swatched

I will no doubt show other pictures of this shade in the near future; I tend to venture into the bright pinks as the weather picks up so there is enough time. As a true Brit, I expect to have another dramatic weather change before spring fully settles in and so have bright pink lips on my mind.

Quick Swatch Series: Maybelline - Glamorous Red

Maybelline - Glamorous Red

Over the next few weeks I shall be posting swatches of my favourite lipsticks and have decided to title these quick posts "Quick Swatch Series".

I am kicking off with Maybelline Glamorous Red, a colour I tend to wear more in the summer months as it is quite sheer and very moisturising. This shade is neutral and so I think anyone can wear it well.

Stila Lip Enamel Luxe Gloss - Ecstasy

Stila, hmmmmm.

Stila Lip Enamel Luxe Gloss

Two years ago I managed to make my 1st ever NYX purchases in a store in South London (it was the a lip palette and a eyeshadow / blusher set), since this wonderful day I find myself with a compulsion to rummage through the beauty section of every TK Maxx I come across. 

So three weeks ago I found myself in the Kensington store having a nosey in the beauty section and found this lip gloss.

Stila Lip Enamel Ecstasy

Initially I was excited, but when I tested it I was a bit disappointed; it took ages to bring the colour up to the brush, the colour needed to be coated on my lips and I found it hard to get an even finish. That said, I think I need to give it more time and have been playing around with it and have noticed an improvement, the gloss is second to none. 

Any suggestions you might have on overcoming this will be greatly received as I hope to  purchase more Stila products in the future.

MAC's Lady Danger- swatched!

Today was a day of discoveries for me in Westifield Stratford....

1. I discovered that Victoria Secret is going to be opening a large store there (about time)
2. I discovered that there is a Mac store in the complex

Since my previous post I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to purchase Miss [Lady] Danger  but to no avail. Upon discovering that there is a free standing store in Westfied  I decided to break my own self imposed rule of NEVER venturing into a MAC store when its packed and skipped into the store to spend some dough.

 There result was >>>>> fail! They had the tester, but had sold out. No!!!!!!

MAC Lady Danger

Thankfully, the associate who was booking people into get seen managed to multitask, locating the sample for me to play with and an alternative, So Chaud, for consideration. I should like to take this opportunity to once again say thanks as this wasn't an easy feat, the store really was heaving. I did try So Chaud but forgot to take a picture.

Having no real shame I decided to take a pic (or five) in store and thought I should post one.

To the left is a picture sans foundation to mute out the eczema / pigmentation around my mouth. It was the best I could do as I was fighting for space in the mirror.

UPDATE: I went back the next week and managed to pick up a tube!

MAC's Lady Danger

You see, I have a confession.....I'm a little occ when it comes to make-up.
On Friday I visited the MAC store in Westfield (White City) and over heard four women talking about 'Lady Danger'. Lady Danger, Lady Danger, Lady Danger la la la is all I heard. Being the keen shopper that I am (read nosey) I had a quick look when they eventually left the stand and hunted down this tube and upon first swatch I was a bit confused as it was a bit, well bright. Whilst I'm no shrinking violet I kinda don't want to be arrested by Joan Rivers et al for crimes against red lips so I left the store. Ever since then I have been on a quest to find this shade and try and work it so that it's suitable for my NW50 skin.

Now I find myself throwing out a plea to the beauty blogger worlds, 'what say you all on this shade?'

 Have you any ideas on how I can rock this shade????

 ANY help on this matter is appreciated as I can see me heading to a pro store and picking it up -soon.

Please do not suggest Ruby Woo as I can't stand her and am not sold on Russian Red. To complicate matters further I have two-tone lips and so need a liner that I can use to colour my lips in as I'm not really a fan of using foundation on my lips.


Help me...........

Image taken from makeupandbeauty.com/mac-lady-danger-lipstick-review/ check it out!

Sleek Blush By 3 Pumpkin

Sleek Blush By 3 Pumpkin 363

Sleek Blush By 3 (Back of case)

Sleek, C'est Chic
(Five points to anyone who gets this reference!)

Sleek Blush By 3 Pumpkin

Ok this week Sleek's Blush by 3 landed in store. Now I had an idea something was up as I was rummaging around the secret draws of my local superdrug on the Sunday and saw said items boxed up. (In my defence I waited for staff but they weren't around, security said I could have a look as long as I didn't steal anything - what a nice young man!).

So during some down time I went in and came across their latest offering, Blush by 3.

I quickly chose Pumpkin; I love me some orange blush on my skin but as I passed on Aruba last year, living to regret it ever since, Lantern stood out to me as being a possible substitute. This morning I finally go around to swatching it and thought I'd put it up for you all to see.




Each palette contains two different shades and textures: two matt and one shimmer. In keeping with Sleek's MO, all are highly pigmented and thus women of colour friendly. You will need to pay around with them and I recommend a light hand with them all at first.  Please note that I have swatched them heavily in order for it to show on the camera so if it looks powdery then please forgive me.

Sleek Blush By 3 Pumpkin Swatches

The colours:

P Pie = Shimmer coral with red  / gold undertones
Squash = Matt pink - with blue undertones - nice baby pink
Lantern = Matt Orange - this palette gets its name from the pumpkin colour of this shade. I love it, I have Pan Tao and find it blah, this shade ignites my fire and I am looking forward to rocking it in spring.

Check out http://thatgurlwho.co.uk/2012/02/sleek-blush-by-3-in-pumpkin-pie-swatches-and-comparisons/ post, as she has made some smart comparisons between this and the existing (permanent) ranges.

These blushes are limited edition and only sold at Superdrug. For my lighter skinned ladies I would suggest you run out and grab LACE as it is selling out fast and looks beautiful on your skin.


I have already decided to go back and get Flame so will post swatches in the week.


What do you think, another winner by Sleek?

Sleek's Contour Kit in Dark

Sleek Contour Kit

Sleek Contour Kit Dark

Hey there

I have had his little gem in my kit for a while and I have to say I'm might glad I bought it 'cause it rocks! The darker shade is excellent for my jawline and temples whilst the highlight is quite simply 'toots amaze'.

Sleek Contour Kit Dark Swatched

Purchased from Superdrug, I initially took a while to get used to the idea of contour as you see, despite having a chubby face my cheek bones are second to only to www.nunaavane.com , they are hiding at the moment due to recent weight gain but trust me they are there and I love 'em. So it was only after studying the enclosed leaflet and scanning the YT before I thought, 'right I'm gonna do this' and quickly became a contour convert.  For those of you that care I adopt a technique makeup artist Mally uses with a fan brush and my gosh it does wonders for me.
I never fail to get a luminated look from this product. The highlight is an exceptional gold colour that doesn't leave me feeling like I've been attacked by glitter like some alleged highlighters. As I place near the end of Sleek's (new) foundation spectrum I was completely satisfied by the product. The negative reviews I have seen thus far tend to be where the reviewer has not chosen correctly, so I would say take the time to try and match yourself to the product.

Sleek's Contour Kit in Dark - I salute you!
Please note I have used an extremely heavy hand to swatch this product in order for the camera to pick it up.

H&M C'est Chic Eye Shadows

Hi
Whilst shopping in H&M I tend to look through their beauty dept as they have an excellent nail colour selection, a few months ago I was fortunate enough to stumble across this lovely eye shadow set called "C'est Chic" and loved the colours it contained. The slate colour really drew me in as I have been looking for a replacement for a liner I had lost from Bare Esentuals; the rest kinda fell into line.



The colours:
1. Is a light brown which I use all over my lid when doing a brown smokey eye.
2. Pearlised light pink colour - used for highlighting under brow or inner corners, not my fave as
    kinda talcy on me :(
3. An excellent red / burgundy colour that I use my lids when I want to look bangin.
4. Slate grey-blue colour that I absolutely adore. Use as an allover when going out raving with
    additional  support from Sleek's Bad Gal palette or as a liner on both the top an bottom of my eyes.
   This allows my dark eyes to pop and creates even more drama - love it!

I'm sure it's still available in stores and I know the next time I'm in H&M  I will pick up another.

I have provided a swatch on the back of my hand for you to get an idea. Let me know what surprises you've come across in a high street store beauty wise.

Love and Peace
BLKMimiLDN

H&M Eyeshadows

MUA Eye Shadows 11 & 19

Continuing in my MUA tribute I wanted to provide a quick mention to their eye shadows. As a darker skinned (NW50) lady it can be extremely hard for me to find a shade that I can use to blend out my colours or act as a transitional colour for me as I naturally have panda eyes.

MUA = MakeUp Academy, Superdrg's own brand make up line.



MUA Shade 19 - Matt a dark brown powder is my go-to shade for blending out colours or acting as a transitional colour.

MUA Shade 11 - Pear is a shimmery light Brown colour used to brighten the inner corners of my eyes or act as a highlight under a freshly threaded brow.

Again I find a big amount of the appeal of these shadows is their price. At £1 there aren't many complaints. I tend to always use a primer with my face due to sensitivity and find that my Urban Decay primer or my favourite Bare Escentual's Brightening face primer makes it hard for me to comment on their longevity; I certainly don't notice any fading as they are extremely pigmented.


As you can see from the swatch Shade 19 is an almost mach for my skin but appears almost like a slate on the camera (sorry) and Shade 11 shows up in all of its shimmery glory.

Love & Peace

BLKMimiLDN
 xx

MUA Lipstick Shade no 2

In 2010 Superdrug introduced their MUA range with little fanfare; regular shoppers noticed a small little plinth appear randomly in stores with a sign saying everything was £1. Those curious among us started to play with the products on display thinking that the lipsticks, eyeliners, powders and blushes were from a company that had gone bust and Superdrug had picked up the stock dirt cheap and was trying to get rid of it. I recall my surprise to come back and find that not only had this mystery brand grown in display size, but new lines had been added and the brand was owned by Superdrug. Gradually new items started to cost more £2 for lipglosses on par with NYX's Mega Shine; a Professional line appeared containing of all thins Primer, mascara and the now infamous palette that are getting a lot of air time on YouTube.

So today I wanted to take a step back and pay a homarge of sorts to the first item I ever purchased from the MUA line, thier Lipstick in Shade 2. Oh how I loved thee. I wore this practically every time I wore make in the Summer of 2010. I was stopped so many times by women (and one guy) of all ethnicites to ask what I was wearing, and had to guard my hangbag agnaist my friends wandering hands as it was out of stock when they tried to purchase it too.

Pros: 

• The price - come on, £1.
• Very pigmented and thus Women of Colour frendly!
• Excellent on-trend colour range, 12 in total.
• Moisturising - my lips are very dry so I'm always struggling, never had a problem with this product.
• Avialibaliy- this range is carried in all of the Superdrug's I frequent in London; they can also be purchased on line at http://www.superdrug.com/

Not so thrilling

• They can migrate so I tend to use my MAC Prep + Prime  for lips and a good lipliner to tame this bad boy and keep in place.
• Due to the high pigmentation some colours may stain your lips.
• Display stand tends to get neglected by staff so be prepared to missing tubes - please sort this out Superdrug on all of your displays!

Love & Peace

BLKMimiLDN
xx

Sleek's Berry Collection

Hi there!

In the run up to Christmas The Berry Collection was launched by Sleek here in the UK. My initial reaction was 'blah' but fortunately a late running friend, coupled with my inability to simply wait and do 'nothing', saw me venture into Superdrug's makeup aisle where I promptly swatched and bought this excellent bit of kit.

Now I'm no fool, three items for £9.99 they had my attention at the price, but really it was the quality of the blush that sold me. The lipstick reminded me of a matte but credible version of NYX's Black Cherry which I love with a vampire sucking passion but when I swatched the blush I was like ahhhh; it's adorable - a soft plum and pink mash-up. The kohl ain't worth toffee for darker skin ladies on the eyes, so don't waste your time. It makes me look ill. Like all thrifty makeup fiends I quickly thought lip liner! You don't really see that many reviews for their lip liners but I really recommend you seek the out the retractable liners as they are quite good; I have paid between £1.39 - £1.69 for them from various black hair shop as Superdrug is way overpriced - check out Paks online or search through the hair shop's makeup sections for a similar bargain.

Overall I'm happy with the purchase; I am a Sleek fan and am pleased to have a UK brand going from strength to strength. As a lot of other bloggers have shown the collection is suitable for all, no matter where you place on the spectrum of the skin wheel, I would urge creative with the Kohl and advise a light hand with the blush - no one likes coco the clown cheeks!

See ya!