mrsjennyws

I have been VERY bad this month and have ordered nearly all the items on my February Wishlist, plus about 1000 other things. Last week, after what seemed like a VERY long wait over the weekend, I finally picked up my Sleek MakeUP order from Superdrug.

I couldn't really get into the products once I got home mainly as the husband certainly does not approve of more makeup purchases. Since then I have kept meaning to take photos and swatches, but I can never get any light!! It's too dark before work, and how ever would I find the time in the morning? And it's dark by the time I get home, so finally this weekend I managed to get some natural light photos - although it was still a struggle, damn this British weather!

Following on from that moan, I apologise for the mish mash of pictures. I took some one evening under our bedroom lights and some in natural light and completed failed to check that I had everything I needed in natural light...so yeah...mixing it up.
Also problems with shiny packaging is that they act like a bloody mirror! So excuse the unintentional selfies (I already had to get rid of a great photo because I had a duck face in it).

Solstice Highlighting Palette : Precious Metals Highlighting Palette Rose Gold Blush

Solstice Highlighting Palette : Precious Metals Highlighting Palette Rose Gold Blush

The morning after I picked them up I cracked them open at my desk and got to properly lay my eyes on them! Since then I've swatched the highlights (oh my) and I've worn the blush.


Blush in Rose Gold
The packaging is very nice, it looks as you would expect from the brand - sleek. It's matte, black and good and sturdy, with a good sized mirror...although I was pretty hard to open it the first time, I even googled and found that other people had the same problem. On the other hand, plus points, it shouldn't pop open in my makeup bag! Once I finally got the darn thing open, I managed to get a peek inside. Now I'm not going to lie, I found the colour in the pan to be slightly terrifying, it looks VERY orange-y pink.

Sleek Blush in Rose Gold

 I've worn it, putting it on with the Real Techniques Blush Brush (I looooove this brush) and it goes on very sheer. It does take a little bit of building up to see and I couldn't get as much on as I usually would (PACK IT ON), but it left a gorgeous glowy flush on my cheeks which I loved.
I swatched it, it took a few swipes to build up to this intensity, but it's gorgeous.

Rose Gold Blush

Rose Gold Blush in natural light

So far I'm really happy with it, and for £4.49, who can argue! I will definitely be looking at buying some more of these.


Precious Metals Highlighting Palette
Starting with the packaging again, it certainly looks very pretty, a sort of shiny gunmetal colour, but it does smudge A LOT, mine is already covered in marks - I had to clean it to take photos. The palette isn't too bulky, good to cart around (as if I need to carry more makeup with me) and maybe not as study as the blush, but still pretty good. Much easier to open and it has a magnetic closure, fancy (I'm sure it's not really, but I'm a fan!)
When you open it, OH. MY. GOD. those highlighters sparkle up at you - they're calling my name!

Precious Metals Highlighting Palette

 Clockwise the shades are:
Platinum - cream highlight, this is quite pearlscent and it is just gorgeous!
Royal Gold - a very bright, shimmery gold
Renaissance Gold -very similar to Royal Gold in colour, but slightly more subtle in it's shimmer
Antique Bronze - the only powder of the palette, a warm bronze

Clockwise: Platinum, Royal Gold, Renaissance Gold, Antique Bronze

 I didn't think I'd like that this had so many cream formulas in it, but they are just SO creamy, I love them.

L-R: Platinum, Royal Gold, Renaissance Gold, Antique Bronze

Solstice Highlighting Palette
This one...the packaging is hot on trend being rose gold, a reason in itself to buy it, maybe it's more on the bronze side (but rose gold = bronze - no?), but so lovely either way you look at it. Like the Precious Metals it certainly attracts finger prints and smudges. And same packaging style, fairly study, good size, magnetic closure.
 Pop that bad boy open and that highlight!! I was put off this when I first saw it online, I mean what is that purple shade? But in reality it is just so gorgeous, the highlighters in the pans are just SO. DAMN. PRETTY.

Solstice Highlighting Palette

Clockwise the shades are:
Ecliptic – a warm pink colour, the only cream highlighter in the palette, I'm a little sad after how creamy the Precious Metals ones are
Hemisphere – THE PURPLE ONE, soz I can't get over that! This is one of the baked highlights, it really is a lovely colour, a light purple colours and I'm very keen to test this out!
Subsolar – a pale, slightly yellow shimmer powder
Equinox – a bronze-y, slightly orangy colour, another baked one

Clockwise: Ecliptic, Hemisphere, Subsolar, Equinox

 This palette definitely has some colours that I wouldn't have usually picked, but they are just so gorgoues that I couldn't resist. Looking forward to experimenting and worse comes to the worse, I've got an eyeshadow palette!

L-R: Ecliptic, Hemisphere, Subsolar, Equinox

I know I totally ignored that both palettes have a brush in them, but I HATE brushes that come with palettes, I never, ever use them.

So there you have it, I'm yet to wear the Highlighter Palettes, so I will get back to you on that.
Overall a definite success, I'm really, so happy that I had a naughty splurage and bought these.
Even if it's just cause they look so pretty.

Sleek MakeUP Highlighting Palettes in Solstice & Precious Metals

Sleek MakeUP Blush in Rose Gold

Another note, after having a bit of a swatch party (hello ALL my blushes) I feel like maybe I should just swatch makeup onto my hand each morning so I can look at how pretty it is throughout the day, ha.

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I recently got my first NYX Matte Lipstick, after umming and ahhing over which shade to get - Natural, Tea Rose, Whipped Caviar and Eurotrach - I settled on Whipped Caviar, it's something about the name.

Whenever I buy a non-MAC lipstick I find myself comparing it my beloved MAC lipsticks.
Whilst I like the Whipped Caviar shade, it's right up my street, I feel like the staying power of the NYX is lacking somewhat.
Whilst any lipstick I wear tends to come off a bit through out the day, hence my love to reapply, the MAC ones seem to fair better. But whichever lipstick, they do get put through their paces as I graze throughout the day and ingest my own volume in tea (I am an English gal after all!). The MAC lipsticks tend to stay on my mouth a bit more (instead of making weird smudges around my mouth from my tea cup) and maybe they stain my lips more or maybe they just stay more.
But I find that I can't reapply the NYX lipstick often enough, it really fades on my lips and it's just gone from the edges of my mouth.

For me, it's a bit of a deal breaker.

Looking at the NYX lipstick in the bullet, I also thought it looks like it contains less product than a MAC lipstick. However I had a quick look online and was shocked to find that it actually contains a whole 1.5g more than a MAC lipstick. But maybe this is outweighed by having to reapply...but as I said, I reapply A LOT anyway.

I know that the NYX lipstick is considerably cheaper, but it's my first cheapy lipstick in a while and I find the packaging to be so disappointing. I know that it's to be expected for the price, but the MAC ones are so sturdy and the click when the lid goes on...

I had a quick look and saw that a few people thought that MAC Faux and Twig were dupes for Whipped Caviar, as I also have both of those I thought I'd do a comparison. I also added Brave into the mix!

As you can see, Brave is certainly my favourite and has had quite a lot of wear!

L-R Brave, Faux, Twig, Whipped Caviar

I always find it so surprising how they can look so similar in the bullet and so different on skin/lips.
So none of them are the same, I'd say that Twig is quite a good dupe, followed by Brave, but Faux is quite different. But all of them could be very different paired with the right lip liner.

I'll definitely keep wearing (and constantly reapplying) Whipped Caviar, but I probably would repurchase or buy another NYX matte lipstick.
But don't hold me to that.

And the real question is, would I rather have 1 MAC lipstick or 3 NYX lipsticks? (Yes, I know it's like 2.4 NYX lipsticks, but we'll round up).
 I think what we've learn from this is that MAC definitely is my favourite...maybe to a slightly obsessive, adoring level.

What do you think of NYX lipsticks? Am I missing something? Or being too much of a makeup snob?

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