Last February, I read that Sleek Makeup (a UK drugstore brand) had released five different blush palettes, each with three blushes. Sleek has a fantastic blush formula, so I was immediately intrigued. However, the blushes were not available at the time on Sleek’s website, and though they were on Ebay, they would have cost double the retail price so I decided to wait. Eventually, they showed up on Sleek’s website, but because shipping was so expensive and because I couldn’t decide which ones to get, I didn’t buy any.
Then, a few weeks ago, Sleek relaunched its website with a 20% off discount sitewide (now over, sorry!) and reduced shipping costs to the US (permanent). I thought it was time to finally buy a couple of the Blush by 3 palettes. Since they were on sale, I decided to just go for it and buy all five. Picture heavy post ahead!
A few general comments: All five of the Blush by 3 palettes are smooth and blend nicely. Four of them are quite pigmented; Sugar is less pigmented. There are a mix of shimmery and matte shades, but most of the shimmery shades are fairly subtle and will add dimension rather than obvious shimmer particles. I plan to use the matte shades as my main blush shades, then layer the shimmery shades over the top lightly to add dimension without too much shimmer.
Each shade has a name, listed on the back of the palette – it looks like this:
Here is a size comparison of the Sleek Blush by 3 with a single Sleek blush and a NARS blush – I cleaned the packaging, but they were hopelessly dirty! NARS blushes contain 4.8g; Sleek single blushes contain 8g; the Blush by 3 palette contains 20g (6.7g per blush – more than NARS!).
I really like Sleek’s packaging – it’s very compact and efficient, and I’m always a fan of black packaging. It would be ideal if the lids were clear for these so I could tell them apart more easily, but this works too, and there is a nicely sized mirror in the lid.
On to the swatches! Because there are 15 blushes total, I don’t have full-face swatches (sorry!). I have flash and natural light swatches for each color.
Pumpkin 363 – lantern, squash, pumpkin pie |
Pumpkin 363 – flash / natural light |
All three shades in the Pumpkin palette are nicely pigmented and smooth. Lantern, on the left, is a red with subtle shimmer; Squash is a cool pink with a slight sheen, and Pumpkin Pie is a bright cool orange.
364 Sugar – Turbinado, Muscovado, Demerara |
Sugar – flash / natural light |
Flame 365 – Furnace, Bon Fire, Molten |
The Flame palette has three lovely red shades. All three are very pigmented. Furnace looks very slightly patchy in the swatch, but gives no trouble when applied. Furnace is a soft red with some shimmer. Bon Fire an orange-based matte red. Molten is very similar to Furance, but slightly more muted.
Pink Sprint 366 – Pink Parfait, Pink Ice, Pinktini |
Pink Sprint – flash, natural light |
| Sleek Pink Sprint – flash / natural light |
Lace 367 – Crochet, Guipure, Chantilly |
Lace – flash, natural light |
All three shades in the Lace palette are very smooth and pigmented. Crochet is a matte peach with orange tones, Guipure is a pink with gold shimmer – the strongest shimmer out of all five of the palettes – and Chantilly is a pink-coral.
Overall, I am totally in love with these palettes! I am going to have a lot of fun playing with them. Does anyone need 15 blush shades? Not really – and especially not me – but I am so happy to have them, and they add a lot of variation to my blush stash.
If you are in the US, Sleek Blush by 3 palettes sell for $12.49 each on Sleek’s website. Shipping starts around $5 for one palette, and goes up when you buy more.
This post is from Project Swatch. All rights reserved.