Sleek 'Avoir la Peche' Collection Review

Well isn't this just peachy?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

But still, I finally got my grubby mitts on Sleek's new Spring collection and decided to share my thoughts. There are 3 items in total and I picked up all of them, seeing as they don't break the bank.

The Paraguaya iDivine palette of eyeshadows.

The Pan-Tao blusher.

And finally the Pout Polish in Sugar May.

The packaging is oh-so pretty! I love the blossom design on the blusher case and the pout polish. It's a shame that it's not printed on the eyeshadow palette too, it's only on the box and that will inevitably get thrown away once it's gone a bit manky. Still, this is a small complaint!

The Paraguaya palette is just beautiful. I could sit there for hours just staring at the prettiness of the colours....all pinks, soft tangerines, peaches, golden apricots and a hint of darkness with a muted grey brown and a slate grey thrown in. Luscious....

But how wearable? Well, to be honest you kind of have to be really into make-up to know how to wear peachy orange shades on the eyes. But that's not to say you shouldn't try, and at this price (roughly £6 or €8.50) you can definitely have fun experimenting. The great thing is that 6 of the 12 shades are not orangey at all and very wearable on a daily basis. Sleek have helpfully included a transparent top sheet with a name for each colour so I can tell you exactly which colours I think you need have no fear of: Parfait, Blush, Bellini, Sandstone, Bittersweet and Stone.

As for the more peachy shades, well, it does lead me to the question of how much peach eyeshadow one really needs to have? Answer: probably one would be enough, but hey, it's still fun to play around with these different shades on offer and depending on your skin tone, the subtle shade differences between the peaches could really make or break your look, so it's good that the different options are there. If in doubt about how to wear peach on the eyes then an easy and flattering way is to place one of the more neutral shades, like Sandstone, across the socket and then take a tiny amount of one of the peaches and very softly apply just above the socket line as a wash of colour which you can see with the eye open. Apply a bit of dark brown or black liner to the top lid and you have a very cool twist on a classic daytime eye.

Funnily enough the two shimmery orange colours, Persian Orange and Peach Gold are perhaps the easiest to work with as the shimmer somehow lends itself well to a pretty light wash of colour all over the lid without the need to add any more colours. The mattes are a bit less forgiving. Pigmentation is generally quite good throughout the palette, though not as strong as in the Original or Storm palettes. However, I do not regard that as a bad thing when we're talking about a palette of orange eyeshadow!

The only colour that does not convince me is Bellini, a pale yellow gold shimmer. The texture is too crumbly and it applies patchily. As an eyeshadow I wouldn't bother using it on it's own.

Still not convinced? Well, how about doing what I did and sweep a blusher brush over 3 or 4 shades and use them as a blusher? This works an absolute treat!

First quad blush, paler, muted shades with a hint of shimmer.

Second quad blush, natural pinky peach matte flush. My favourite combo!

Try the first quad together and then the second quad. The first quad will give you a paler more shimmery blush using Parfait and Bellini, whilst the second quad will give you a gorgeous chic natural pink flush with the colours Blush and Persimmon really coming through.

This brings me on to the Pan-Tao blush. Now, this is very orange, very bright and VERY pigmented. Go easy, or you'll be Tangoed. Just like I was. This is the peril of trying to do your make-up in a room with bad lighting. I only used a smallish amount of product, but when I stepped out into daylight I noticed that my mum was staring at me strangely, after which she told me I'd gone orange and looked ridiculous.

Photo does not pick up how bright this really is, it's almost fluorescent orange!

I suppose it doesn't help that it's matte. The colour seems so much more concentrated when there is no shimmer to water it down. Despite this, I do like it. I've learnt how to use it now and it does give a lovely peachy flush to the cheeks when applied with a delicate touch. On darker skintones this would look amazing. For all you pale English rose types out there AVOID and just use the Paraguaya palette instead as a blusher. In fact, if I had been clever I would not have bothered with the blush but would have seen that the eye colours would have worked just as well. We live and learn....

My favourite product of the collection is undoubtedly the Pout Polish. What a gorgeous colour! Pale coral orange which goes on the lips like a pale peachy pink. It's a tinted lip conditioner so don't expect high colour, but in my opinion it gives just enough. The texture is so smooth and buttery and it tastes and smells like melted Carte D'Or vanilla ice-cream! It contains jojoba oil, shea butter, sweet almond oil, avocado oil and wheat germ oil so I guess with all these lovely ingredients it would work as a lip balm at a push. Normally I don't like pots of lip product just because I don't like sticking my fingers in it and then transferring the product to my lips, so I'll only be using this at home from the comfort and cleanliness of my bathroom. Not one to be sticking your fingers into once you've been on the tube..... eugh!

My already well-used pout polish :)

So conclusions after all this waffle (ooooh, I fancy a waffle now..... )

Paraguaya iDivine palette: Not strictly a necessary purchase, but if you're thinking of picking up a peach/pink eyeshadow you may as well get this as you're basically getting 12 colours for the price of one, and in terms of value for money I don't think you can beat Sleek palettes.
Score: 7/10

Pan-Tao blush: Really not necessary if you buy the Paraguaya palette. Not an easy colour to work with, but still pretty.
Score 5/10

Pout Polish in Sugar May: A sweet pretty treat for you lips, a lovely flattering colour for all. Shame it's in a pot as I'd like to take this with me in my handbag.
Score 8/10


What are your thoughts on this collection? Will you be wearing peaches this spring or just eating them? :)