Sleek Smoke & Mirrors Gift Set Christmas 2016 Review and Swatches - Cruelty Free Cosmetics

So I've put off writing this review for over a month and I think that's mostly because by the time this finally goes up I will have taken and retaken the photos for three times. This is the Sleek Smoke & Mirrors, Ultimate Smokey Eye Kit. It's £12.50 and is one of the products in the Boots 3 for 2 gift promotion they run every Christmas (which is maybe the best thing for last minute Christmas shopping). 

So the pic above is what this outer packaging looks like. I can see what they're going for but I'm not sure I love the mix of the pink and black "bow", black and white triangles, purple, and then black with photos of products that also have black packaging on them (which I don't think makes a whole lot of sense). 

 I think the view without the sleeve is worse than with I think. There are stripes. Why are there stripes? What person thought that stripes would be a good addition to the patterned horror that is this box? Come on Sleek. I've never really had an issue with Sleek's packaging before but this just looks cheap. 

 The inside isn't any better and when you look at the size of the box verses what you get its also huge. It could have been a square the length of the palette, saving on space and packaging. Also I binned the clear inlay after the first set of photos I took, because I didn't think I would need to take them a further two times before I could get this post up. 

 So in the box you get the Sleek Full Fat Mascara and Dip It Liquid Eyeliner, both in black. The packaging on these is a bit basic and boring, but far far better than the box. Its at least in-line with palettes (which I do have an issue with but its nothing to do with the colour).

The mascara is OK. I probably wouldn't buy it again, there are other cheaper mascaras I prefer (Collection's Supersize Fat Lash and MUA's Define, Nourish and Care to name a couple). The formula is very, very wet, and dries fairly slowly. So if you sneeze, or accidentally hit it with a powder brush, that's it all down your face. The brush is one of those weird ones with a ball on the end and silicone "bristles", which I really don't like. Call me crazy but what's wrong with the old school full bristle ones? They always worked well in the past. I don't know if its the brush, or a combo of the brush and formula, but this just seems to give me spider eyes. Would not recommend it.

The eyeliner is another product that I think is just OK. I don't normally use dip liners, as I find I get better control with a pen style one but I was interested in trying it. The liner is more dark grey than black, but does apply nicely (even with the short handle). Its OK but as I said about the mascara, I wouldn't buy it again.

So the palette you get is the i-Divine Bad Girl Palette. It contains mostly darker shades and they seem to be split into groups of two. It looks used in the above photo as I've had to do these swatches a couple of times now and if I ever have to arm swatch again it will be too soon. The palette is one of standard ones from Sleeks collection and it has the classic black packaging. My only issue with this is I own a bunch of these and unless I open then or turn them over, its impossible to tell which is which. The "On the Horizon" palette has the palette name stamped in the bottom right corner, which is really helpful. They should really all have this. Also I hate the sponge applicators. Remind me to bin this once I'm done typing. 

I was a bit worried when I was looking at the box, as the shadows in the bottom right looked very pink. In actual fact they're both purple, Twilight is a gorgeous dark purple, and rebel is a more mauve based colour. 

Top Row

Bottom Row

So these are the swatches, As you can see, Sleek excel at making shimmer shadows. The middle two on the top row (Blade and Gun Metal) and the grey/green on the bottom left (Intoxicated) are to die for. The formula is similar to the Hidden Gems Palette, but as its permanent I feel like the shades are a bit more refined and less chunky. The mattes are a bit powdery but the pigment is intense. 

I'm not sure I could do a whole eye-look with this palette, but I love the quality of Sleeks eyeshadows, and they might be my favourite Sleek product. I would definitely recommend them. The have 22 different palettes available in the i-Divine range so there's something to suit everyone. The other products I really love are the Matte Me Liquid Lipsticks, which are beautiful and also super affordable.

Final thoughts, this pack is fantastic value for money if you want to try Sleek and aren't sure if you'll like their formulas. Full Fat Mascara retails for £6.99, Dip it Eyeliner is £4.99 and the i-Divine Palettes are £8.99. You get £20.97 of product and an ugly, but sturdy, storage box for £12.50 so you save £8.47. Two out of three products are OK and the third I really like and it would make a good Christmas gift for someone who was interested in good quality and cruelty free makeup.

XOXO Scruffy

Enquiry? Message me ascruffyduck@gmail.com

November Favourites - Makeup, Fashion, Candles and Food - Cruelty Free and Delicious 2016

So November has been a kind of funny month. My trip to the Czech Republic at the very start now feels like a lifetime ago, the nights are drawing in, its getting cold and feeling very wintery.

I've tried some new makeup I love, some I wasn't so sold on and rediscovered some old favourites. Some of these have review posts and others will be getting them soon. I'll link anything I've done a full post on. Also if the photos seem a little blurry, I'm sorry. I had a major case of the hiccups and didn't have time to retake them.  

The Sleek Bad Girl i-Divine palette and the Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics Palette. I have full reviews of both of these coming out soon, the Sleek one might actually be up by the time this post goes up and the Urban Decay one will follow as part of Blogmas. 

I've been really enjoying combining these. My usual has two top left and bottom right shadows in the Sleek palette combined with most of the top row of the Naked palette, although its also great on its own. The only thing I hated about both these palettes was the applicators that came with them. The Sleek palette had one of those sponge applicator things and the brush that came with the Urban Decay palette kicks off more fallout that I've ever seen. These shadows are great with any other brush, but not that one. C'mon Urban Decay...

Other eye favourites this month. I <3 Makeup Eyeliner in Channeling My Inner, Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper and Freedom Duo Brow Powder in Caramel Brown. These two eyeliners have been staples in my makeup bag this month. The I <3 Makeup pencil is one of my favourite brown liners ever. Its soft and blendable with a gorgeous copper sheen to it. It also lasts all day. The Kat Von D liner has a super thin, but its also firm enough to draw a good line. I can see me getting a full sized one of these once this little guy is finished.  The Freedom brow powder has been a favourite for a while now. As you can see from the swatches, its not super pigmented but that's all I need. In the past I tried penciling in my browns, or using coloured pomade or tinted mascara, but my brows are fairly thick and defined so most things make them feel over done. This powder is all I need to simply fill in the patchy bits nearer the ends of them to them looking a bit thin. 

Face product wise I've been loving the Naked Skin Weightless Concealer from Urban Decay in light neutral. I've never found a concealer that's a good match for me. I always find that high street ones are always either far to warm or far to cool for me. I went and got colour matched for this one and its a good match (guess I maybe should have swatched it for you). Its also really nice and blendable. I also got the foundation from this range and am planning on a wear test post, hopefully as part of Blogmas but no guarantees. Then we have the Freedom Pro Glow in Meow, the first wrist swatch is everything swirled together and the second is a more concentrated one using the circle in them middle. I've been loving this for days when I'm feeling more lazy and just want something to add a little something to my cheeks. The third product is the Sleek Blush in Rose Gold. This colour and the swatch looking really intimidating but when you use it lightly on a fluffy brush it gives the most gorgeous. soft, rosy glow. The gold shimmer is also super cute. Both these products are super affordable as well. 

My two absolute favourite lip products of November are both NYX. The first is the Lip Lingerie in Embellishment. I've already done a full review of this here so I'm not going to go on about it. The other is the NYX Matte lipstick in Eurotrash. I have a full review of this and another matte lipstick from the range going up during Blogmas, its already finished so that will probably go up within the next week or so. I wore it pretty much every day last week and its just the perfect nude matte lipstick for work and if I'm not doing anything fancy.

So onto other favourites. I got this bag before Halloween and have used it loads. I love it. Ursula has always been my favourites, she has an awesome musical number and spends all day chilling in a killer dress and getting food from her henchmen. Those are my life goals in a nutshell. Also it saves me 5p every time I remember to use it (in Scotland you have to pay for plastic bags, unless they're coming directly in contact with food and keeping it sanitary).

I've been loving my pins too, I got the Hufflepuff Quidditch colours pin when I was in Florida and it currently chilling on the collar of my winter coat. I've had a lot of compliments and it reminds me of sunnier times. The wooden stags head came from CherryLoco Jewellery, a Glasgow based company I own a fair amount of stuff from including my sleeping fox necklace. I'm currently trying to work out how to fit getting one of the Gingerdead Men pins into my meticulously planned budget. Folk keep asking what I want for my Birthday, I might tell the next person that asks I want that. The Critical Hit and French Fancy ones are from Kitty's Kitschenette and when I was trying to find that link I remembered why I stopped looking at her website. I want it all! She has a Wednesday Addams brooch up. I might need to ask for that too. I love the Addams Family and Wednesday was always my favourite. 

Burnables wise, these two have emerged as my Winter 2016 favourites. There's the Wickford and Co. Gingerbread candle and the Airwick Mulled Wine by the Fire colour changing candle. I've raved about both of these on Instagram (find me here cough). I love all the festive, spicy, gingery, cinnamony smells that are out there right now so I've bought a lot of candles and a lot of backups recently. The Gingerbread candles wins the award for overall best though. The huge jar, and by huge I mean the same size as the biggest Yankie Candle I've ever seen, is £2.99 from Home Bargains and it smells like exactly like fresh gingerbread biscuits, When I lived at home my little brother used to bake them a lot so it brings back memories. I'm not even half way through the first one, even thought I've burnt it for what feels like days, and I have two backups. Hopefully that will keep me going for a while. The colour changing candle is more just fun to watch. Flames and a light show. I did manage to make it colour change without lighting it, but I'm not sure how. Also you can trigger it by just passing a lighter near it. Not sure how it works but it sure is pretty. 

My last two favourites are delicious. The first is the M&S Christmas Mulled Fruit Infusion Tea. This stuff is amazing. It smells like, and, if drank when piping hot, tastes like mulled wine but is office appropriate. I have boxes squirreled away everywhere, home, office, boyfriends. Heck, I've have a backup in my handbag if there was space. Everyone I've given this too seems to love it as well and I managed to survive two days when I didn't have milk (because I forgot in town and was too lazy to cross two roads and go to the shop directly across the street once I was home) drinking this and I normally need my breakfast tea. Just don't let it get cold because then it tastes awful. Its one of those herbal teas. 

My other favourite is Lebkuchen. Whilst this isn't ever not a favourite, cause gingerbread is the best, its finally in the shops and acceptable for me to eat lots of it. This one is especially nice and is a new discovery this year, its the Nuremberg assortment from Lidl and has walnuts, almonds, cashews and hazelnuts through it. I'm surprised this lasted long enough for me to photograph it. So yummy. 

Thats all for now duckies.

XOXO Scruffy

Enquiry? Message me ascruffyduck@gmail.com