Review: Sleek - Base Duo Kit

Hi,

My local Superdrug store has recently had a bit of a renovation and in the process their make-up section has been greatly improved. To my delight this has meant that their Sleek Make-up UK stand has got bigger and I have been taking full advantage. The biggest addition to the Sleek stand is the foundation section, there are so many different products and shades ranges within those. So I thought I would check them out and see how they compare to other foundations out there.

Although both liquid, and power compacts where available I decided I was going to go for the duo compact, even though it was slightly more expensive at £13.00, my skin is dry to combination so sometimes just I need full coverage foundation and sometimes I can get away with just a powder. So to have both in the same compact seemed very handy.

The matte black packaging with the glossy logo on the top gives a very classy feel to the compact but I do worry it will get quite dirty in my hand bag, and the fact that it is nearly an inch deep makes it quite bulky considering its a compact, and the sharp cut corners don’t make it very comfortable to hold.

Inside the compact is a 2 inch mirror and the powder foundation. The powder section is hinged and underneath that is the cream foundation along with another mirror. Now while I see that having the second mirror is very useful if you are just using the cream section of the compact, I think that this has added to the weight of the compact as a whole which again makes it feel quite bulky. 

The other thing that surprised me with the packaging of this compact was that no sponge or powder puff is included. Now whether this is because it would have meant making the compact even bigger or that they couldn't find a sponge that would work for both powder and cream I don’t know but if you don’t have any brushes or sponges handy your fingers will work just fine.

The cream foundation feels very soft on my fingers and melts into a liquid as you touch it. The coverage is pretty high which I wasn’t expecting and blends into the skin quite well. It did leave my face feeling slightly cakey but maybe if used with a brush you could blend it slightly more to get reduce this.

The powder is soft and velvety; with no sheen or shimmer it is completely matte and leaves a very smooth finish by itself or over the top of the cream base.

Overall I think the product inside this compact is really nice, and you get a good amount of it for the money. However I think the outer packaging needs a bit of work as it is a bit too square and bulky. Still glad I bought it though and will make a good base for a night out I think?

A selection of Sleek products is available on Superdrug’s website with the full collection on Sleek’s own website. If you haven’t heard of this brand before I urge you go try out their eyeshadow compacts they are amazing!

Have you tried any of the Sleek products? let me know in the comments below, I love to hear from you.

Love 

Jude xxxx

Day 7: No7 Instant Radiance Foundation

Hello again,

Day 7 now and I wanted to tell you about the new No7 Match Made Foundation Service which Boots are offering in stores at their No7 stands.

The use a strange little machine which they hold to both your cheeks and it takes a photo of your skin and tells you the perfect shade for your skin tone.

All the colours in No7's foundation goes across all the ranges. So no matter what type of foundation you like, sheer, matt, medium coverage, dewy they all come in all the colours. Making the collection so unique to you and your skin.

Well about a week ago I went to my local Boots store and I got my foundation colour match. The colour that suited my skin tone the best is called "Soft Rose" and is alot darker and pinker than something I would have picked for myself. Which just goes to show how wrong our perception of something so personal as our skin colour can be.

I prefer a dewy finish to my foundation, with a light to medium coverage as I can suffer from blemishes and redness.  The assistant recommended to me their "Instant Radiance  foundation which also includes an SPF 15 protection.

I really like the packaging for this foundation, its clear tube helps you clearly see the colour of the foundation, and the silver lid gives a somewhat upmarket feel to the product. The pump action allows you to get just the right amount out without wasting any, and also means you should get every last drop out of the bottle.

The foundation itself is a liquid, not too runny so that it runs off your hand, but not too thick that it is hard to blend into your skin.  Despite my first reservations about the colour being quite pink, I was delighted to see that it blended into my skin beautifully leaving a light dewy finish. The coverage was very good, not too heavy  so it removed all trace of my skin underneath, but just enough that it covered most discolouration but still let my skin show through.

At first this colour looks way to dark for my skin colour

I do like the light liquid consistency

Too my surprise it blended in completely leaving my skin looking great

I decided to wear this foundation for work today as I knew I would be going to the gym afterwards and I wanted to see how it stood up against a quite rigorous work out. Well the areas where I obviously sweat the most (my chin, forehead and around my nose) it does seem to still be there. I have sweated some of it off as I would expect of most foundations, but my cheeks and temples seem to have quite a good coverage.

Overall I would say that this is probably not an everyday foundation as its bit to heavy for that, but as a evening wear make-up it would do very well, and the colour matching systems is awesome, as it picks the right colour, not the colour you think your skin is.

Have any of you tried the match made service yet? If so what did you think? Where you surprised by the colour you were given? Let me know in the comments below.

Love

Jude xxx