Sleek Au Naturel eyeshadow palette review and swatches

I've heard so many good things about the Sleek makeup line, which is based in the UK. I placed an order for an eyeshadow palette and cheek products, so those are the products I'll be posting about this week.

I got the I-Divine palette in Au Naturel, which is their neutral palette. The packaging is so hard to open--it's a nail-breaking, manicure-ruining compact. But it is very sturdy and compact, and it has a huge mirror, which makes it travel really well.

Top row: Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe
Bottom row: Conker, Moss, Bark, Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir

I've heard a lot of great things about Sleek eyeshadows, but judging from this palette, their light matte eyeshadows are pretty weak. Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, and Toast have very, very poor pigmentation. I'm not even sure how many layers you would need to build up the color, but the only way I could see someone using them is applying it with a fluffy brush to blend out other eyeshadow colors--they have very poor color payoff on their own. The dark matte colors are so much better, but they can feel a bit chalky. The shimmery eyeshadows, on the other hand, are very pigmented and easy to blend; however, there are cheaper eyeshadows from American drugstores that are even better. The shipping is definitely not cheap (about $13 flat rate), so really think about whether it's worth it for you!

I promise, all the swatches are there!

It seems like you can't get a wide variety of looks with this palette, since you only have one "usable" light color, and the dark colors are various cool tones. I don't mind having an eye palette in which all the colors are one tone, but I feel like using this one palette by itself can become very monotonous, just because you have so few options.

Overall, I really didn't like this palette at all; even though has some nice colors, almost half the palette was pretty awful, and the compact is so hard to open that it has really slowed me down when I get ready in the morning. If you are interested in Sleek eyeshadows, go for a palette with mostly darker shimmer/metallic colors (the Storm palette is supposed to be great); if you already have a holy grail neutral palette, this isn't a must-have palette.

Come back on Friday for a review on their cheek products, and check out more Sleek products at http://www.sleekmakeup.com/.