Review: Sleek Makeup Oh So Special i-Divine Palette

Today’s review is of another Sleek palette, I seem to have quite a few I haven’t actually posted about yet and this is another in the permanent line, as far as I know, the Oh So Special palette. This is one of the more recent ones I have bought though it’s been out for a while. This can be bought from a few places and costs £7.99 in Boots and the Sleek website itself, which seems to be down at the moment, and £8.99 on the Superdrug website.

It’s a fairly neutral based palette leaning towards peaches and pinks rather than the cooler tones and there’s a range of finishes. There are seven mattes and five shimmers including one obvious duochrome finish. I think this is the most mattes I have seen in a palette that isn’t exclusively matte colours so it’s a bit different to any other that I own.

 

The outer card packaging is the same as the current design, I think it was out in a previous version with the powder piles in the colours used in the palette. This one has them in circles on the front which is a nice look and does tie them all together. This is probably one of the furthest from the colours inside the palette shown in the front. Everything is a lot darker and redder or more purple than the product inside. There are smaller circles on the back with the colour names which are slightly closer to the actual eyeshadows but it’s still a bit dark and too purple on a lot of them. The back also has the ingredients and a few bullet points describing the eyeshadow themes and some of the colours inside.

The actual palette itself has the standard Sleek matte black plastic finish with the logo in the centre on the front in a shiny finish. I do really like the look of this but it really does attract fingerprints and marks, after taking the photos for this one it’s now covered in creamy smudges and glitter and they don’t seem to wipe off easily. The hinge for these is great, it holds the lid in place at any angle and I’ve had some for years and used a lot and it’s still stiff enough to hold it up which makes them great for travel. The mirror inside is big and a good quality, none of my older ones have warped and they’re large enough that I find them good if I can’t find a mirror somewhere in a room when I’m away.

Covering the eyeshadows is a clear sheet with the names of the colours on it, this does a pretty good job of keeping the whole palette clean and the mirror free from any fallout. There is also the standard foam applicators most companies want to give you in eyeshadows. I don’t really use them but as far as those sponge things go these seem good, they grab a lot of product and are good for packing the colour on, they’re just not that precise. It’s a sort of grippy rubber foam rather than the lighter sponge a lot use so it doesn’t disintegrate either.

The eyeshadows themselves are pretty good pigment wise with two exceptions, some of the colours also seem to work as a multipurpose product to an extent, though the size of the pans can make them hard to use like that. I did try some of the colours in other ways and I’ll include that in the descriptions. As with most of my posts the swatches show the top half with a primer, the Urban Decay Primer Potion, and the bottom half is straight on my skin.

Bow – Light matte warm cream. Not very pigmented, does feel slightly powdery on the brush and takes a few layers to become remotely opaque. However it does work well for my skin tone to blend out others and it’s really good as an under brow highlighter. It lasts well on a primer and does blend out pretty well but disappears if you don’t have a sticky base.

Organza – Pale pink shimmer, slightly peach in some lights. Very creamy and pigmented, works well without primer but doesn’t last as well. It blends out really well and even a sheer layer that’s blended out well leaves a very shimmery peachy pink sheen. It could work as a very shimmery highlight but too sparkly for me, if you like it very sparkly or for a sparkly look it could work well for that.

Ribbon – Matte peach. Feels really silky when applied and is very even with or without primer. It does need a primer for it to be truly opaque and for staying power with any impact. It blends out pretty well but does seem to leave a bit of a mark if it’s on primer that shows where it was first applied. This is one of the multipurpose colours to me, if you use a small amount it actually works pretty well as a blush as it blends out well. It leaves a slightly peach matte finish and lasts well as a sheer layer.

Gift Basket – Shimmery copper. Very pigmented and creamy even without any primer, blends out really well but the glitter does spread further than the copper base. No fallout when I applied it but you do have to be careful to tap the excess off more than with some of the others. Lasts well but does benefit from primer for longevity as it does seem to melt into your crease after a while without it.

Glitz – Dark blue grey shimmer with silver sheen. Very creamy, doesn’t need a primer for pigmentation and opaque in one layer. It blends out very well but the silver sheen does go further than the blue base. This one works pretty well as an eyeliner, it sticks well especially if you set it with a setting powder and lasts really well.

Celebrate – Dark brown base with plum duochrome and shimmer, you don’t really see the brown until you try to remove it. Blending it does leave the dark base behind and just move the shimmer for me but it blends out pretty well if you’re blending two colours together. Very opaque and creamy, does benefit from primer in keeping the shimmer in place but it sticks well without it, just loses some of the sheen.

Pamper – Light baby pink matte. Not very pigmented, a lot like Bow, feels powdery and needs layers to become opaque. It doesn’t work very well as an eyeshadow as it needs a primer to show up well and then it leaves a mark where you first apply it so doesn’t blend that well but it does work quite well as a light blush. If you have very pale skin like me it can add a bit of a pink blush to your cheeks and can be built up to be brighter. It lasts well if you buff it in and blends out well as a blush.

Gateau – Pink shimmer with yellow duochrome. This is the stand out colour for me, very pigmented and creamy. Does benefit from primer for staying power but does pretty well without as well. It blends really well, both the base and the shimmer, and can be used sheer as a yellow sheen on top of other colours.

The Mail – Matte light warm brown or tan. Very creamy and pretty pigmented, it does benefit from primer to bring out the colour and blends well. Works really well as a colour to blend between others and lasts well. It does work ok as a contouring shade for me, it’s not too orange and is slightly darker than my skin tone so can add some shadow if you’re careful with the amount you use.

Boxed – Dark cool brown matte. Pretty pigmented but needs primer for full colour unless you’re prepared to build it up. Blends out ok but works better if you’re blending other colours into it as it seems to leave a bit of a mark where the original application is, as with a lot of Sleek mattes. It works pretty well as an eyeliner, lasts well and stays in one place when it’s applied.

Wrapped Up – Matte taupe, a slightly purple version of boxed. The same formula as boxed, pretty pigmented for a matte and does work well if you just apply it and leave it rather than blending it out. It feels silky when you apply it and looks almost creamy in the pan when you put your brush in it.

Noir – Matte black. With the early palettes, or the ones I saw and have, Sleek always included a matte black. Sometimes they were a bit weak but others they were probably the best matte blacks I have seen. This isn’t their best but it’s still up there. It’s very pigmented and pretty creamy feeling for a matte. You do have to be a bit careful as when you use it as it seems to always have a lot of excess product on your brush or finger which means a lot of tapping to make sure you don’t end up with a lot of black fallout. Otherwise this is a great eyeshadow, it blends out well and only needs one layer, even without primer, to be opaque. It lasts well and benefits from a primer but works pretty well as an eyeliner, especially on a sticky base.

Overall I am very happy with this palette, I did stay away from it as I’m not a huge fan of pinks in eyeshadows but I was intrigued by some of the colours in it and it was in an offer when I was buying the two new neutral palettes. If you like neutral mattes then this is probably a good palette for you to look at, though two of them aren’t that pigmented they do still work in other ways. I think that this is the only sleek palette that has colours I would be prepared to use as a blush and contour so it could be a good travel palette if you’d also use them for that.

Out of the twelve colours I would say that ten of them are hits, both Noir and Gateau stand out amongst the others even more because the formulas are just so nice and easy to use and any good matte black is a winner for me as they seem to be so disappointing in a lot of palettes. I think for the price these are really good and these two actually seem more unusual and pigmented than some of the more expensive brands I own. For some people the £7.99 may be a good price just for a well pigmented matte black and this one has the other colours in there too.

I think this is probably one of their strongest palettes when mattes are concerned, although I haven’t tried the pure matte palettes yet, there are enough neutral or the warmer colours in here to make a good neutral look using a combination of mattes and shimmers and there are a few colours that could add a pop of bright to them. If these colours are ones you like the look of then I would say this is a good palette to get as they’re all pretty well pigmented and it’s a bit of a different twist to the more neutral look. It would be a good introduction to Sleek if this is your kind of colour palette.