Friday, October 25, 2013

Sigma Creme de Couture and Sleek Matte Brights Palettes

I spent a lot of time with this post and really struggled with it! I didn't want to order the Sigma palette at first, since I already have this Sleek matte palette that I never use. I thought the colours were similar, but then I saw that the Sigma palette was more pastels so I went ahead with it. I am not intending on making this a post on comparing the two, but since they're both colorful matte palettes I havent reviewed, I'm consolidating.

Now on to the reason I don't use my Sleek palette. Do you know how you see a tutorial for rainbow eyes or something really cool and you'd like to recreate it...but your reaction is ohh (insert expletive if desired), I am NOT dealing with that (again expletive) palette again!! That's kinda how I felt about the Sleek palette. First, it was totally inconsistent- the blues and greens were awesome, even the purple was good- but the last three shades were useless, and the pinks I had to use the 'dig and crumble' method... You know, scraping the shadow until it comes loose just so you can get any colour out of it. I totally hate that, it's a real peeve of mine. The orange was like that too but the payoff was worth it- its actually the best and brightest matte orange I have. I didn't think the same way with the pinks- they werent that great even after my best efforts. So that left me with 7 out of 12 shadows I felt fine about. Still, not bad for ten dollars, really.


Some of the shades are similar, but no dupes.  

Sigma Redberry Rose, Sleek Pucker, Sleek Pout 


I ended up swatching both of the entire palettes again since I didn't find any more similarities.  Here is the Sleek palette- bare skin: 



I never swatch over primer so people know exactly what to expect, but in this case, there is no choice but to use a primer when you use these eyeshadows, so I've swatched everything over primer.  First, the Sleek palette again: 



Next, the Sigma palette: 





I realized that some of the Sleek shades I liked the most, I had similar Inglot shades.  Inglot is basically my encyclopedia for eyeshadows. I have a matte pastel yellow, I think its 364.

Inglot is on the right here:


Same thing with the Sigma.  Here, Inglot is on the left: 




Texture wise, I do like the Sigma and it was more consistent, which was great- Elderberry was the bad apple for me, it was so patchy and chalky, not a unique shade in my collection so no point in me using it. Although, its fine for a crease or blended with something else. Violet Whip is the one shade that's always eluded me- I really really love it, even in nail polish, and I have similar eyeshadow shades in different finishes, but never a good matte one.

I dont want to exaggerate otherwise why am I here, really, they're decent, I didn't have to scrape any of them, and they're even a bit softer than my Inglots, but with Inglot the resulting color payoff is so much better that they aren't in the same league. I really had to build most of them up- I had to do six or seven layers with some of them and still not get what I usually consider nice. I tried everything under these. I don't own a white base- both of the Nyx ones crease on me badly- and I can't find any other pure white one. Usually my go-to for fussy shadows is MAC Bare Canvas paint, but even that didnt work, and its shimmery so kind of negates the point of these being matte.

Here is one of the more decent looks I got out of using both palettes: 



Basically as the name states, the Sleek palette is brighter, and the Sigma palette is more pastel and neutral, and I like that it has crease shades, which is why I find it more wearable- all depends on what you're going for.  They are both palettes of patience and ultimately potential frustration, so with either I think it would come down to if the colours are worth it to you. I actually worked out the math, and they are exactly the same price per gram, but the Sigma palette is more product. But if you want my brutally honest opinion which may sound rude.... skip both of these and save yourself the headache.




4 comments:

  1. Lovely palettes, some nice colours there.
    I love your eye makeup in that last photo, those two colours go very well together.

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  2. Great post!! I totally agree with you, nothing worse than needing to scrape the colours to get any pigmentation!! At least the sleek palette is cheap so it doesn't matter as much, but I was so disappointed with Creme De Couture. Basically I use a white base on my lid and I press my finger into the colour and that's the best way to get decent-ish pigmentation, but as soon as I blend colours into the crease it goes all patchy and barely visible! Arghh! The worst ting is when the guru's on youtube use them and they work perfectly for them. I've only reached for creme de coutour couple of times, and I guess they are pastels so they don't need to be as bright, but you'd expect a bit more from them! xx

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  3. I think I'm done with the brand unfortunately myself... Totally agree with you maybe they have a magic touch lol XD now I'm in the process of building myself an inglot pastel palette !

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