Hi ladies! Today I am reviewing another one of Sleek’s blush-by-3’s in ‘Pumpkin’.
Sleek are famous for their blushers, i’m pretty sure their cheek products and their eyeshadows are the first thing that pop’s to most people’s minds. As a brand they have just gone from strength to strength through the years. I think price point their blush-by-3s are phenomenal! A tenner for one, which means each shade costs £3.33 - insane value for money. I love that Sleek started as a drugstore (actually marketplace) brand to cater for women of colour, and lets start by saying that this PUMPKIN blush by three is a must for women of NC40+.
This trio has a matte, satin and slight shimmer blush and all three colours are completely different. The bright and loud and frankly unique colours really intrigued me, you would probably find it very hard to find that orange or red shade from any other drugstore brand! Although it’s not a fool
-proof blush palette in the slightest, it’s a really fun one to have in your collection.
The packaging is your standard black sleek rectangle. I love that it has a full sized mirror inside it, very handy for when travelling (as is the range of colours!). You also get a decent 6.66g of each blush and trust me this palette in particular will last you a looooong while, you have no worries there! If I’m honest I would have preferred to have something on the outer packaging to distinguish this trio from the others, but since there is non I have decided to keep it in it’s packaging when it’s chilling out in my muji, and not in my current ‘rota’.
However I personally wouldn’t recommend this for very fair skintones who are newbies to blush! I am of a medium skintone myself and I found this trio was pretty challenging to work with. The bright bold colours come on very strong so I was glad to have two full weeks to really experiment with different brushes and different techniques. I have found that a gentle brush against the blush and then dabbing it onto my arm first to sheer the pigmentation, works best. I thought I had become pretty good with using a light hand...needless to say after resembling a clown I was proven wrong! I’m going to go through each shade; (I really do like how they have named each shade!)
P.PIE: This red shade is my favourite of the trio. It has a slight sheen to it which looks beautiful as it catches the light and I think its a very flattering shade when worn correctly. My favourite way to apply this shade is using the Real Techniques Duo-Fibre Contour Brush. Once I have tapped it into the blush pan and dabbed it against my arm, I gently pat this directly over my contour line and blend upwards ever so slightly. It looks amazing when I have bronzed up skin, but I think it would also look stunning against fair skin-tones if used VERY sparsely. It also makes a wonderful difference to your typical pinks and peaches. It has a very subtle golden shimmer to it, when swatched on my hand you can see the little glimmers but because I apply it with such a light hand (and after the pigmentation has sheered out on the back of my hand) you can’t see the shimmer, it’s just more of a glow.
Squash: This is a shade which I would normally run a mile from, which is odd considering the two shades either side of it right? But I’ve just never enjoyed this bright pink against an olive skintone. However when sheered out it looks alright, a little like I’ve been out for a jog. I only wore this shade alone once, and then decided to add a tiny bit of the orange shade and I did prefer those two together over the pink alone. Perhaps I would prefer this if it was a matte shade? It’s just not my type of pink y’know?
Lantern: The only matte shade of the bunch, this is an orange pop of colour that without a doubt drew me to the palette. Sleek weren’t kidding by calling them ‘intense pigments’! I can picture this shade looking absolutely gorgeous on deeper skintones (in fact all three would!). Personally I love to wear lantern very lightly and then add a tiny bit of P.PIE over the top. The layering of the two colours are so unique and refreshing at the same time! I also love that this is a true matte shade ^_^
As you can see from the ends of these swatches when slightly sheered out the shades do look less intimidating than with a heavy swatch!
Also given the range of colours in this trio alone, there must be a shade from the three that would work well for just about anyone. Remember its more about the technique of applying these, and once you get the to work - they can work a treat!
However the tiny amount that I use each time I open the palette means that this is going to be in my collection for a very very very long time! You really do get your money’s value when it comes to their blushers!
All in all I think this is a beautiful transition blush palette from summer-autumn. I wouldn't reach for these shades in the winter, and they’re a little too bright for the spring but I have thoroughly enjoyed the past fortnight just forcing myself to embrace other blush colours! I would highly recommend this to those of you with deeper skintones as the shades are just phenomenal. Again for ladies of a light-medium tone complexion, tread carefully as this stuff shows little mercy!
Sidenote: I would NOT recommend grabbing any of these shades when running late for work, unless you want to spend the journey desperately rubbing at your cheeks with a stippling brush of course!
Final Verdict:
Product rating: 7.5
Pros: Three extremely pigmented blushers, wide variety of colours in one palette, three different finishes, they work well layered or blended together, different from the drugstore norm, fantastic value for money, sturdy packaging, great mirror.
Cons: This isn’t a palette for beginners to blush nor is it one I would highly recommend to light skintones. You need to have a very light hand and a duo-fibre brush is recommended.
Repurchase? Let’s face it ladies, I’ll NEVER have to repurchase this because I use such a tinsy amount each time! But if it starts looking abit funky I'd have to say no because of the huge amount of blushers in my collection as it is - and the fact that I can't use this often enough to justify it.
Have you tried Pumpkin? What are your thoughts?
Have you read my review for the CALIFORN.I.A cream blush-by-3? Check it out here.
Thanks for reading!
