When I saw the Sleek Makeup Glory i-Divine palette, I had to stop myself from going “Eeee!!!” The reason is because I’m an Anglophile and because I have a soft spot for the London Tube 😀 Have you ever read Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere? I loved that book because it brought the London Underground to life 😀
It never ceases to amaze me how old some of the stations are. Baker Street Station for example (with its Sherlock silhouettes on the wall tiles) is one of the oldest stations, opened in 1863. Everytime I see the outlets in the ceiling which used to allow smoke from the trains to disperse, I wonder just what it must have been like back in the day – dirty I bet 😛 I used to live near the Central, Circle and District lines. So seeing an eyeshadow palette with colours named after the different colour coded London Underground lines made me feel all nostalgic.
The Glory palette is part of the limited edition 2012 collection which commemorates something quintessentially London, the London Underground; and the 2012 Summer Olympics which is held in London this year. Exciting times! This palette is, I feel, a palette of contrasts. Let me show you the swatches and tell you why.
Like all the Sleek Makeup i-Divine shadow palettes, there are 12 eyeshadow colours housed in a sturdy slim sleek black palette. It isn’t very big and you could quite easily tote this one around. A dual ended sponge tip applicator is included but I don’t think much of it.
The palette is divided into 2 – the top half houses fairly neutral colours that almost anyone could quite easily pull off; and the bottom half houses the more outlandish fun colours that I personally find a bit challenging. Barring Tube, Overground and Platform, the other colours are names of the respective London Underground lines and the colours even match the colour of the lines!
If there’s one thing I must say about the London Tube Map, its the easiest map in the world to read. All the lines are colour coded and laid out in such a simple manner you’d never get lost. They don’t relate to how the stations are actually laid out overground, but once you’re underground, its a whole different world!
Other than matching the London Tube lines, the colours also reflect the Olympic spirit – gold, bronze and silver to symbolize the medals, and the red, yellow, green, black, white and blue to symbolize the colours in the 5 Olympic rings.
There are 2 matte shades – Platform and Central while the rest are shimmer shades. Sleek Makeup does shimmer shade much better than matte, in my view, and it was quite glaring to see the differences in this palette. Here are the swatches with my descriptions of the colours and textures.
Top L-R: Tube (shimmer pale gold), Overground (shimmer cream), Bakerloo (Shimmer bronze), Jubilee (Shimmer silver), Platform (Matte grey), Northern (Shimmer blue-grey)
Bottom L-R: District (Shimmer bright green), Hammersmith & City (Shimmer bright pink), Picadilly (Shimmer bright blue), Circle (Shimmer deep bright yellow), Victoria (Shimmer light blue), Central (Matte red)
Of all the shades, I was most disappointed with Platform. Every other shade took just 1 swipe to show up the colour you see here – bright and pigmented. I needed 3 layers with Platform and even then, it was patchy. I reckon it could be used as a base shade but its otherwise quite disappointing. Central is the other matte shade but as you can see, there was no trouble getting it to show up!
The texture of the shadows are quite familiarly Sleek Makeup. The shimmer colours are pigmented, and show up bright and for some colours, almost metallic. I had no problems picking up colour with my fingers or a brush and I had no problems with application and blending either. I find it easier to pat the shadow on to ensure it adheres better to the skin. Swiping it on the lid makes it go on a little lighter.
For now, I’m not being very daring and only using selected colours from the bottom row, and concentrating on the top. I’m not sure how or if I’ll ever use Hammersmith & City or Central because pinks and reds are just too far out for me. The rest are fair game 🙂
In a nutshell
The Sleek Makeup Glory i-Divine eyeshadow palette is a limited edition palette released to commemorate the Olympic Games which are held in London this year. There are 10 shimmer shades and 2 matte shades named after the London Underground lines. I found that most of the shimmer shades were of typical Sleek Makeup quality – shimmery, almost metallic, pigmented. One of the matte shades – Platform – was very disappointing being chalky, unpigmented and not smooth to apply. Central, the other matte shade is by contrast much better in quality. The colour combination isn’t easy to use but I think its good if you don’t have some loud, fun colours in your stash that you’d like to try just for fun. Otherwise, it isn’t the easiest palette to use.
Pros: Strong and brightly pigmented colours, Fun to play around with, Affordable palette
Cons: The matte colour Platform is poorly pigmented and hard to use, Colours maybe too bright and shimmery for everyday wear
Who will like this: Anyone who wants a palette of bright fun colours in their stash
I quickly ran up 2 eye looks with the Glory palette. One, I kept simple using the relatively safe colours. The other, I went all out to have fun 🙂
Left: District on outer lid, Circle on inner lid blended with Overground; Bottom lash lined with Hammersmith & City mixed with Central on outer lashline and Circle mixed with Overground on inner lashline. Tube dabbed in the inner eye.
Right: Northern close to the top lashline and outer lid, Jubilee on inner lid, all blended with Overground.
I actually had them on at the same time too! LOL Fortunately no one sprang a surprise visit on me. Can you imagine their faces? hehe… 😀
How would you wear the Sleek Glory palette? Is this a palette that might catch your eye? Are you excited about the coming Summer Olympic games? I am but due to the time difference, I don’t expect to watch many events. I do hope to catch the opening ceremony though (July 27th if anyone’s wondering) Its usually the most fun and I love watching all the various country contingents enter the stadium. As for events, I usually enjoy watching the swimming, gymnastics and sprint events. What about you? 🙂
Paris B
Sleek Makeup Glory i-Divine eyeshadow palette is part of the 2012 Collection along with Honour Blush and Pride Pout Polish Price: £7.99 Availability: Selected Superdrug stores or at Sleek Makeup online Limited Edition: Yes, part of the 2012 Collection International Shipping: Yes
Allison W says
Did you buy it online? Do you know how long usually the shipping will take to deliver to Malaysia? I really love the neon colour eyeshadow and could use it for parties!
Paris B says
I was actually sent this, Allison but shipping from the UK usually takes anywhere from a week to 2 weeks. The shipping is quite pricey though so I’d suggest you see if any friends want to share in your order. They have some other permanent palettes that are equally if not brighter than this one so its worth looking at those too 🙂
Sylvia says
Nice vibrant colors! I went over to sleek website to view the tutorial for eyes but given the oriental Chinese droopy eyes that most of us inherited, it’s impossible to achieve those awesome looks that only the blessed deepset-eyed-people can pull off. The most I can put on are 2 colours at a time with simple eye make up similar to your pictures. Btw, I like the green you did.
Paris B says
Hey I don’t have deepset eyes! 🙂 Try the mini tutorial I shared before about how I apply my shadow. It works for those of us with flat Chinese eyelids 😉