Since the beauty blogging community expanded in popularity in the late 2000's, brands want to offer innovative products that will keep gurus talking and consumers consuming. Big beauty brands are in competition with each other to be in vogue for hauls, reviews and demonstrations, and along with huge conglomerates owning the majority of cosmetic houses, there are no doubt going to be similar offerings of products in order for make-up businesses to be one step ahead.
Urban Decay and Sleek are popular for different reasons. Urban Decay initially rose to fame for their "beauty with and edge" products but have now spread the love to neutral wearers throughout the globe with their Naked collection of nude hues. Sleek's affordable, yet incredibly pigmented blushers, lipsticks and eye palettes ensured Sleek a secure place among YouTube's beauty community. Both brands are two of my favourites and have palettes containing everything you need to enhance your complexion after foundation. They are Urban Decay Naked Flushed and Sleek Face Form palettes.
Left: Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette. Right: Sleek Face Form palette. |
Urban Decay thought of what a make-up user would use the most and this is clear in the layout of their Flushed palette. Sleek simply added a complimenting blusher on to their original contour kits.
Left: Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette. Right: Sleek Face Form palette. |
Unfortunately, the Flushed palette only comes in one colour and is only going to suit light to medium skin tones. The bronzer/contour shade is the largest of three as bronzer is a product that is used on more areas of the face, neck and décolletage. The middle shade is shimmering pink champagne, reminiscent of darker powder formula of their previously discontinued Urbanglow 'Sin' cream highlighter. The blusher on the right side of the Urban Decay palette dusty raspberry rose hue. This is a universal shade that would suit most skin tones as many people naturally flush this colour, thus giving credence to this aptly named kit.
Sleek makes up for Urban Decay lacks and offers their Face Form in four shades including Fair, Light, Medium and Dark, catering to all skin tones. It would have been nice for Sleek to include a matte blusher the way Urban Decay did. Even though they look different in the palette, they swatch quite similarly in the photo below. However, when applied to the face the do vary in colour and finish.
Top: Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette. Bottom: Sleek Face Form palette. |
So who wins in the battle of the complexion kits? It's is hard to decide as both palettes offer the consumer something different in terms of texture, finish and colour. I cannot recommend one in particular as people would need to consider various factors before buying. The list of pros and cons for each palette is listed below, which may help you decide which one to buy (unless you are like me and must... have... both).
Urban Decay Flushed palette: Pros
- Sizes of each shade corresponds to how much a person would use of that particular section on their face.
- Blusher shade is matte, allowing the consumer to decide if they add want to add more sheen with the highlighter.
Urban Decay Flushed palette: Cons
- Most expensive of the two, although considering the price of similar separate products from Urban Decay, this is not going to be the deal-breaker for some shoppers.
- Only comes in one , supposedly universal, shade.
Sleek Face Form palette: Pros
- Comes in a variety of colours to suit many skin tones.
- Least expensive of the two, which in fact is cheaper considering the price of a separate contour kit (£6.49) and blusher (£4.49) together is more expensive.
Sleek Face Form palette: Cons
- Blusher is not matte so may not be suitable for some for day-wear.
- Sizes are consistent so the user may hit pan on contour or blusher before highlighter and may need to repurchase just for one section.
Both palettes are perfect for travelling, and whilst they do vary in colour and finish, there is no difference as to what they are designed to do for your face.
Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette £22/$30
Sleek Face Form palette £9.99/$14.99