As a lover of matte lips I was really excited with the launch of Sleek's Matte Me collection, especially as it featured two nude shades that I find are often cast out of matte collections in favour of bold and bright tones. I've been on the hunt for a matte nude lip colour for a while and rushed out to buy the soft baby pink 'Petal' and neutral brown 'Birthday Suit' when they were released - so how do they fair?
Birthday Suit
Of the two shades this was the one I was the most unsure of, it's not a colour that I would usually go for but I actually really like it as a bold neutral against my fair skin. Having said that, I also think that this colour would suit a range of skin tones, especially those with a bit more of a tan to create a more nude look. On me, the darker tone makes this lip colour really effective for over lining, I can slightly exaggerate my lip shape whilst still keeping a natural look.
Petal
I absolutely love this colour! It's a pretty baby pink that sits perfectly between Barbie and sophisticated nude and it's great for someone with my colouring. Unlike Birthday Suit this isn't the best shade for over lining your lips however, it's just too light and just looks far too obvious, but nevertheless I'm always looking for pinks like this and it's definitely a keeper!
Application
Sleek Matte Me's come with a doe-foot applicator that is great for accurately filling in your lips and creating the perfect shape. I apply two coats of the matte lip cream over lip balm to try and limit any drying but this product is still quite uncomfortable to apply. The colour goes on wet and dries matte over a period of around 30 seconds - but during this time I feel like I have to keep my mouth open to avoid my lips from touching together and ruining the look, as you can imagine this just leaves me looking quite special for a while and makes it really hard to speak…or swallow...
Formula
As I hinted at previously, this formula is really quite drying and the process is uncomfortable on the lips as the product dries to a matte finish and dries your lips out along with it, even with a lip balm underneath. Nevertheless, once the product is dry it's not unbearable and seeing as how I like the finish, I'm willing to put up with it. The major downside to these products however is the staying power - these lip creams are not waterproof at all. When eating, drinking, or even licking your lips (basically any contact with water) this product crumbles in the most unflattering way. Instead of coming away like a lipstick that can simply be reapplied, this product flakes on the lips and the residue can then only be removed with water or make up remover (not ideal when you're out!). When I wore these out for the first time, I had lunch in Starbucks and hadn't realised the way in which these lip creams crumble, it was only in a shop mirror that I saw I had flakes of the lip colour all over my lips along with patches where the colour had come off completely! I ran into a bathroom and had to scrub my lips with wet tissue to remove the rest of the product so that I could then reapply. So yeah, not the most practical of lip products to wear out.
Overall Rating
5/10
I absolutely love the colour, finish and price of these products but for me, the formula really lets them down. I will still wear them, but I'll have to think twice before wearing them for significant periods of time - I would definitely never wear them out to dinner!
Have you tried these before? What did you think?
Love Ellen xx
