Sleek I-Divine palettes: Calm Before the Storm & All Night Long

Sleek has been releasing some new palettes and I picked up two that looked interesting to me. One of them isn’t all that new, but the other is a brand new release from not too long ago. In any case, I haven’t heard much about Sleek’s eyeshadow palette as of late and what’s more, I hadn’t heard anything about these two palettes yet. Allow me to introduce you to Calm Before the Storm and All Night Long.

Sleek I-Divine eyeshadow palette in Calm Before the Storm
Sleek I-Divine eyeshadow palette in All Night Long

Before we continue on to the palettes, let me tell you about my longstanding love affair with Sleek I-Divine palettes. I think these were the first somewhat decent eyeshadow palettes that I purchased, back when I started my make up journey. That’s why I already own quite a few and I did a full blog post about some of their older palettes not too long ago. I hadn’t tried a Sleek palette since Vintage Romance was released as I had started to feel underwhelmed by them, so I was curious to try Calm Before the Storm and All Night Long to see if it could rekindle our love affair.

Sleek I-Divine eyeshadow palette in Calm Before the Storm

Calm Before the Storm was part of the limited edition Nautical collection. For a limited edition, this palette is available for a long time as it is still for sale on their website. This was launched last year as a summer collection. I didn’t get my hands on the palette until last December though. That’s why this had been sitting on a shelf for some time: I tend to wear the shades in this palette in the summer time mostly. I hung onto it all this time and only started using this recently.

In case you didn’t know, Sleek palettes come in a simple black case. There’s usually a cardboard box that they come into, but the palettes themselves look identical. Difficult to keep apart when you have a few in your stash, but because of their sleek design, easy to store and carry around. In the lid you will find a decent sized mirror and each palettes comes with a brush.

What drew me into this palette are the blues and turquoises in this palette. Mixed in with the neutrals, I think this could be a palette that is easy to use. Like I said, blue eyeshadow isn’t something I wear on a daily basis, but I thought this would at least add something to my make up collection that I don’t really own yet.

• Starboard: shimmery champagne
• Voyage: matte warm brow with silver glitters
• Ahoy: shimmery beige
• Barque: matte taupe

• Pacific: matte bright blue
• Caesium: matte turquoise
• Adrift: deep matte brown
• Seaweed: shimmery turqoise

• Amphitrite: shimmery bright blue
• Sovereign: shimmery royal blue
• Navy Shower: shimmery seafoam green
• Lagoon: matte teal

Starboard – Voyage – Pacific – Caesium – Amphitrite – Sovereign
Ahoy – Barque – Adrift – Seaweed – Navy Shower – Lagoon

I hope you can understand when seeing these swatches why I purchased this palette. For such bright and often matte colors, the pigmentation is very much on point. The blues are bright even when applied to the skin. The quality of these shadows is similar to other Sleek shadows I’ve tried: a tad powdery, but easy to blend with good color pay off.

Look:
Voyage, Barque, Lagoon, Seaweed, Caesium, Starboard

My favorite way of wearing blue and turquoise eyeshadow: on the lower lashline for a pop of color. I applied some teal to not have too harsh of a transition between the upper and lower lash line. I think this look works very well as the top half is quite neutral and basic. The pop of color works so well against my brown eyes! Absolutely love it.

All Night Long is one of Sleek’s newest palettes. I first spotted it at Superdrug when I was in London last May. Up until that point in time I hadn’t heard nor seen this palette anywhere. So I was pleasantly surprised. It seems to have been released together with A New Day, which is a more warm toned palette.

All Night Long is definitely more cool toned. But what drew me into this is the stunning copper shade in the bottom right corner. Did you spot it already too? I think this could make for a very basic, neutral every day look with a pop of copper. It boasts many taupe/ mauve shades and I usually really enjoy those types of shades.

Overall the shades in this palette are very muted and neutral. There isn’t one shade that is very dark. It is mostly shimmery: there are only 2 matte shades out of the 12 shades on offer. The palette also have 2 satin shades. The names in this palette are obviously inspired by different cocktails, and I think the shades suit those names very well.

• Bellini: sheer satin pink
• Negroni: matte mauve
• Champagne: shimmery champagne
• Spritz: shimmery mauve

• Martini: intense shimmery beige
• Prosecco: intense shimmery gold
• Mai Tai: matte soft peach
• Cosmopolitan: shimmery dusty rose

• Kir Royale: satin soft pink
• Mimosa: shimmery plum
• Daiquiri: shimmery taupe
• Manhattan: shimmery copper

Bellini – Negroni – Martini – Prosecco – Kir Royale – Mimosa
Champagne – Spritz – Mai Tai – Cosmopolitan – Daiquiri – Manhattan

As you can see some of these shades are very light. They are still pigmented, but against my skin tone, they simply disappear. Since the shimmer in most of these shades looks quite icy, all the shades look fairly metallic and well almost bubbly (like a cocktail). By no means I am disappointed in these swatches. But one thing is sure: you will only enjoy this palette if you like a good deal of shimmer.

Look:
Daiquiri – Manhattan – Negroni – Mai Tai – Bellini – Champagne – Mimosa

The resulting look is a very wearable one. I used mostly the shades on the right hand side of the palette, because those seemed to be the most intense. I used Manhattan to give some interest to my Outer V and slightly warm up the crease. I think this is a very wearable day look. Paired with more intense matte shades, then I think these shimmers will be done some serious justice and you can create an interesting night time look, as the name of this palette suggests.

Both palettes have their pros and cons. For instance, I feel that Calm Before the Storm lacks a good matte highlight shade. Yet the color variation in that palette is outstanding. You can use it for creating wearable looks, adding pops of color, or, if you dare to go the extra mile and go for all color. All Night Long is more muted in its undertones, but still a gorgeous palette. It lacks a truly deep shade that can add some depth and definition to the looks, but when it comes to shimmers, this palette is boss.

What these two Sleek palettes have shown me is that Sleek is still at the top of its game when it comes to their eyeshadow palettes. If you’re looking for some good basics, a fun pop of color or something more unique than Sleek will have something for you in their range. That is why I cannot recommend one of these palettes more than the other. Each palette has something going for it, which means that your choice will boil down to what you are looking for in a palette. If you’re looking for color, go with Calm Before the Storm. If you’re into a serious sparkle, go with All Night Long.

Which Sleek palettes do you own?