Today we have something different on the blog – a guest post by Joyce of Local Girl Foreign Land! Her blog is primarily about travel, with smattering of lifestyle and snack subscription boxes. Back in July, we got chatting about the possibility of doing a cross-over type of post, whereby she reviewed a makeup item on my blog, and I post about a travel destination on her blog. And here we are! Here’s Joyce, in her own words:
Sleek Solstice Palette – Rough Condition Review
The colours are BEAUTIFUL and beam like there is no tomorrow. All 4 are metallic highlighters.
- Ecliptic – champagne (cream), brow bone & cupid’s bow friendly, finger application is the best friend, easy to blend
- Hemisphere – purple/lilac (baked powder), HIGHLY pigmented, hard core mirror-like metallic finish & not easy to blend, use with caution, animal hair brush recommended
- Subsolar – yellow (feels like pressed powder), fine but bright metallic finish
- Equinox – orange (baked powder), a very flattering soft highlighter *Sleek recommended this for cupid’s bow. If you do use this for cupid’s bow, re-apply is necessary after drinks / food.
From a NC25 perspective, the most ‘daily’ make up friendly colour is Ecliptic and Equinox. Hemisphere is WAY too bright. It is beautiful for instagram or photo shoot, but for regular everyday it is too much? Subsolar has a more powdery finish than the other 2 powders. It is still creamy, but feels more dry than the other 2. I hope that makes sense.
Below is a friend who kindly modeled for the post 😉 On her cheek was Hemisphere… This was WITHOUT flash and WITHOUT any special lighting.

Packaging
- Secure metallic closure with a satisfying sound.
- Golden plastic that attracts finger prints.
- Fully mirrored lid
- Rubbish complementary brush ==> straight to the trash is recommended
Performance
- 2 colours survived 6 hours both Scottish wind and intermittent rain – hemisphere/purple & ecliptic/champagne
- Without any rain, all 4 survived 6 hours and no flakes / crease
Trial conditions explained
Day 1: Outdoor at Glencoe (Highland, Scotland), 15 degrees + random shots of heavy rain + highland infamous wind
Day 2: Arthur’s seat hike and walk around Edinburgh, 18 degrees + sunny + wind
Test subject: Me, 30+, combination skin, NC25

Ingredients
Mica, Talc, Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Ozokerite, Magnesium Stearate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Nylon 12, Caprylyl Methicone, Paraffinum Liquidum, Polybutene, Magnesium Aluminium Silicate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben. May Contain +/- Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Red Iron Oxide (Ci 77491), Yellow Iron Oxide (Ci 77492), Black Iron Oxide (Ci 77499), Ferric Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510).
Highlighted in red are:
• Paraffinum liquidum – mineral oil (aka marketing euphemism for petroleum)
• Parabens / preservatives – aka potentially cancer causing and hormone disruptors. **Propylparaben is banned in Denmark for any below 3 years old children’s product.
Production country: China
Sleek is an UK drugstore brand. In UK, this palette sells for £10. Watch out for their specials!!! I got this palette from the 2 for £10 deal i.e. I got this palette for £5
There are 2 major drugstores in UK: superdrug and boots
As usual, zero affiliated links, all links are for readers’ convenience 😉
Guest post by: Joyce Belfort
In short: I’m an avid Stashy stalker and really wanted to collaborate on something with her. One problem… I am a travel blogger.
localgirlforeignland.com
Here are other places you can find Joyce:
Bloglovin’ / Google+ / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Pinterest
I love how Joyce lugged this palette all the way out to the Scotland Highlands to do a wear test! 😆 I’ve been to the Highlands and those winds are no joke. Thank you Joyce for this! My post on her blog will be up soon – Joyce recently moved to Paris and is experiencing challenges with getting her internet set up! Stay tuned. 😉
Do you have the Sleek Solstice Palette? Do you own a palette of just highlighters? Those seem to be so popular now – I’ve been eyeing this Sleek one and the Anastasia ones.
I’ve been debating getting this since it’s launch but don’t think I would get it at full price as I have a handful of cream highlighters and never reach for them, but it is so pretty! I’ll keep my eye out for another deal on Sleek!
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Superdrug has 2 for GBP12 now 😀 http://www.superdrug.com/search?q=%3abestBiz%3asuperdrugGeneralPromotionText%3a2+for+%C2%A312+on+selected+Sleek
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Now i just need to get to a Superdrug with a sleek, my local one doesn’t have one!
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😢 Bad luck. Can buy online though, free delivery for superdrug 😉 I miss UK drugstores 😭
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Yeah but now you have French pharmacies! 😛
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hm… great point 😀 they’re very dangerous haha
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I’ve not tried cream highlighters but they look so easy to use. I really like the look of this palette!
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Hi Joyce! The palette looks great. At the moment I have a Revlon liquid highlighter and a Maybelline contour/highlight duo…but I rarely remember to use them 😶 6 hour coverage is really impressive for the windy conditions!
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I didn’t expect it to survive actually. Will you be reviewing those two? They were on my radar to try out.
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I was curious about that Revlon liquid highlighter when they relaunched them! People seem to love them. I figured it could be a cheaper alternative to the Becca liquid highlighters.
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They’re pretty nice although I can’t compare it to the Becca ones because I haven’t tried them. My biggest problem is always being in a rush and never having time to put them on 😦
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😀 Hi Stashy!!! Yey~~~ It’s up~~~ I’m trying to sort of my blog now. Yours is coming up 😉 I feel that my current no home internet situation is more rough than the windy conditions wahahha O, and I found a bunch of your comments in my spam. SOOOOO weird.
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Yeah I was having issues when I came back from vacay – all my comments were going into other blogs’ spam! ><
I would be so lost without the internet – but think of all the other things you can be doing: long walks along the Seine, smelling the fresh baguettes, knitting… 😉
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Yes, I read your post just now. At least you’ve fixed it now. Craziness!
I have been walking around quite a bit in Paris 😀 I’m still backlogged for UK post *LOL* I think I’ll never catch up >_<
Are you knitting anything new? I'm about to finish knitting a jacket 😀 https://www.woolandthegang.com/product/cross-country-coat-women/knit-your-own
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I am still playing catch up just from being away for 2 weeks – I can only imagine how backlogged you must be!
That coat looks so cozy! Are you making it in brown? I’m knitting socks right now – it was a good easy / small project to take with me on the trip:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff14/PATTreverso/PATTreverso.php
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I haven’t knitted socks before. You’re giving me ideas. What colours will your socks be? Same as the site? in blue and red?
My jacket is in grey melange. Currently, the left and right panel are not in the same length *LOL* need some serious fixing haha
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Hey, nothing wrong with an asymmetrical design for the jacket… 😆
Socks are incredibly easy to learn once you understand the mechanics of the heel – the rest is just knitting a tube. I was really intimidated to try for ages and when I finally did, I got really addicted to knitting them! The socks are a blue grey variegated yarn – I’ll show it on an upcoming blog post!
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AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW oKAY LOVING all of this …… xoxo xo xo xo xo GLOBAL FUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
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Hehe yes, it’s a small world after all! 😉
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Hah, I love the pics of the palette in front of the Scottish castle! Makeup with a little bit of travel, no? 😉
Even though I rarely use cream highlighters, this palette looks really pretty. It has a good mix of colours!
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Yes, makeup + travel! It just makes sense, ya know?
There’s something about this palette that I’m really drawn to – I really like the idea of a violet toned highlight. And it’s so affordable too!
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I wish we had access to Sleek in Canada!
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I’ve been adding to my wish list of Sleek items for years. It’s growing really long and I think I’ll just end up hitting the $99 mark for free shipping…
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Amazing and refreshing post!! Such a great idea. I love the palette and I loved the climate test with a beautiful scenery in the background – will say it again- so refreshing! Great job!!
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It is such a refreshing post, isn’t it? I loved that she actually took out the compact and posed with it in front of Edinburgh Castle! 😆
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Yes! Such a cool idea!
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Oh! I can’t tell you how long it’s been that I’ve wanted to get my hands on this line and swatch and try it out. But I can’t find it sold it anywhere in the area I live in. I think I could buy it on line but I get nervous I won’t like something when I can’t see it and test it out first. This is a great collab idea that the two of you did also!
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We don’t have Sleek here in Canada either! I keep seeing this on UK bloggers / YouTube videos, I have been wanting to order it online… just waiting for a free shipping deal or something before I hit the order button!
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I know! I totally can’t stand the thought of paying for shipping. If they charge 3.00 more for the product and tell me it’s free shipping, somehow I’m mentally OK with that. LOL
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I love this highlighting palette for my more obvious highlighter days, as it makes you glow! I use the purple and orange shades the most. I don’t love cream formulas so I rarely use the one cream colour in the set x
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I’d never think the purple and orange ones would be the most used shades but I guess they’re so different – it makes sense to use them more than the “normal” shades. I actually didn’t realize that this palette came in different colour combinations but it seems like Solstice is clearly the most popular one.
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I love this! “Secure metallic closure with a satisfying sound.” definitely the best part of the post, haha! I’ve seen this palette quite a bit on YouTube over the past few months, it looks so pretty! Not sure that I would use the cream one at all though. Unless I was to set it with a powder highlight on top 😉
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I always wonder about how to deal with cream highlighter – if you set it with powder on top, doesn’t that defeat the purpose? But if you don’t set it – wouldn’t it shift around? Or do you set your foundation, THEN apply the cream highlight? I’m over thinking this, maybe…
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Haha, I’ve done cream and then set with a powder, it intensifies the cream highlight (woo double highlight!). I don’t really like cream highlights or blushes but I’ve done it just to at least say I TRIED the product before dismissing it lol I think cream highlights would be great for someone with normal or drier skin who wanted a subtle highlight who wouldn’t need to worry about it shifting. Supposedly they are less intense than a powder.
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Oh I didn’t even THINK to set a cream highlight with a powder HIGHLIGHT. I thought just face powder. OMG double highlight…!
Yeah I’m not a big fan of cream blushes either… they’re good for minimal foundation days / summer but not for regular makeup days.
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wow love this post so much! thanks for sharing)
btw love your blog – it’s so inspiring!
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Thank so much! 😀
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you’re welcome! do you mind being friends online?))
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This palette is beautiful, I imagine it would be good for makeup beginners, people who might not have a lot of highlighters in their collection or those who want to try cream highlighters! Great collab Stashy and Joyce!
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Thanks!
Yes, this would be a great starter kit for someone to try highlighting for the first time. The price is fantastic considering the quality.
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Just now followed her blog and she has a lovely blog and I look forward to see more posts from her
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I’m so glad you like her blog – isn’t it wonderful to see all the places she’s visited?
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Sure it is and she has some amazing pictures as well that I love about
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I always like the look of Sleek stuff when I see it on blogs! Fun collab – gotta check out Joyce’s travel blog…
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She makes me want to go to all kinds of places… at least beauty blogs just makes me want to buy makeup.
Travel $$$$$, makeup $$
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Such a pretty palette! I gotta say though I don’t really get these “unnatural” highlight shades – I feel like they might be one of those things we look back on and cringe at. Perhaps they are best left on unicorns. 😉
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And by unatural I mean purple and rainbow shades!
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Haha! Yes, there are some crazy highlight shades out there. Although, I’ve been drawn to the idea of a purple sheen highlight for a while. I have a blush that is pink with blue sheen and whenever I wear it, I get compliments on it even though it’s so unnatural looking.
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Beautiful palette! I will have a look at Joyce’s travel blog 🙂
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Be careful, she will make you want to travel all over the world. Makeup is one thing, but travelling is EXPENSIVE! 😆
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I already want to travel more … You know that we are already spending a trip worth on makeup and skincare every year, right?!!! 😁😂
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Hush… we don’t need to think in those terms! 😉
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