Bargain eyeshadow palette

For £7.99, you could be forgiven for having low expectations of the Sleek iDivine Storm palette, but here's one product that under-promises and over-delivers. 

Sleek iDivine Storm Palette offers 12 shimmery and matte shades

Appropriately sleek packaging

L-R: Sand Storm, Snow Storm, Calm Before The Storm, Thunder Storm, Perfect Storm, Firestorm

L-R: Dust Storm, Gathering Storm, Storm Cloud, Electric Storm, Eye Of The Storm, Blackout

Shade range

Well, there's a gorgeous mix of twelve shimmery and matte shades, from pale gold through to deepest black. One of the great things about palettes is that the colours have been pre-selected for you so you know they'll work well together and there are endless possibilities for colour combinations here. Of course, each colour can be worn alone too. Each of them is very wearable. The golden and darker shades will suit most skin tones, whilst the pinkier colours will look amazing on darker, Asian and black skin tones. 

Pigmentation

The shadows in the Storm palette, for the most part, are really well pigmented. The pale shimmery shade, Snow Storm, hasn't shown up well in the pictures but it actually applies beautifully on the eye. The darker shimmery shades, including Sand Storm, Dust Storm and Storm Cloud, are amazingly well pigmented. The two paler matte shades, Calm Before The Storm and Eye Of The Storm, don't fare as well on the pigment front, but they are still good for shading in the crease and they work perfectly well as eyebrow colours. The darkest matte shade, Blackout, is super pigmented. In fact, I had trouble getting it off my arm after swatching.

Wear time

Speaking of staying power, I find these shadows work best with a primer underneath. But then so do all eyeshadows on me. I got a good nine hours wear out of them, with only some fading as the day wore on. Without primer, it was more like six hours wear time - still pretty good considering the price. 

Blendability

One thing to note is how soft the shadows are. Whilst this makes blending a breeze, it does result in some drop down. I found it best to tap any excess off the brush and blend the colour into the back of my hand before applying to the eye to minimise drop down.

Packaging

This palette really is sleek by name and sleek by nature. It's small enough to be easily transportable and comes with a decent mirror inside. The double ended foam applicator isn't something which I'd use as I prefer to use a brush, but it could be good for emergencies I guess.

Dupes

It would be rude to mention this palette without drawing comparisons with its pricier cousins in the Urban Decay Naked range. Along with Mac, Urban Decay eyeshadows have been my favourites for years because I really rate their staying power, pigmentation and amazing choice of shades. Whilst the Sleek shadows aren't quite in their league, and the colours not exact matches for the Naked palettes, they give them a damn good run for their money. The Naked palette is £37.00. The Sleek palette is £7.99. 'nuff said.

Verdict

I've been seriously impressed with the Sleek iDivine Storm palette. It offers a gorgeous colour selection and outstanding quality and value for the price. There are 16 other palettes in the iDivine range and I can't wait to give them a go. I picked mine up from Superdrug where there's currently a 3 for 2 offer on.

Sleek iDivine in Storm | £7.99