New Lancome and Estee Lauder foundation swatches

To cut to the chase: Estee Lauder Invisible is an awesome formula that's impressed me more than any other in a long time -- a lightweight, applies-perfectly-with-fingers-and-without-a-mirror milk that seems to give a natural satin finish on almost all skintypes, and good medium+ coverage while hardly adding any texture to the skin. All this without any of the drying, irritating alcohol with which the likes of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua and most popular Japanese milk sunscreens are filled.

Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24Hour...not so much. Full of alcohol yet dragging upon application and setting to an unflattering flat matte finish, while offering only marginally more coverage than Invisible, it actually seems to me to be a barely evolved version of Estee Lauder's most dated formula, DoubleWear. It does however beat Invisible in offering a much wider shade range -- I've swatched the palest shades from both formulas, with some other foundations for context.

Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation 00 Alabaster
Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet+ 15
Lancôme Teint Miracle 005
Teint Idole Ultra 24 Hour 005 (007 is a little darker and quite a bit pinker)
Estee Lauder Invisible 1N1
Estee Lauder Invisible 1CN1
Laura Mercier Silk Creme Soft Ivory
Suqqu Frame Fix Cream 101

I wondered before sampling why Invisible didn't have a 1W(arm)1 shade as other Estee Lauder foundations do... and now I know it's because both the 1N(neutral)1 and 1C(ool)N(eutral)1 shades run warm yellow. If you wear another EL foundation, I'd recommend 'sizing cool' in this one -- if you wear W, try N. If you wear N, try CN. If you wear C... best of luck but don't get your hopes up.

For your amusement, here is me testing an extremely light layer of Invisible 1CN1, with further washing-out by my camera:

(I don't know why but I thought some other slap would mitigate the horror: Magie Deco Shadow Brilliance II DC030, Majolica Majorca Lash King mascara, Sensai The Lipstick 21 Shirafuji.)

Seriously, Lauder Corp, pale shades we can haz?

Sleek Blush By 3 Comparison swatches

You know the drill by now -- context and comparisons and armfuls of stuff I thought would be similar but turned out to be barely related once swatched or even more embarrassingly, uncannily exact dupes.

See my original swatches of the complete set of Blush By 3 palettes here. I've since read that these will be made permanent and available to buy from the Sleek website later this year :)

All pictures taken in natural light with flash. Shades are all from Sleek unless otherwise specified.

363 Pumpkin 

Lantern is a brighter, more shimmery version of Furnace from the Flame trio. Becca Strawberry Beach Tint has more red and less orange/gold than these two.

Squash is a cool candy pink, slightly warmer than Addiction Amazing powder blush in its base, but cooled down by a silver sheen. They only look so warm set against extremely blue pinks like Nars Gaiety and Pink Ice from Pink Sprint....

The closest thing I own to violently orange P Pie is actually Sugarpill Flamepoint eyeshadow, which is darker and rustier and less 'o hai, I'm pumpkin!' Chantilly from the Lace trio looks like a wishy washy peach next to it. (According to Rouge Deluxe P Pie is a dupe for the limited edition Aruba single from last summer.)

 364 Sugar

Demerara is a slightly more saturated version of the permanent single, Flushed. Rouge Bunny Rouge Florita offers a cooler, pinker take on the dusty-berry-red theme.

Muscovado is the exact shade of the permanent single Sunrise, but in a smoother and more evenly pigmented formula.

Turbinado is deeper, more muted and browned than the true peach of Illamasqua Lover. It also lacks the bright coral lift of the limited edition single Pan Tao.

365 Flame

One armful as I found no real dupes except for the resemblance between Furnace and Lantern from Pumpkin trio (which you saw a few scrollings ago...) Becca Geranium Lip&Cheek Creme is the only muted warm red I own, but next to it Molten is so browned it looks almost orange. Becca Strawberry Beach Tint is a bright warm red to contrast with the more neutral Bon Fire -- a perfect replacement for the discontinued Scandalous single, btw.

366 Pink Sprint

Another not-quite-right armful. Becca Raspbery Beach Tint comes closest to Pink Parfait shade-wise but lacks the 'softness' it shades with shades like Florita or Rubens, both from Rouge Bunny Rouge. I adore Pinktini's rich rose-berry shade and own nothing similar -- it makes the jewelled Pomegranate (my favourite Sleek single blush, and one of my favourite blushes overall) look worn and dusty in comparison.

Pink Ice is a more saturated, matte and borderline-fuchsia version of my favourite kind of cool hot pink, of which Kevyn Aucoin Liquifuchsia and Addiction Amazing cheek stick are gel and cream examples. See, texture differences! Ahem, no dupes here. Move along now.

367 Lace

This palette was the hardest to track down for me and many makeupalleyers. Having finally acquired it through a lovely lady.... I realised I owned two very close dupes in Sleek single shades. GAH. Chantilly is a slightly more saturated, warmer version of Pan Tao (limited edition) while Guipure is an exact replica of Rose Gold, but swatched slightly smoother (maybe just because it's newer).

But! The palette is worth it for the awesome third shade, Crochet, a complex red-with-dangly-bits, more coral than Rouge Bunny Rouge Orpheline, less red than RMSBeauty Moment. Next to the true red Bon Fire from the Flame trio, you can see its coral and pink tones more clearly.