TheBalm Balm Voyage! Palette: Review And Swatches

Happy Thursday everyone! I feel like reviewing theBalm palettes may just turn into a series of posts :)... maybe. Anyway, reviewing another great palette for you, guys.

It's the Balm Voyage! palette. I would just buy this baby for the packaging itself: it's that great.

This palette is available at theBalm site http://www.thebalm.com/balm-voyage.html for $42.50 and at http://www.feelunique.com/p/theBalm-Balm-Voyage-Face-Palette for 35GBP. I'm pretty sure many other stores carry it as well. You could probably find it at Amazon too.

TheBalm Balm Voyage! Palette

TheBalm Balm Voyage! Palette

Packaging

Don't you just love these vintage images as old postcards with these ladies travelling the world? Oh, and the inside mirror, where you see your face as part of the passport picture of a cute Anita Vacation? Oh, Anita, Anita... I definitely feel like Anita Vacation :). It just cracked me up! Just looking at this packaging already brings me pleasure. Love, love, love it!

Ok, now on to the facts. The packaging is pretty typical for theBalm: sturdy cardboard with magnetic flips, one covering the eye-shadow part of the palette and the other covering the cream products. The nicely sized mirror is there too as I already mentioned. There are a few suggested looks too.

The palette is quite big. It is approximately the size of my head in perimeter. The eye-shadow pans are huge compared to the ones in the Balm Jovi palette, so you are getting a very decent amount of product here. Yet the packaging is still very compact and super thin considering that, so it is still great for travelling for which it was created according to the company's description.

The Palette

You're getting 16 eye-shadows in the palette and 3 lip/cheek creams. I won't go into long details about the quality, because it's just top-notch, there's not much more to say here: the pigmentation, the creamy formula, the blendability and staying power of both eye and lip products are excellent. I feel like in that sense theBalm can do very little wrong in their palettes if at all.

Here are the swatches.

Swatches as they appear in the palette

The color selection is what makes this palette so interesting, because you've got something for both worlds: the neutral one and some unique interesting colored one, which allows for great variety of looks.

As to the lip/cheek colors, I will say that they are very-very pigmented and bright, so if you want a hint of color, be sure and use a light hand when applying those as they are truly opaque, especially the orange one in the middle. I'd actually prefer having some neutral color here, at least one for a perfect balance but it is just my personal preference and it in no way makes the palette worse. It's definitely not for the faint heart girls in terms of lip color.

So who would this palette be good for? I think it'll be great for someone, who is looking for a palette that has it all, both the neutrals and the fun colors. If you're a strictly neutral girl you might find yourself not wearing some of the colors... on the one hand, but on the other hand - this palette could be a great way to gradually infuse some new shades and experiences into your makeup life if that's what you're looking for. Also if you're a color lover, you'll definitely love this palette. I would probably not recommend it for beginners as they might be a bit intimidated by those brighter colors and not know what to do with them and how to combine and use them. It'll be better to get them something safer, more neutral and maybe even in a smaller size to make it easier.

There's one note that I want to make. It is really odd though... This is a really-really lovely palette but for some reason I feel like I prefer the Balm Jovi one better. I don't even know why, because the Balm Voyage! offers sooo much variety. However, despite this, I'm finding myself reaching for it not as often as I expected (even considering the fact that I'm a big color lover and adore the colors in this palette). I find myself wondering too long about the color combos or something when I open it, ...again, I don't even know why since it has never been an issue for me. Anyway, I just wanted to point that out even if it doesn't make sense :), because it is my honest opinion on it. It might change over time I'm sure, or I'll figure out why, and if so, I'll definitely update this post with my thoughts.

Rating by category (out of 10, 10 being the highest score):

• versatility - 10
• product quality - 10
• packaging - 10
• travel-friendliness - 10

Thank you very much for reading.

Disclaimer: all these products were purchased by me and I wasn't paid for a review.