TheBalm: Latest Purchases + First Impressions (Short Reviews)

TheBalm Products

Hey, lovelies! A few weeks ago I found out about the 50% off everything sales on theBalm site for a limited time and bought a few things from them. I found out about it accidentally and the sale was coming to an end. I think it was only for 1 day or so and it was only 1-2 hours till the end of it, so I rushed to pick up a few items.

I love theBalm products. Everyting I've tried from them is amazing quality but the price is on the more affordable side of the high-end spectrum. Plus, considering the 50% off sale it was a steal to get so many incredible items at such a low price, so I am beyond happy to share my purchases and my 1st impressions with you.

So, here's what I purchased:

1. NUDE 'Tude Eyeshadow Palette
2. Balm Voyage Vol. 2 Face Palette
3. Bahama Mama  Bronzer
4. Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush
5. Cindy-Lou Manizer Highlighter
6. Sexy Mama Anti-Shine Translucent Powder

TheBalm Products

So, it is basically 2 palettes, 2 different bronzers, a highlighter and a translucent powder. All of the products except for the Cindy-Lou Manizer highlighter were new to me.

The Cindy-Lou Manizer is a re-purchase: I've used it before and love it like nothing else. I re-purchased because my first one got broken (keep in mind, it breaks easily) comletely into pieces, and it became a pain to use because of it, although I still used probably 2/3 of it. I looooove this product, it is one of my unsung heroes in my makeup bag. It is like a hybrid between a blush and a highlighter: it's got a little bit of peachy-pink color and a whole lot of glow, so for snow-whites like myself you can totally skip the blush and just use this one product to give you very subtle color and beautiful gorgeous soft cool pink glow, which just makes your skin look super healthy and fresh, and looks particularly great on cool fair skin tones like mine. I am so happy I found this product. I've been using it almost every day since the day I first got it. And that says a lot. That's how much I love it.

Nude 'Tude Palette - I heard raves and praises to this palette for years now and I love theBalm palettes. I feel like they are very underrated just like the whole brand overall, but their quality is fantastic, on top with Urban Decay and Lorac eyeshadows. In fact, I find that the formula of theBalm and Lorac eyeshadows is quite similar: they're incredibly pigmented and super blendable and buttery smooth, they also wear forever. And I prefer these brands over the Urban Decay to be honest. So, obviously, I had to get this palette one of these days, so I got it. Did I need another neutral palette? No. Did I want it? Yes. Is it the same as all my other neutral palettes? No. It has some unique and beautiful colors and does stand out from other palettes. Does it justify me buying it? No. Did I realize it and still wanted to get it? YES!!!

Balm Voyage Vol. 2 Face Palette is a new travel palette that, again, I didn't need, but really wanted. It is the 2nd edition of their Voyage palettes, but, to be honest, it looks more like theBalm Jovi palette to me in the concept, format, layout of the products and size of pans, which I really-really love. It is one of my all-time favorite palettes and I seriously want to buy a backup for it. You can check out my review for it here. So the Balm Voyage Vol. 2 also has some face, cheek and lip products, which makes it perfect for travelling. And along with blushes they included a highlighter and a bronzer, which is awesome. It is everything you'll ever need. And the packaging is so compact it is great. I have yet to play around with it.

Bahama Mama Bronzer is a matte cool-toned bronzer, which should be great for contouring. At least that is the thought I had in mind when buying it, although I find that it is not as cool-toned as I'd prefer for contouring, but it is workable and could also be used for bronzing up the skin a bit because it is not too cool-toned. So just a nice all-purpose bronzer for different skin tones, even the deep ones.

Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush is, as the name implies, a hybrid between a bronzer and a blush with a little bit of subtle satiny sheen to it. That makes it a great multi-purpose product, just like the Cindy-Lou Manizer, but more in the bronzing department. In fact, this bronzer looks really good all over the face as a warmer-up for a sun-kissed look paired with the Cindy-Lou Manizer highlighter. You won't need any other color on your face, these two paired together will give you enough color as well as the needed sun-kissed effect and a lovely glow. Although, you can definitely use this product on its own, it has such a lovely rose undertone and finish that if you want to avoid extra glow, it'll make it up for it in the best most natural way possible. It looks very skinlike and user-friendly. Lovely product indeed and a great all-rounder.

And finally, the Sexy Mama Anti-Shine Translucent Powder. I always prefer to user translucent powders to not add up any other color or coverage to my foundations, but just to set and mattify everything into place without it looking cakey. I also prefer a pressed form just for its convenience and travel friendliness. So I decided to try this powder. So far so good, it mattifies nicely and is super compact. I was afraid the shade would be too dark and still show up on my pale skin. You know, I don't believe in complete transparency in powder products, they can show up when applied too heavily, however this one wasn't too dark, I didn't find it altering my foundation shade or anything. That being said, I had hoped it would be a smoother formula and more finely milled. I was hoping it could replace my Chanel LE translucent powder, which is my all-time favorite so far, but I'm almost out of it and it is LE, so I can't get it anymore, but no... it won't replace it, lol. Oh well, that's life. But it is still a very-very nice powder that I will still enjoy using. I'm just extremely picky about translucent finishing powders.

So that concludes my first impressions/short review of those products. Hope this will help you in your makeup shopping. Thank you for reading. Stay tuned for more makeup, beauty and style bits and enjoy your summer :).