i've had quite the love affair with theBalm lately. the first time i heard of theBalm products was way back when during kandee johnson's youtube tutorials (she always used the shady lady palette, volume 1) i remember wanting the palette, but not enough to shell out $40 USD.
fast forward to this year where (i feel) theBalm has expanded and gotten more well known in the beauty world. i blame the "cast your shadow palette" (aka the muppet palette, which i got...debating if i will put up a post on it or not...there are so many already).
the first products i picked from theBalm were the mary lou-manizer and betty lou-manizer. both of which i really enjoy using (especially mary).
now i bring you a couple new additions to my collection: shady lady volumes 1 & 2. i found these lurking in a tjmaxx...both were only $13 USD. $13 instead of $40? i didn't have a chance in resisting...
i thought i'd talk about vol 1 first since this will be a picture heavy post (hmm...which posts of mine arent picture heavy?!)
a classic indicator i got these from tjmaxx...do you see the contamination (the fingerprints, not mine i assure you)? luckily only a few shades were tainted so i just sanitized with alcohol before using.
the palette contains nine shades all together ranging from shimmery to metallic finishes. no mattes here, unfortunately.
caught in the act courtney
dark chocolate brown with gold sparkles. this was the most difficult shade, it was pigmented but swatched poorly.shameless shana
warm metallic tan. very smooth and buttery.luscious lani
frosty skin-tone pink. another smooth and buttery shade. this is VERY similar to mac naked lunch. naked lunch is a tad more frosty and slightly more peach.jealous jordana
dark shimmery emerald green. this is very dark and pigmented.risquee renee
dark navy denim. similar finish and consistency as jealous jordana.curvy cami
purple-pink hybrid with silver sparkles. the texture of this shade is a bit crumbly, probably due to the silver sparkles. second most difficult shade to work with.jet-setting jennifer
muted icy gold. i love this shade, it is so stunning in person. it reminded me of nars albatross blended out, but albatross is a much brighter and a more yellow gold.all about alex
dark golden olive. another shade i love. the texture and finish is divine. i thought of mac sumptuous olive when i first swatched it, but sumptuous olive is much lighter and leans more gold. i like this more than sumptuous olive.easy wheezie
metallic blueish steel grey. similar texture as all about alex. this reminded me of urban decay gunmetal, but gunmetal is MUCH darker and not as blue. swatched all together in same order as above:
overall i am happy i picked this palette up. i love the color range since you get neutrals as well as an array of beautiful colors to play with. the texture (extremely smooth and buttery) of the great performing shades is the best i have ever come across, they beat mac and urban decay by a mile. i am especially happy that most of the colors aren't dupeable within my collection.
the only shades that seem to perform poorly were the two sparkly ones (courtney and cami). i wouldnt pay the full $40 because 2/9 shades arent satisfactory and i wish there were a couple matte shades included, but i would definitely recommend this palette if you can find it for the discounted price because of the overall texture and color range.
this palette actually isnt available anymore. your best bet is to look in your local tjmaxx or try to swap with someone. volumes 2 and 3 are still available at theBalm's website and sephora.
do you own this palette? what do you think of the shades?
next post i will share volume 2 swatches...
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