Today I am talking about “In theBalm of your Hands” palette from theBalm Cosmetics. As an inquisitive person and a blogger I am always eager to try out new products from different brands! The vintage glam meets corky chick style packaging from theBalm has intrigued me for a long time now. When I saw a whole lot of their best selling products in one single palette, I knew I have to get my hands on it.
First, big applause for the team that names these products! Such playfulness with words - I adore all of their names. Second, the price for this palette is $39.50 which is of awesome value for all these products. You can find it on theBalm.com, Kohls.com (you may be able to use some coupons as well) and from UnifiedCosmetics.com. I bought it from Unified Cosmetics at a discounted price of $37.99. Being a first time consumer I got an additional 20% which means I paid a total of $30.39 :-) :-) Even without further inspection, I can tell that this is of great value!
Before I proceed, please allow me to share a bit about UnifiedCosmetics. They are vastly invested in "SHOP FOR A CAUSE" revolution!
50% of their profit is donated to their partner non-profit organizations that
helps provide autistic children with diagnosis, treatment and therapy. If I
have the opportunity to contribute (no matter how small that it) to a social
cause while shopping and also get to save a few bucks, I am all for it! It took
10 days for the shipment to reach me, which was annoying, but it was free
shipping and it arrived safe and sound!
theBalm did an incredible job in curating the items in the palette.
3 universal blushes, 4 eyeshadows, a beautiful red lip color, a nude lip/cheek
cream, a matte bronzer and ever so coveted “Mary-Lou Highlighter” all in one palette.
These are some of their most loved items from previous palettes and regular
range of products. They were clever to reuse all their cover designs in the original
product and it looked nice and fitting in this palette! It’s a cardboard
packaging with a separate lid for
the cream products. It has an average size mirror but that does not stand on
its own. It might also get dirty on the outside with usage if that’s something
that concerns you.
HotMama
(Shadow/Blush): Another gorgeous coral pink blush. It’s the lightest and the
most satin-y blush in here. It is pigmented but it needs few layers to show up
on my skin as a blush mainly because it is very close to my skintone. I can
definitely use it as a blush topper or as a highlighter and blush at once. It can be wearable on so many skintone with
different usage. It has a weaker wear time about 2-3 hrs less than the
other blushes in the palette.
INSTAIN® in Argyle (Long-Wearing Powder Staining
Blush): Finally, an Instain blush in my possession! Out of all theBalm products,
this range of blushes has fascinated me the most. Incredibly beautiful shades
in that adorable retro packaging; I love it! “Argyle” is a cool toned bright
medium pink. I love to call it a sophisticated Barbie pink :-) It has a buttery smooth texture and kicks a little bit of
powder when you dip your brush in it; but nothing unmanageable. Extremely
pigmented and blends in quite easy. Also unlike Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay blushes you don’t have
to be paranoid about ending up with clown cheek with that pigmentation. Very
long lasting too! The other day, I wore it around 12 pm and it was still
hanging in there till I removed it around 1 am. That’s incredible!
CabanaBoy® (Shadow/Blush): It’s
a dusty mauve shade and has some elegant sheen to it. Of course, this is my
favorite blush from this palette. It’s a perfect fall shade for a wide range of
skin tones! It’s also a perfect everyday blush on me. Extremely pigmented and
equally amazing color pay off. I have to proceed with care not to apply too
much! Blends in without much effort and has an impressive 10 hr long staying
power. I am totally enjoying this shade!
BahamaMama®
(Matte Bronzer, Shadow & Contour Powder Bronzer): This has to be the least loved product in the palette for
me. I love bronzers but I am more drawn to warmer richer
shades of bronzer. This is a very deep greyish brown shade and I can almost see a
hint of olive/khaki in it; very unfamiliar shade to me. It’s pigmented, applies smoothly and blends
easily but I don’t find as much pleasure using it as I find with my Lorac
TANtalizer! But I am glad that they included it here as it makes the palette more ’complete’.
Mary-LouManizer® (Highlighter, Shadow & Shimmer): Every beauty admirer is aware of the popularity of this.
Highlighters never interested me but now I am a big fan. :-) :-) Mary-Lou Manizer is
a very pale-gold shade. Very strongly pigmented. If you don’t like that super glow-y skin, then this is not for you! Very blendable despite that crazy pigmentation and
quite long lasting. I found that it applies better when used over some base, especially
over liquid foundation! Whereas my beloved Becca Champagne
Pop or Laura
Marcier Baked Highlighter applies with equal ease over my bare moisturized
skin! Nonetheless, I am so happy that I finally joined the “Lou-Manizer” cult!
How'Bout Them Apples? in “Caramel” (Lip and
Cheek Cream): I almost bought the original palette out of sheer cuteness in the
packaging. The blush is a very soft, easy-to-work with a creamy formula.
Pigmented but almost sheer! I tried it on the lips too and it was not bad! But
I have been mostly using it as a light base before I layer it with powder
blushes. Very much enjoying it.
theBalm Girls® in “Mia Moore” (Lipstick): Cream lip in a palette always makes me nervous. But “Mia Moore” is actually really nice. Very creamy and yet stable enough not to bleed everywhere. Nicely pigmented. I use a small OCC lip-brush. I do have to dip my brush for 2-3 times to cover my entire lip but I need only one swipe per area to get an even opaque coverage. It’s comfortable enough on the lips and stays for 5-6 hrs before starting to wear off slowly. It tends to dry after 4 hrs, which is quite common for me with many red lipsticks.
I am so happy with the 4 eye shadow shades in here! I must say the color selection is pretty unique and versatile. “Insane Jane” and “Mischevious Marissa” are your everyday one-shade-and-done lid shades and "Sexy" and “Lead Zeppelin” are somewhat interesting shades to be included in this kind of face palette. By the way Hot Mama, CabanaBoy and Bahama Mama can be used as eye shadow too!
Mischevious Marissa (from shadyLady Special Edition): Such a lovely neutral peachy golden shade. Not unique, but this type of universal shade is essential for this type of palette. This and “Insane Jane” are perfect one-color eye looks. I simply LOVE this shade. So pigmented, you need just a light swipe and unbelievably easy to blend. This with “Sexy” is a gorgeous yet super simple and fast fall eye look right there!
Sexy (from NUDe’tude): Fall
is almost over here in my city but I am still totally obsessed with all fall
makeup type of shades. It’s very dark brown-y plum shade. When I swatch
this with my finger, it appears a little dry, patchy and scrubby against my
skin. But when applied on lids, I don’t face any issues. You need just a tiny
tiny amount, the color transforms exactly and blends in 2 second. This is much
pigmented and has great staying power! I tried it as liner too but it did not
last more than 2-3 hrs. as a liner.
Lead
Zeppelin (from Balm Jovi): Beautiful satin Olive shade. Smoother and less
powdery than “Sexy”. Consistent performance with all other shades and this
really compliments “Mischevious Marissa” for a quick and easy look. Phenomenal
staying power too!
Points to complain about: Not really complaints,
but if they would include a light brown matte crease color this would have been
an immaculate palette. You can definitely use the bronzer as crease shade, but
I love my brown crease shade.
As you can already see, I am totally enamored with this palette.
You have almost everything you need. Just grab your foundation (or any base you
use), mascara and an eye liner, if you can’t live without one, like me, and you
are good to go! I don’t like the bronzer but I am very impressed with every
other product! If you have never tried theBalm, this is the prefect palette to get
at a very affordable cost! Even if you already have some products, this is just
the best all-inclusive face-palette that your money can buy! I think this might
be the best product I have picked up this holiday season. I also picked Bite
Beauty "Best Beauty Rewind"
(Reviewed here)
and “Sephora Favorites Superstars” (Reviewed
here)
that I am very much enjoying!
Tell me about your holiday shopping :-) !!!!
Love,
~Arrru
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