Showing posts with label Balmbini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Balmbini. Show all posts

Monday, December 5, 2011

theBalm; Balmbini Vol. 2

Swatches and Review
Balmbini Volume 2 Eye Shadows

Jinxy Jasmyne, Promiscuous Pearl, Manic Maribel, Open to Offers Olwen & Lavish Latoya


Comparison: Balmbini Vol 2 on top row, theBalm's Cast your Shadow bottom row
Promiscuous Pearl/HIII-YAAA!, Manic Maribel/Meep Meep, Open to Offers Olwen/Sensational & Lavish Latoya/Kissy Kissy.
Can you see the similarities?

Oh & my Open to Offers Olwen's pan is overfilled. I guess it's good that there's "more product" (by a few grams) BUT, I get really irritated when my palette was not filled at just the right amount because it kind of damaged the top of the packaging & had it mushed with blue over it :(


This is theBalm's Balmbini Volume 2. This palette contains five eye shadows, & four of them can double as an eyeliner, while the other eye shadow is also a highlight, as well as one lip/cheek creme & one lip gloss.

Here are the reviews from the Balmbini Vol. 2:
Promiscuous Pearl: This is an eye shadow that is also a highlighting shade. I found this shade to be chalky and stiff because my brushes and applicators was not picking up a lot of this product. It is sheer, so for my swatches, I swiped it on with my applicator three times. This is similar to the Mary-Lou Manizer and the HIII-YAAA! from their Muppets Cast your Shadow palette which I prefer them both over Promiscuous Pearl.

Jinxy Jasmyne: Okay, so I bought this palette just because I was excited about this shade, and although this shade IS very pigmented, there is a lot of fall out that comes with it. This is a really matte black, but it is so soft that my tapping my brush into it lightly kind of dug a small hole into it! When I first opened this, there was already a tiny hole and I didn't mind since most of the time when I buy some eye shadows, there are small holes in it & it covers up with a swipe of a brush, but the brush basically well.. made the hole bigger. :( I love the outcome of this shade, it is buttery and pigmented, but it is not worth the mess this comes with. I tried almost everything to prevent the fallout, but it still did not work. If you are interested in a deep black and can deal with the fallout issues from the buttery softness of it, I think this is worth it.

Manic Maribel: This is a copper color. It is super pigmented & nice. However, this color is easily dupe-able and very similar to Meep Meep from the Muppets Cast your Shadows palette.

Open to offers Olwen: This is a shade that was also in Shady Lady Vol. 3. It is a gorgeous blue shade, but it is comparable Sensational from the Cast your Shadow palette. However, Open to offers Olwen is a tad lighter than Sensational. If you don't already own a color like this or similar to this, this is a good color to have in your makeup stash as well :)

Lavish Latoya: This is a purple with a silvery sheen to it. It is comparable to Kissy Kissy from the Muppets Cast your Shadows palette.

Overall, I think this is a good palette for those who do not own too much of theBalm products because all the colors are easily dupe-able within theBalm, and even some shades you may probably find similar to in other brands such as Urban Decay and Too Faced. This palette costs $28 and you can get it from theBalm's website. It is a good deal for the amount of product that you get, but it's not worth it if you already have colors very similar to this. Also, when you compare my pictures from Balmbini Vol 1 and this one, I would choose Balmbini Vol 1 over this because Vol 1 actually focuses more on this palette as a face palette, than a eye shadow palette. I was excited about this palette when I first heard about it, but when I learned that it does not include powder blushes, it was a huge let down. With that said, I don't think I will be keeping this palette because the colors are really similar to their Muppets palette and the only color I was actually looking forward to was a pain to deal with especially when it stained my arms & eyes for a whole day! :(

* all of these eye-shadows were swatched over Urban Decay's primer potion.
The pictures are mine.

Click to read more!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

theBalm; Balmbini Vol. 1

Swatches and Review
The Balmbini Volume 1

Jealous Jordana, Insane Jane, Mary Lou-Manizer, Hot Mama & Down Boy


All swatches have been swatched over Urban Decay's Primer Potion


This is the Balmbini from theBalm cosmetics, which is a company based in San Francisco. I bought this palette a while back & I use the blushes from these almost everyday. This palette is basically my go to palette in the morning to just put on some blush quickly before I leave for school. I know that they have the Balmbini Vol. 2 now & although I'm a bit disappointed in it since it does not contain any pressed powder blushes, I'm still dying to get my hands on it since all the shadows appear to be new except for Open to Offers Olwen.. unless they renamed a few shades.

Here are the reviews from the Balmbini Vol. 1:
Down Boy: It is a matte pink shadow/blush. I mainly use this for blush because Down Boy appears on my eyelids sheer. This blush is very pigmented so I always have to be careful when I am putting it on so I don't end up looking like a clown! A little goes a long way :)

Hot Mama: Hot Mama is also a blush that can be used as a shadow as well. This is a pink-ish peach colored blush with specks of gold shimmer to it. It is comparable to NARS Orgasm, but at a more affordable price! If you buy the full product, it is $19 on Sephora and you get 0.25oz worth of product while NARS is $27 for 0.16oz worth of product. I own both of the blushes and I can see myself buying more of Hot Mama over Orgasm because Hot Mama is super pigmented as well. I suggest also using a light hand on this because a little goes a long way!

Mary Lou-Manizer: This is a luminizer & I usually go to this to highlight my cheeks or my eyes after applying eyeshadow on. It's definitely not a luminizer that will make your face look too "glowy" and like the other products, this is also very pigmented as well. A full size for this is $24 at Sephora, but they are selling theBalm sets at TJ Maxx now & there is a set that includes a full size of this product for $29.99 that also has a brush & lip gloss in it.

Insane Jane: Insane Jane is an eyeshadow that is also in Shady Lady Vol. 2. Insane Jane is a gorgeous taupe color which is work appropriate. In the pictures of my swatches, the eyeshadow was only swiped on once & it was already very dark on my skin. I love using this color whenever I go for a neutral eye look.

Jealous Jordana: This is a dark shimmery forest green. I love dark colors, and I do think this is very pigmented, BUT this color fades off on me real fast. Maybe it's just me because even when I apply this color with primer, the color fades off me in less than an hour so I end up looking like my eyes have uneven color on it especially when I am using this color with something else. I think this looks amazing on my swatches and in general, but if only it would last on me for more than an hour, I would love it more.

Overall, I think this is a great product to get if you are curious about trying items from the brand because it has a few of the best selling shades in this small CD sized palette which will actually last you a long time! Everything in this palette is pigmented and have a really soft & buttery texture to it. The eyeshadows have a bit of fall out given since the eyeshadows are so soft so remember to tap your brushes before applying :) This palette is available on thebalm.com for $28 and if you are in the US, theBalm offers free shipping and unlike other brands, theBalm also ships items internationally, although it does cost a bit much.

Click to read more!