April 27, 2013

TheBalm small haul

In the beginning of April, theBalm announced they will be launching a new website by having a 50%off on all their products. April 1st came and their website unexpectedly crashed with all the traffic coming in to the site. They had to fix it and postpone their sale. We all didn't expect this was going to take a whole week but I waited patiently since this is the best sale yet I have seen from theBalm. Once in a while Hautelook will have theBalm on their site and that's where I bought my very first theBalm product which was the Nude 'tude palette. The only downside with Hautelook is it took them almost a month for my order to come! Hautelook do have the greatest deals on Tarte, NYX and theBalm, but if it's going to take a month to get here I'll pass on that.
And so there I was in front of the computer, Monday morning of April 8th (after a whole week of waiting!) refreshing theBalm website, checking their Facebook page for any announcements besides my other tabs of emails and blog sites opened. And finally the site was up and running! I waited an hour to see if this was just another run and might go down again but it's actually up and running with no more errors, yaaay!!!
I didn't go buckwild and bought everything like I want to, that one week of waiting made me realize to be not a hoarder just because it's on sale I should get it. I really debated, narrowed down my list and see what is it that I really want and what my collection is missing. My makeup collection is growing pretty fast, thanks to all the Ipsy samples that I have been getting the past 7 months I have been a member, and all the newly found parben- and cruelty-free products I've bought. So I really didn't need to buy more makeup but this was such a good deal that I really shouldn't pass this opportunity because I don't know when this will happen again.
Okay enough blabbing and let me show you what I got and a quick first impression review on them.

First off is the Meet Matt(e) Nude. I have been really debating on this and was going to wait until my birthday (in May) to buy this for myself. I'll just think of it as an early birthday present since this is a great discount! Most of my eye shadows have shimmer or has that satin sheen to it and after trying out the small theBalm matte eye shadow I got on one of my Ipsy bag, I definitely need to have this! It is such a great plus this company is paraben and cruelty free!
Meet Matt(e) Nude front and back packaging

theBalm eye shadows are very pigmented and creamy and just divine applying to my eyes! Not a lot of effort is needed to apply and blend and get that nice smokey look or natural eye look. As you will see in the swatch below, a little bit goes a long way. Comparing to the size of the eye shadows of this palette with my Nude 'tude these are twice the size and will last me a pretty long time. 

the eye shadow is not dime size , its a quarter size big!



As I swatch a few of the shadows with and without primer (as the pictures below), these shadows goes on creamy and not powdery at all. With a primer the color is more vibrant and I'm sure will last longer too.



 swatches WITHOUT a PRIMER, from Left: Matt Abdul, Matt Wood and Matt Maloy


WITH a PRIMER, from left: Matt Abdul, Matt Wood, Matt Maloy (top)  and Matt Maloy Singh (below)


*I did these swatches under natural light so please excuse the bad lighting. I feel like the natural light shows my (tan) medium skin tone best. I don't have any pictures of these on my face...well not yet until I have played with these products more.


Next! The Mary-Lou Manizer (highlighting, shadow and shimmer). This has been the most talked about product on Youtube and some blogs as their holy grail for highlighting and I have to agree with all of those ladies! This is great with any skin tone and gives you that natural glow on your face.
Let me talk about the packaging on this one first. It's just too adorable! It looks like it's a compact powder but it's all highlighting powder! The size of this thing will last me, yet again a long time which I am not complaining at all. This will definitely be put to use all year round since I just love highlighting my cheekbones and below my eyebrows when I don't want to put any heavy makeup for the day. 




This is a very creamy shadow and a little bit is only needed!
I used my e.l.f fan brush to put this on my cheeks and a little bit of this gives you that natural glow! Add some more, and that will give you that J.Lo glow - that look will be awesome in the Summer!
*highlight your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, your cupids bow (center of your top lip) and a little bit on the center of your forehead for a nice healthy looking glow!

with just two swipes on the shadow, I get this much from it!

For blush, I settled with one. I wanted all three, Frat Boy, Down Boy and Cabana Boy, but after getting a blush from my April Ipsy bag (click here to see what's in my April Ipsy bag!) I know I will not be needing all three realistically. So I chose Cabana Boy since I don't have a nice dusty-rose cheek color in my blush collection. This I feel will look natural especially in the Summer when my skin gets a little bit darker and that gold sheen will add a great glow to a tanned skin plus a little bit Mary-Lou Manizer ohh yeaah! So excited to wear this!

see that gold sheen it has? This is not a matte blush at all!


does my wrist looks like it's naturally blushing? Lol I know lame joke but that's the best place I find to swatch this blush on

All in all, I am very happy with my small theBalm purchase and with half the price I am not complaining at all! I can't wait to see what looks I can come up with, with these products *I will post my looks here as soon as I get selfie pictures taken one of these days. Knowing this is a paraben and cruelty-free products, I am not scared at all to be putting this on my face everyday and leave it on all day either.
So what have you girls bought recently? I know these aren't new to the beauty world but I am just too excited not to share with you guys what I think of them and how they do match with my skin tone.


4 comments:

  1. I like those neutral eye shadows! Sometimes you need colors like those in your collection. That highlight is also very pretty, I think it would be great for my skin tone as well and I love a good highlight :)

    http://diaryofatrendaholic.blogspot.ca/

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    1. I loove this highlighter shade! Best purchase ever!

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  2. It's nice that you got everything half off--that always makes me enjoy my purchases even more. I love the eye shadows in Meet Matt!

    www.ameliorerlavie.blogspot.com

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    1. I've been dying to buy from theBalm but the price is a little hefty for me. I'm really glad they had a sale like that. If they do this annually or quarterly would be so awesome!!!

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