delicate hummingbird.: brand: THE BALM

Showing posts with label brand: THE BALM. Show all posts

May 7, 2011

the Balm Hot Mama

when i saw zuneta.com had their theBalm sale, i ordered The Balm Hot Mama blush to try, the price of less than 10€ convinced me :P a pinky peach with gold shimmer can't be wrong, huh?
i should have known better - i was never fully satisfied with the products i bought from this brand.
the blush comes in a cardboard packaging and opens like a little book with magnetic closure (i dislike such packagings. and look how poorly this one is glued. this is not even "cute" and "vintage" and "different"). the pan contains 7.08g.
the colour is a peach with light pink hues that is infused with a lot of gold shimmer and sparkles. the shimmer is very refined and it swatches beautifully, almost like a pink/gold duochrome and glistens in the sunlight. it reminds of NARS Orgasm but is much peachier. unfortunately it can look quite thick and greasy on the face due to the almost frosty gold sheen occasionally (there are also "good days"). it tends to emphasize enlarged pores, creating a flat gold shine on the face even if i use the lightest hand and the softest brush. like if you've put too much powder on your oily skin and then added a frosty blusher. buffing it out will only make it worse. it also tends to apply blotchy, make sure you put it on a completely dry (i.e. powdered/not on a dewy foundation) skin to avoid frost-nests.
i can't even make it work as a body powder to add some gold sheen because it contains a lot of multicolour sparkles and i would look like a tanned Cullen.
do you have this product? how do you wear it?
i have yet to figure out the right foundation/powder combo as the right base for it.

theBalm Hot Mama in sunlight: swatched heavily&blended out

this is how it looks worn - on a "good" day ;)

comparison:

Laura Mercier Orange Blossom - The Balm Hot Mama - NARS Orgasm

Feb 21, 2011

FOTD purple+brown.

this eye make up is a little bit more colourful than i would normally wear, but the brown on the lower lash line brings it down to earth. how do you integrate colours into your daytime make up?

products used:

Vichy Aera Teint Pure #23 + BeautyBlender

Guerlain Météorites Powder Pearls #01 Teint Rosé + Artdeco skunk brush

Benefit Bella Bamba + MakeUpShow Blush Brush

TheBalm Time Balm Concealer in Light/Medium + Hakuhodo brush + Shiseido Brow Pencil in GY901 + Alverde Brow Gel + Catrice Liquid Liner in brown + Shu curlers + Maybelline Stretch&Define Waterproof + L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes

Urban Decay Primer Potion

MAC Silverwear (light lavender from 6 Beauties Play It Cool palette - upper left) in inner corner with MAC 242 + MAC Odd Couple (purple side) on the lid with MAC 242 + MAC Togetherness (purple stripe) in outer corner with MAC 222 + Artdeco #16 mixed with MAC Bronze (from 6 Dashing Lassie palette - lower left) on lower lashline with MAC 239 + MAC 224 to blend.

Dior Rouge Dior in #298 Beige Indécise

MAC Fix+ to set

Jan 22, 2011

the Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

this is the last item from my b4f-order, the Balm Mary-Lou Manizer highlight powder. it contains 8.5g and costs 22€ regularly, on b4f they offered it for sth. around 12-13€.
the packaging lay out is really cute, like: "you can get arrested for being so overly sexy with this powder on". yeah.
but it's still cute, with the fingerprints and so on.
the container is also nice, a pin-up image on a slim silver plastic compact with a mirror inside.
it is a quite shimmery pale gold highlight powder. it's very finely milled and goes on very smoothly, but the pigmentation is high, so you'll need the lightest hand and the most loose brush to make it work. it is more appropriate for candlelight dinners or parties, where you sometimes want to go overboard with your look.
i can't recommend it to oily skinned girls, as it can look greasy and emphasize your pores.
i'm fairly disappointed with this, i read so many rave-reviews about it and hoped that i could love it, too. but it just makes me look too metallic.
also, i already have a bunch of pale gold highlighters, so i don't have a need or use for it any longer. maybe i'll just return it or sell it. this is also a negative point of buying stuff from such companies like b4f, you buy it today but have to wait some weeks until they deliver it. it's like buying overseas - just those things are bought more thoughtfully - with the discount sales, you are also drifted by the savings and tend to buy things you're unsure of.
that's also what happened to me - i found sth. better in the mean time, waiting for my order to come - and that is the Too Chic Beauty Powder from MAC's Stylishly Yours collection.

here it is swatched and compared to other highlight powders:

the Balm Mary-Lou Manizer - Lorac Spotlight - MAC Too Chic - MAC Chez Chez Lamé - Dior Amber Diamond (only the two lighter stripes)

i'm wearing it in this picture (i already powdered over it to take away a bit of shine)

FOTD blue

my FOTD of today to try out a bunch of new stuff ;) and most of it is too flamboyant for work, so i only have the weekends to use :( that's why i'm gravitating to bright pinks as weekend nail polishes these days haha

products used: