Friday 14 September 2012

Review and Swatches: theBalm Balm Jovi Palette

Hello!

I'm feeling pretty happy about this- I got my hands on theBalm's new palette, Balm Jovi, before it's even come out in Australia!
Balm Jovi

This palette has 12 eyeshadows, 2 lip colours, one highlighter and one blush. The eyeshadows are named after rock legends and music tempos and sorted into columns as per genre. The Heavy Metal shadows are Metal-ica, Iron Maid-in, Lead Zeppelin, and Alice Copper. The Classical shadows are Adagio, Allegro, Moderato, and Presto. The Alternative shadows are Blink 1982, The Stroke, rem and, Third Eye Blinded. It's very, very cute!

Update: Now with more pictures!
Here it is:
Balm Jovi

Balm Jovi

The Swatches!
Balm Jovi swatches
Balm Jovi swatches: R-L 'Heavy Metal' shades Metali-ica, Iron Maid-in, Lead Zeppelin, Alice Copper; 'Classical' shades Adagio, Allegro, Moderato, Presto; 'Alternative' shades Blink 1982, The Stroke, rem, Third Eye Blinded.

Review:
  • Packaging: Very cute, retro packaging. I like that the cream lip colours are separated in a way from the other powder products by their own cover.
  • Eyeshadows: I've reveiwed and swatched them in their music genre columns. There's a good variety of colours and a mix of matte and shimmer shades. It's a versatile palette.
    • Metal-ica: silvery white with silver microglitter. Good pigmentation, feels smooth and blends out easily.
    • Iron Maid-in: light gold with gold microglitter. Good pigmentation, smooth and easy to blend. A little more powdery than Metal-ica.
    • Lead Zeppelin: lovely deep olive green with gold microglitter. Smooth, soft texture. Good pigmentation.
    • Alice Copper: Burgundy purple with silver microglitter. Great pigmentation, only needed 2 swipes for the swatch and that's because the swatch was narrow.
    • Adagio: matte beige colour. Lighter and less orange based than Urban Decay's Naked. I found this a bit powdery, but that's not unusual for a matte and it wasn't so powdery that it was a problem. It blends out well, especially on me, where it's practically my own skin colour.
    • Allegro: matte light brown. Lighter than Urban Decay's Buck, but more brown. Better pigmentation than Adagio but a lot more powdery. Blending wasn't as easy with this one.
    • Moderato: matte deep purple. This one was powdery and felt dry on the skin. It was a little difficult to blend but you get decent pigmentation.
    • Presto: matte dark brown. Felt powdery, but I got decent pigmentation from it. Easier to blend than Moderato.
    • Blink 1982: skimmer pink-taupe with gold microglitter. Smooth, soft, good pigmentation.
    • The Stroke: deep navy blue. Good pigmentation but powdery.
    • rem: medium purple with gold microglitter. Good pigmentation.
    • Third Eye Blinded: champagne pink shimmer shade. Smooth, good pigmentation.
  • Highlighter: It's called Solid Gold (aka Mary-Lou Manizer). It's amazing. I love it. It's a shimmery, pale but warm gold, with incredibly fine microglitter. You do not see glitter in this highlighter, just shimmer. It's highly pigmented, easy to blend and gives that "lit from within" look. 
  • Blush: Pop!Pop! Don't you want me? (aka FratBoy blush) Is a matte peachy pink. It was a bit powdery but very pigmented and, with some work on my part,  it blended out to a nice flush.
  • Lip Colours:
    • Milly: pale opaque pink. I originally thought it looked a bit brown-tinged in real life but in bright sunlight and on photos it looks like it has a gray undertone. It feels nice on the lips and leaves lips stained once the gloss wears off.
    • Vanilly: bright semi- matte red (blue-based), highly pigmented and opaque coverage. Nice. Also leaves a nice stain on the lips. This photo doesn't do it justice- it's very bright in person, almost as bright as theBalm's Mia Moore lipstick. It's a similar red, too.
  • Cost: In Australia, it'll retail for $44.95. It includes 12 eyeshadows at a total 10.8g, Solid Gold highlighter 4g, Don't You Want Me? blush 2.8g and 4g each of Milly and Vanilly lip colours. That's fairly good value for money.
  • Final Verdict: 
    I'd give it an A-.I love the eyeshadow colours, but some of them were powdery, as was the blush. There is a good range of shadows and you can create a lot of different looks, so it's very versatile. I absolutely love the highlighter and lip colours. 
xo
Anna

5 comments:

  1. Do you know where this might be available in Australia? Specifically, in WA? It looks devine.

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    Replies
    1. Hi!
      It's carried by David Jones and is available in major city stores. I just did a search and theBalm comes up under brands carried by the Hay Street Mall and Claremont Quarter stores in WA but when I click on the link for more information, it says "No location". I'm not sure what that means, but those two would be your best bet.
      (OT, but thanks for being my first commenter!)
      xo
      Anna

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    2. Sorry, just so I'm being clear, the Balm Jovi palette is not out yet. It hasn't been released in Australia yet- theBalm's FB page says it's on its way to Australia. I got a pre-release shipped in from the US.

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  2. This is a great looking palette, I love it. :)

    Thanks for a great review!

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    Replies
    1. I'm just a little bit in love with it- I haven't touched my Naked palette in 3 days, and for me, that's saying something!

      I'm glad you found it useful :-)

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