Swatched: TheBalm Balmsai Palette
Many eyeshadow palettes can serve as your brow and eye lining makeup on the side, but few are so clearly labeled and created with such deliberation as TheBalm Balmsai Palette (P2,695). This 18-pan palette has a healthy mix of neutrals and pops of color, as well as three shades for eyebrows and three for lining the eyes. It also comes with stencils for all stages of your eye ritual!
But first, the formula. The shadows are fairly pigmented and smooth, although some have shimmer fall out. The colors are quite pretty, too - if they were on the warmer side they would be prettier, but I only have that issue with the light neutrals. Everything else is perfect.
The colors for eyebrows and liner are spot on, and they can be used for smoky eyes too! They don't fade until five to six hours of wear which is pretty good for a powder product. Tip: use a wet brush when applying the shades on your brows and lash line to get a more intense, long-wearing finish.
And this is what we're here for - the swatches and shade descriptions!
Wipe Out is a matte white for highlighting brows. High Tide is a white with shimmer flecks. So 80s imho. Hang 10 is a sandy shimmer color, perfect as a lid wash. Dreamboat is a pastel pink which I find too cool for my skin tone. Sandbar is a dove grey that flashes pink shimmer (also too cool), and Tubular is a light bronze. Is it obvious that these colors aren't exciting me?
The game is different down below though! Epic is a rich taupey brown, Surf's Up is a steel grey, and Big Kahuna is a turquoise. Kawabunga is an olive green, Surfari is an electric purple (I always get compliments on this one), and Pipeline is a startling blue. Love these! They're fun and they go on so smoothly as you can see in the swatches.
The last six shades are basic colors that everyone should have in their kit. Yes, they're dark, but useful if you have the right brushes already! Score is a matte light neutral brown for contouring the eyes or nose and shading light brows. Dig It is a dark taupe brown, while Woodie is a deep chocolate brown, both best for eyebrows. I usually mix Righteous with Score for my brows.
Stoked is a lovely smoky purple with pink shimmer - it's gorgeous as eyeliner! Ripper is a matte dark sepia while Righteous is also a matte charcoal black. These function well as liners once mixed with a bit of water as they don't smudge; they smear, but only if you've been really oily and sweaty. (And yes you can also use these for the ultimate smoky eye!)
Okay, I find the stencils super cool since you can use them to create a cat eye, a good eyebrow arch, for creating a gradient smoky eye, and even for catching eyeshadow fallout. If you're a newbie they're excellent guides to get started, but if you're advanced these are just a hassle to use. I love them for catching shadow fallout since I just leave them under my eye till I'm done. Otherwise I can do my own cat eyes thank you very much.
Overall, I recommend the TheBalm Balmsai Palette to those who need a well-rounded eye palette to use for everyday. It's about the same size as a small notebook so it's not such a hassle to slip into your bag! (I mean, for an 18-color eye palette, alright.) It's very light too, due to the cute cardboard packaging. You'll enjoy this if you don't have similar shades yet. ^_^
Before I go, I'd like to coyly let slip that I'm giving this palette away as well as a few other TheBalm makeup for Commenter of the Month soon! Stay tuned for the announcement!
TheBalm cosmetics is available inside Beauty Bar.
