(Swatches left to right: Sassy, Snobby, Stubborn, Stand-offish, Selfish, Sultry, Sophisticated, Seductive, Sexy, Silly, Serious, Sleek)
Just over a month ago, I found myself in need of a new neutral palette. I'd hit pan on a couple of my favourite shades in my Naked 2 palette (mostly the highlighting and lighter shades, seriously does anyone ever hit pan on black eyeshadow?) and I found myself in an exciting and rare scenario where I actually needed to buy another palette and I wouldn't feel guilty about the purchase. My first instinct was to head straight to an Urban Decay counter and check out the original Naked or the Naked 3 but, as I was browsing the Birchbox shop, I stumbled across this palette from the Balm!
I also had £20 of points to spend so this palette technically only cost me £6! (As a little side note, the Birchbox points system is actually quite generous and even though I've only ever had 2 boxes I've managed to earn back £20 in points pretty easily using various voucher codes!)
Anyway, moving on from my savvy financial skills, I'll return to the Nude 'tude palette. Firstly, can we please appreciate how cute and quirky the packaging is! The Balm is known for its playful artwork and this palette is no exception. As much as I love luxurious, sophisticated packaging (YSL I'm looking at you!) it's always a good thing to have fun and be a little silly with makeup. In terms of practicality, the palette is made from sturdy cardboard and it has a large mirror inside which is brilliant for traveling with. However, the eyeshadows have a very soft texture and I always worry that they'll break after rattling around in my bag. As I travel quite a lot, I prefer the plastic packaging of the Naked 2 but only for its long term durability - the Nude 'tude palette is much cuter and looks a lot nicer on my dressing table!
The palette consists of 12 eyeshadows, 4 of which are matte shades and the other 8 are shimmers. With the exception of Silly, the pigmentation and texture of the eyeshadows are wonderful. Silly is still a lovely shadow but it requires a heavier and more cautious application; it's more of a glitter shadow rather than a shimmer so fallout will occur and the pesky bits of glitter tend to spread onto nearby shadows (grr!). Glitter fallout isn't anything new and I've seen it in many other eyeshadows from brilliant brands, even Urban Decay, and the glitter definitely doesn't put me off using such a pretty shade - I simply just avoid it when I'm in a rush! The rest of the shadows apply easily and smoothly and they also blend really well. The quality of the eyeshadows can certainly be compared to some of the best out there and, for a neutral palette, the shade selection is a little bit unusual and includes a deep brown-purple, a yellow-golden shimmer and a frost-white shade that's perfect for the inner corner! The only shade I would say this palette is lacking is a subtle highlight shade as Sassy is a very dramatic white and Snobby is a little bit too yellow for my skin tone. I really think the Balm is such an underrated brand, every product I own from them has been fantastic, and I can't stop using this palette! I love every shade but my absolute favourite is Sexy, a beautiful brown-purple, that looks amazing as part of smokey eye. My other favourite shades are Stand-offish, Selfish and Seductive!
I also had £20 of points to spend so this palette technically only cost me £6! (As a little side note, the Birchbox points system is actually quite generous and even though I've only ever had 2 boxes I've managed to earn back £20 in points pretty easily using various voucher codes!)
Anyway, moving on from my savvy financial skills, I'll return to the Nude 'tude palette. Firstly, can we please appreciate how cute and quirky the packaging is! The Balm is known for its playful artwork and this palette is no exception. As much as I love luxurious, sophisticated packaging (YSL I'm looking at you!) it's always a good thing to have fun and be a little silly with makeup. In terms of practicality, the palette is made from sturdy cardboard and it has a large mirror inside which is brilliant for traveling with. However, the eyeshadows have a very soft texture and I always worry that they'll break after rattling around in my bag. As I travel quite a lot, I prefer the plastic packaging of the Naked 2 but only for its long term durability - the Nude 'tude palette is much cuter and looks a lot nicer on my dressing table!
The palette consists of 12 eyeshadows, 4 of which are matte shades and the other 8 are shimmers. With the exception of Silly, the pigmentation and texture of the eyeshadows are wonderful. Silly is still a lovely shadow but it requires a heavier and more cautious application; it's more of a glitter shadow rather than a shimmer so fallout will occur and the pesky bits of glitter tend to spread onto nearby shadows (grr!). Glitter fallout isn't anything new and I've seen it in many other eyeshadows from brilliant brands, even Urban Decay, and the glitter definitely doesn't put me off using such a pretty shade - I simply just avoid it when I'm in a rush! The rest of the shadows apply easily and smoothly and they also blend really well. The quality of the eyeshadows can certainly be compared to some of the best out there and, for a neutral palette, the shade selection is a little bit unusual and includes a deep brown-purple, a yellow-golden shimmer and a frost-white shade that's perfect for the inner corner! The only shade I would say this palette is lacking is a subtle highlight shade as Sassy is a very dramatic white and Snobby is a little bit too yellow for my skin tone. I really think the Balm is such an underrated brand, every product I own from them has been fantastic, and I can't stop using this palette! I love every shade but my absolute favourite is Sexy, a beautiful brown-purple, that looks amazing as part of smokey eye. My other favourite shades are Stand-offish, Selfish and Seductive!
What are your favourite neutral eyeshadows? Do you have any recommendations from the Balm?
This was an awesome post :) I love Naked 1 but I really really wanna try the Lorac palettes! Or even the 2 faced ones :)
ReplyDeleteanjnaharish-thoughtsofagirl.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks Anjna! I really want to try Lorac too, I just can't find them anywhere here in the UK :( xxx
DeleteHi Becki :) so glad I found your blog, I am actually looking for cruelty-free make-up and this palette seems amazing! I never heard of the brand and as soon as my bank account will allow it I will def place my order :) which other products would you recommend besides this palette? xxx Tessa Rose
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