It’s been a hot minute since I reviewed a product from The Balm. I do have a big fancy for their cheek products and their quirky fun packaging cheezy puns. It’s such a fun brand, but they don’t throw that many releases (which is kind of a reliefe) and their products are not that much in the spot light I feel, which is kind of a shame. So I don’t very often pick up something new from the brand, but when I do I am usually happy about them.
This handly little cheek palette I just crabbed on the go. I basically picked it up impulsively when speeding by their display and I payed for it and left. I had never heard of this product, or seen it. I just grabbed it.
It’s really cute though. The packaging is made of tin so it feels very sturdy. It’s kind of hard to open though, and I can’t imagine how hard it would be without any fingernails. Inside you get 4 cheek products. They are placed on a thray that you can pull out with a tiny band. If you are into depotting this will for sure make the job easier, and you could use the tin for something else. Not much, since it’s so small, but you could fit some mints in there. I preffer just keeping my products in the original packaging though. Oh, and there is a mirror too, which I find a bit too small to use when applying face products. Still, it’s there!
Three of the products are matte and one is shimmery. The shimmery one could be used as highlighter if you have a dark enough skin tone. I would say medium to dark could use it as an highlighter. For me it’s a nice blush topper. I love adding some glow to my blushes with a topper so I am happy about that!
The three other products could be your everyday blush. You get one peachy pink, one darker berry, and one almost brown tones neutral with some pink in it. For me all of them work as blushes. but the brown tones one “Bleeker” I have also used as a bronzer/contour. That may sound weird but since I have a light skin tone a brown powder with a pink tone is actually very natural and nice as a bronzer for me during winter. I have been using NARS Zen for that purpose a long long time (I even hit pan) even though Zen is originally a blush. I loved using Bleeker the same way, but I had to be a bit careful since the pan is fairly small and I had to squeeze my bronzer blush to make it fit to pick up the product.
I tend to use smaller blush brushes (I have a small face) so I had no issues picking up blush. But if you preffer bigger brushes you may find the pans a bit on the smaller side. There is 2 grams of product in each though, which is a decent size for a blush.
Even though tiny and pocket sized, and even though you only get 4 different shades this little palette is surprisingly versatile and I found that it worked nicely with any look I chose to do. There is just a suitable option in there no matter if you go cool,warm, neutral or dramatic! A really smart and handy little thing that can take a punch (tin packaging) so safe to travel with.
Thumbs up from me for sure!
XOXO
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