theBalm 3 for 1 Palettes! Friday (5/25) only!

Hey everyone!

I'm so excited to let you know that theBalm is having a fantastic sale right now!  On Friday (today May 25th) up until 11:59pm EST, you can purchase all three ShadyLady palettes for the price of one!  These palettes retail for $39.50 each, but you're going to get all three for that price.  Also, there is free shipping for U.S. residents.  I ordered mine already since I don't have any of them, but hurry and go get yours before they run out!

FOTD: Rainbow - Old & New

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Review: Curacao Palette (LE)

So I found these pictures in my folder, cropped, labeled, and ready to go.  I have no idea why I did not post about these earlier, but you may kick me.

This palette is no longer available on the Sleek website, but you may still find quite a few of these on ebay.  I purchased mine for approximately $12 USD not including shipping.

Pictures were taking outside in broad daylight and apparently it was too bright because the colors look a bit washed out.  As usual, swatches are done on bare skin with one swipe of the finger.  Do enlarge the pictures. You'll like it :)

Again, the swatches are a bit washed out in the pictures because I imagine it was too damn bright outside when I took the pictures.

Tequila Sunrise, Martini, Blue Lagoon, and Purple Haze are the most pigmented of the bunch.  The rest of the eyeshadows have very good pigmentation, just not as good.

Sleek eyeshadows (the palettes at least) tend to be very powdery and a bit soft.  Sticking my fingers into the eyeshadows for swatches seems to have deformed them a bit but they're still lovely.

Here are a few looks I've done using this palette:
-MicaBella Ad Inspired
-Curacao Madness
-Girly Girl
-A Forest Within the Carribean

I've actually neglected this palette for quite a while.  I think it's time to do a Project 7 Day Palette with this baby...once I upload swatches and reviews of all the crap I bought in Quebec.  I've been here for a month and I'll be heading home tomorrow.  More on that in another post to come.

So what are my overall thoughts on this palette?  Sleek didn't disappoint.  This is a fantastic palette for its price because it is a lovely collection of bright, pigmented colors.  The packaging is sleek and compact, and there is a huge mirror inside the case, but just the eyeshadows themselves are enough to make me happy.  If you don't live in the UK, they are a bit of a hassle to get your hands on, but it's worth it!

Questions?  Comments?  Ridiculous color combination requests for a look?  Let me know!

Review: Kat Von D True Romance Palette in Ludwig

Aloha fellow makeup lovers~

Right now I'm deciding which is the best way to review this product: through my constant ramblings or with bullet points.  I'm going to try to do a compromise.

Basic info:
Kat Von D Cosmetics are only available at Sephora or Sephora.com.  The palette I will be reviewing today is one of her True Romance Palettes.  Here is how Sephora describes it:

"A smoky eye adds an instant air of mystery—create your own with the True Romance Eyeshadow Palette. Designed by reality television star Kat Von D especially for Sephora, this artistic spectrum of shades brings an edgy-glam creativity to your makeup. The sleek black eyeshadow palette is stenciled with silver roses and arrives packaged in a silk-screened black and silver box that is itself a work of art—and inspired by Kat's favorite tattoo."

Price:
You can purchase this for $34 USD, but if you're lucky, Sephora may put these on sale again for $24 USD.


Packaging: 
As mentioned above, this palette comes in a sleek black case, perfect for travel.  There's a nice honking big mirror which is pretty useful until the eyeshadow dust dirties it up.  The case is fairly sturdy, and the feel of it reminds me a bit of the packaging of NARS cosmetics.  There are 8 eyeshadows, each with 0.05 ounces of product, and 2 double ended mini brushes.  The shades include:

- Lucifer (matte charcoal black)
- Orbi (golden green shimmer)
- Dimebag (metallic lime green)
- Clay (beige with gold glitter)
- Tequila (metallic cornsilk shimmer)
- Downtown (metallic light copper shimmer)
- Baroque (golden bronze shimmer)
- Leather (matte deep chocolate brown sheen)

No flash

With flash

Quality 
Overall, these eyeshadows are soft and blendable.  The pigmentation is decent, but certainly not impressive.  The lighter colors (dimebag, tequila, and clay) are quite sheer, so use a colored or extra sticky base under these colors.  Otherwise, it may end up like this:

Yeah, just bad.  In this picture I used Stila's One Step Primecolor in Kitten, and I didn't really pack the color as I should have.  UDPP actually isn't much better.  You can definitely make the lighter colors work but just takes some effort.  The darker colors are decent, and the black is fabulous, but for the majority of the palette, they probably won't show up on your skin if your complexion is any darker than mine.  I'll let these swatches speak for themselves.  These are swatched on bare skin with no primer.

With flash

No flash

Clay just kinda blends into my skin so you can't really see it that well.

I want to say that the quality is similar to Maybelline eyeshadows.  They're slightly powdery and delivers decent pigment, but again, they're not amazing.


Final Verdict:
If you're looking for a palette with fairly wearable colors, and you want to break into color, this palette is for you.  While the site describes it as "edgy-glam," I honestly don't think the eyeshadows deliver this promise.  I do love the packaging, inside and out, and I will reach for this palette when I want to do a day look.  I don't particularly like the neutral colors in this palette, because they're too shimmy, and I would have much preferred some taupes or rich chocolate browns as opposed to coppers.  Even though my skin is not particularly dark, I think I'll have to use a paint pot under these eyeshadows.  Definitely not worth the $34, and I would not buy it again.




I think one of the best ways to judge a product a product is through application, so look forward to a tutorial using this palette.  Here's a sneak peak:

I've actually heard some pretty positive reviews on the other True Romance Palettes, so maybe Ludwig is just not up to par?  Any thoughts?