The Balm 'Balm Jovi Rockstar Palette'

First things first, the only reason I purchased this palette was because of the name. I seriously didn't care what was in it, I just love the name of this palette and it makes me giggle every time I use it. Being a bit of a closet rock fan this palette literally 'sings' to be every time I look at it.

Novelty fun factor aside, this palette really is awesome and I just love how versatile it is. You can create a nice, subtle neutral/nude look as well as a more deeper smokey eye look depending on what you want to go for and it is a great one to take away for a few nights as it contains everything you'd need.

There are twelve eyeshadows in a great mix of matte and shimmery shades, a highlighter, a powder blush plus two lip/cheek creams.

It has a cute heart shaped mirror under the lid flap which is a good, decent size for using on the go. The shadows are easy to blend and buildable shades which don't seem to have too much fallout when applied.

It also contains four suggested looks on the bottom flap in case you are in need of a bit of inspiration on what look to go for.

The highlighter is out of this world in the shimmer stakes so a light hand is needed when using it but it does give a really pretty glow. I also love the powder blush shade as it's a great, everyday shade that goes with pretty much any look.

The cream lip/cheek shades are at both ends of the scale, with a nudish pink for everyday wear and a bright, intense red for a more playful makeup look.

(Eyeshadows - Metal-ica, Adagio, Blink 182, Iron Main-in, Allegro, The Stroke)

(Eyeshadows - Lead Zeppelin, Moderato, rem, Alice Cooper, Presto, Third Eye Blinded)

(Highlighter - Solid Gold and Powder Blush - Don't You Want Me?)

(Lip/Cheek Creams - Milly and Vanilly)

Overall, if you are a bit of a palette junkie like me then you will probably want this one purely for the novelty factor. I definitely get a lot of use out of it when travelling overnight as it's so easy to chuck in my makeup bag along with a mascara and some foundation and I know I have a complete makeup set at my fingertips.

Surprisingly enough, the cardboard packaging has stayed in pretty good condition too even after a fair amount of use and being knocked around in a bag. That's one thing that always concerns me with The Balm products but I haven't had any issues with the packaging on this one yet.

Does anyone else buy products purely for the novelty factor without caring what it actually contains or is that just me?

I hope you all have a lovely day!

Michelle xx

The Balm 'Hot Mama!' Shadow/Blush

I bought this Hot Mama! shadow/blush at an online sale a little while ago because I have a bit of a soft spot for The Balm products. I just love their cute packaging and the funny names they use for their products and this blush looked like it was a really nice versatile shade.

It comes in the usual cardboard packaging that The Balm are known for and it has a nice sized mirror underneath the lid for when you might want to apply it on the go. I do like the quirky packaging that The Balm use, but sometimes I get a little annoyed by how dirty and marked the cardboard can actually get after a lot of use. It can also get a bit dented and knocked around in your handbag or cosmetic bag too so I don't tend to take their products out with me for this reason.

Hot Mama! is marketed as an eye shadow or a blush but I really only mainly use it as a blush because I very rarely use single eye shadows anymore. When it is used as a shadow though it is a nice, warm peachy shade that wears really well and doesn't seem to crease too much, even after a few hours of wear.

(The Balm 'Hot Mama!' shadow/blush)

I definitely prefer to use Hot Mama! as a blush though and love the pretty, shimmery, peach shade it gives to my cheeks as it has an instant brightening effect. The powder blends out beautifully and there is usually no need to use a separate highlighter when I'm wearing this blush as it is quite shimmery on its own and I can feel a little too disco-ball if I also add highlighter on top.

I own quite a few The Balm products and am always impressed by their pigmentation and the way their powder products blend out and wear during the day.

I'd love to know what your favourite The Balm product is and why?

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

Michelle xx

The Balm 'How 'Bout Them Apples?' Cheek and Lip Palette

A little while ago I did a little haul of some The Balm products as it's a brand that I hadn't had much exposure to before. There was no way I could resist the How 'Bout Them Apples? Lip and Cheek Palette as it just looked so cute.

This palette comes in the signature cardboard packaging that The Balm are known for which is probably the one thing that I'm not a huge fan of as I can see it getting very dirty and showing a lot of wear and tear after a while. It has a flip top lid that contains quite a large mirror underneath and it is slim enough so that it doesn't feel too bulky to hold when using it.

On the back of the packaging is a list of the shades contained in the palette with little colour swatches as well.

Packaging aside, this palette contains six gorgeous creamy shades that can be used either on the lips or cheeks. The shades are all very versatile for any occasion, they are all easy to blend and don't end up patchy like some other cream products can on my skin. They are also very pigmented and a little goes a long way.

Each shade wears for a good couple of hours on my lips (with eating and drinking involved) and can last all day when I wear them as a cream blush.

I generally like to use cream makeup products on my skin when it is feeling a bit dry and I don't want anything emphasized by using powder type products so these get quite a bit of a workout when I am having no-so-good skin days.

The six shades swatched in order above are Cider (a pretty pinky nude), Pie (a nice bright pink), Candy (a more muted rose pink), Cobbler (a gorgeous red), Crisp (a shimmery pink) and Caramel (a darker browny nude).

I alternate between using all of them on my lips depending on what look I'm going for but my favourite shades to use on my cheeks as a blush are Cider, Pie and Candy. I have also used Caramel as a contour shade when in a hurry and it works really well this way when blended out.

The Balm's How 'Bout Them Apples? Lip and Cheek Palette can be bought almost anywhere that stocks The Balm products and seems to retail for around $34.95.

Has anyone else tried this palette? What are your favourite The Balm products?

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!

Michelle xx

Autumn Sunset Eye Look

So, I have been trying to get out of my comfort zone a little bit lately and get back into being more experimental with my makeup. I figure in a week or so when bub number two is finally here my care factor in doing my makeup is going to take a very big nose dive and I'll be lucky to get out of the house with some concealer and mascara on so I should be trying to make the most of it now while I still can.

The other day I was going through some of my old palettes and I came across one that I haven't given any love to in a very long time and that was my Savoir Faire Cosmetics 'Winter' kit.

I seriously loved this kit when I first got it but as what always happens when I get shiny new things some of the older stuff gets forgotten about.

So, here is the look that I created using the shadows in this kit the other day which I have dubbed my 'Autumn Sunset' eye look (yes, I am fully aware it is not Autumn in Australia right now but I just liked the name :-))

I used my three favourite shades from the kit to achieve this look which were 'Devout' (the pale beige shade on the top right) applied all over the lid as a base up to the brow bone, then I blended 'Spicy' (the coppery shade on the bottom left) into my crease before applying a light dusting of 'Kinetic' (the purple shade in the middle of the top row) onto the centre of the lid and blending out to the edges.

Here is a breakdown of the rest of the products I used for this look.

Face:
* Avon Ideal Shade Souffle Foundation in Ivory (I love, love, love this foundation at the moment for my dry and irritated hormonal skin!)
* Napoleon Perdis The One Concealer
* Physicians Formula Translucent Powder
* The Balm blush in Hot Mama
* Prestige Mineral Bronzing Powder in Sunbaked as a highlight

Eyes:
* Mirenesse Sexy Secret Eye Primer (this stuff seriously makes my eyeshadow stay crease free for an entire day which is a miracle with my super hooded eyes)
* Mirenesse Touch Up Brow Sculpter
* Mirenesss Inside Out 27Hr Eye Kohl in Amun
* Rimmel Wake Me Up Wonder Full Mascara in Black

Lips:
* Colour by TBN Lipstick in A Kiss is Still a Kiss
* Savoir Faire Cosmetics Lip Gloss in Fierce

Overall I really loved this look and didn't find it too much for wearing to work either even though it is a lot brighter than what I usually go for in the daytime.

Do you sometimes like the experiment and break out of your comfort zone during the day, or do you prefer to play around with different looks on the weekend or at night when it's a bit more safe?

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Michelle xx