The Balm Nude'tude palette

So I've been meaning to write up a blog post on The Balm's Nude'tude palette which I bought a few months ago in Miri and with any eyeshadow palette, I like to test it out and do different looks with the palette before eventually reviewing it. However I find that hard to do with The Balm's Nude'tude because as much as I wanted to, I hardly ever reach for this palette! Which really surprises me because I thought I'd go crazy with their neutral shades!

The Balm Nude'tude palette

The Balm Nude'tude palette

The palette comes in a sleek cardboard box which is very compact and travel-friendly. It's also thin in comparison to Urban Decay's Naked palette. Also, like the Naked palette the Nude'tude comes with 12 beautiful shades of neutrals and browns. It is however fairly cheaper than the Urban Decay Naked palette.

  The Balm Nude'tude palette

This palette is great for everyday use because they are mostly browns. The eye shadows are also highly pigmented and are very easy to blend! However I find that the shades in this palette are less versatile than the Naked palette. For instance, the eye shadow Sultry and Seductive are pretty similar except Sultry is matte and Seductive is shimmery. Even though there are 12 shades in the Nude'tude just like the Naked palette, I am less inspired by the colors in Nude'tude than I am when I'm using the Naked palette which is very sad because I really thought I'd get a lot of use out of this palette!

Here are two looks I did using The Balm Nude'tude palette:

#1

 

#2

 

Pardon my red eye

 Anyways, if you are a student just starting out with makeup I'd recommend this palette over the Naked palette because The Balm's Nude'tude is way cheaper and they are more easily accessible. I don't know if I am just biased or what because in all honesty I did own the Naked palette first and have been more familiar with that particular palette than I did the Nude'tude. But you have to admit the quality is there, The Balm's eye shadows are just as good as any other high-end eye shadows I have ever tried. For example, I am obsessed with the shade Insane Jane from their Shady Lady Vol.2 palette! I've even stopped using it so much because I hit pan on it and I'm trying to save it!

I hope you guys won't mind me comparing The Balm Nude'tude palette with the Naked. After all I believe Nude'tude only came out after the Naked palette soared in popularity among the beauty community both online and offline! The Balm Nude'tude palette retails for RM115 in Sasa.

The Balm: Cabana Boy blush

I hate to admit it but I'm a sucker for cute makeup packaging. Even if the product is way out of my budget I'll wanna buy it if it's cute. Luckily for me The Balm products are not too pricey in any way plus they are super cute. Right up my alley haha! I especially like the retro drawings they put on their products much like Benefit's.

The Balm blusher in Cabana Boy

  The Balm blusher in Cabana Boy

I initially wanted to get the Hot Mama blush which is pretty popular among the other beauty bloggers because it is similar to Nars Orgasm blush and is way cheaper. I stood there for a good 5 mins just to decide which blush to get! haha the sales lady even walked off after a while because she got bored waiting! Not like it's a life or death matter but these things matter to me! haha So in the end I chose Cabana Boy because I know I will get more wear out of it. Hot Mama is too shimmery for an everyday blush for me. (Maybe next time lolol)

The Balm blusher in Cabana Boy

  The Balm blusher in Cabana Boy

Cabana Boy is a deep pink, almost berry color with specks of gold in it. The gold is hardly visible when you put the blush on. It's a really beautiful color and it gives a nice flush to your cheeks like you've been working out. lol The good thing about this blush is that it's deep enough to match skin tones ranging from both ends of the spectrum; from light to medium to dark. Plus it's not crazy shimmery like the Hot Mama blush so it's also better for you if you have dry skin because shimmery products tend to accentuate the dryness of the skin. 

Swatch of The Balm Cabana Boy blush

This was a pretty heavy swatch I did just to show you how the color looks like on the skin. This stuff is crazy pigmented! So remember, a little goes a long way! It is also buildable but I doubt that you'd wanna put on that much... unless you want to of course. No pressure lol All in all I'm really glad I picked this up! Definitely worth the money. The Cabana Boy blush retails for RM65 in Sasa.

Haul from Miri!

I went down to Miri last week and from the tweets I read, a lot of Bruneians went down as well. Saw a few friends here and there in some of the malls and seeing them again reminds me that school is about to start soon because everyone's doing some last minute retail therapy! Anyways most of the pictures in this post are taken in my home's backyard. Just thought I'd switch it up every once in a while. Hope you guys like it as much as I do!

I finally got to visit Sasa for the first time! And to my horror, Stage cosmetics is no longer available in Parkson! Ugh what happened?? I must be the last person to find out that they closed down, since I hardly ever go down to Miri. I always bought my brush cleanser from Stage, now I don't know where else to find a good one. Maybe DIY them??

The Balm blusher in Cabana boy and eyeshadow Palette Nude'tude

I'm so glad Sasa have Nude'tude in stock! Coz the last time I asked a friend and she said it was sold out when she went there. Score for me!! haha What's more I got it for only RM85! It was discounted from RM115! The blusher also has a discount but I really don't remember how much I paid for them in total. I just know I'm happy haha Actually I'm surprised at myself for being so good, I thought I would go crazy in Sasa but apparently not. *patselfonback*

But now I'm eyeing Za's Cheeks Groovy blushers. They look so darn gorgeous! One of the shades look so much like Nars Orgasm!

Za's Cheeks Groovy blushers. Can you tell which of them looks like Nars Orgasm blush? 

 

Falsies!

I walk past one of these booths in Parkson selling fragrances and saw that they sell false eyelashes too. Many of the shops there even sell the Ardell falsies but those costs RM22! B$10 for a pair of lashes? Heck no! So I got these instead. A box for RM12! I know you can get them for far cheaper online or wherever but these are good enough for me! I go through these really slowly so I know two boxes are gonna last me a while. 

SasaTinnie makeup remover wipes

These makeup remover wipes are on sale in Sasa for 50% off so I just grabbed them. They smell a little funky but works wonders! I normally just use the regular wet wipes to remove my makeup so these are perfect. Plus they claim to have all these ingredients that are supposedly good for the skin so I thought why not. 

I bought a new wallet! Finally! I bought this in Parkson where they always have this super awesome 10%-70% sale going on all the time there and my favourite thing to do is rake through all the bags, wallet and clutches to see if I can find any good deals and most of the time, I do! I like that all the stuff there has a brand and it reassures me that at least the stuff have quality.

 

Two random pair of earrings bought last minute just before we left for home. The earrings on the right is super cute. Reminds me of an atom. The hoop earrings is a purple color but it gives of a pink shine in another light, so pretty! Much like the popular duo chrome nail polishes!

 

Last but not least...

 

I bought a dreamcatcher! I was so surprised when I saw this in Boulevard. Me and the siblings we just stepped on the elevator going up and I turned left and there was this stall hanging all of these beautiful dreamcatchers! I almost screamed I kid you not! I wanted to run down the elevator and charge towards the stall so bad but Shala insisted that we eat lunch first lol So we ate and I half-walked-half-ran back to the stall...

A stalk-ish photo of the stall. lol

As you can see this dreamcatcher is not that big at all but it is quite pricey for what it is! But if you know me you know how pretty much obsessed I am with dreamcatchers (see my blog header lol) so I'm glad I got one!

The Balm - Balm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer

I've had this tinted moisturizer for quite a while but unfortunately I've never paid much attention to it. It's the only tinted moisturizer I've tried and own and I quite like it! I normally use it on my 'lazy' days when I simply wanna balance out my skin tone and also when I don't feel like putting on layers of face makeup.

The Balm - Balm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer

The Balm - Balm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer in Light/Medium

Balm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer swatch and blended out

Though it's not much, it does have SPF18 in it. The texture is really creamy and it's really easy to blend everything out nicely and I just use my fingers like I would a moisturizer! It gives quite a dewy finish so I always made sure to pat some powder on to tame the amount of shine on my face. Else I'll look a tad too shiny if you know what I mean lol

Applying Balm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer

If I'm not mistaken these only come in 3 shades. Light, Light/Medium and Medium. Just to be safe I purchased the Light/Medium shade.

After blending out.

I really like that this moisturizer feels extremely light on my face. Sometimes I even forget that I'm wearing a tinted moisturizer! Plus my skin gets really dry sometimes on my lips area so this is perfect for it! Since Sasa in Miri is open now, I believe you can get it there! :D Got this so long ago that I've forgotten how much this costs. Try it out if you haven't! It might just be what you need!