theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer - #highlightonfleek

Let us take a moment here and just look at that beautiful highlight... yes?
I know I'm late jumping on the bandwagon, but ohmigodgivememorehighlighters! I've always been one for cream highlights because they look more natural, but ever since strobing has become more popular, I can't help but want to layer them.. enter theBalm's Mary Lou-Manizer. First of all - the name? THE NAME. I love it. Quirky is something I can identify with - and this just makes me happy.
Secondly, the packaging - I'm more of a black and metallic girl when it comes to Makeup packaging, but this is so classy and funky that I can't help but lurrrvve it.
Thirdly, Strawberrynet.com was on a huge sale and I snagged this lovely gem for a steal of INR 1400. Seriously.
Now, the actual product. It's a light golden finely milled powder with shimmer. It doesn't have any chunky glitter in it, but I still think it could have been smaller shimmer, y'know? But it doesn't bother me all that much.
Now this thing is pigmented as hell. You can really get a stripe of highlight on your cheeks if you aren't careful, so I apple this with my fingers an work it into my skin, giving me a subtle sheen. It wears roughly 5-6 hours on me before fading, which isn't bad at all.
It doesn't emphasise my textures skin, instead it gives me a bit of a soft focus glow... which I absolutely adore.
On days I'm feeling particularly dull, I dab this over my MAC Lustre Drops and it creates such a gorgeous glow... I can't get enough.
I may be needing a few more highlighters soon...

Have you tried this? What are your thoughts?

P.S. Incase you guys didn't know, I write a bimonthly column for The Hindu Metro Plus - all about makeup, you can find the articles here (Iupdate as they come out). Take a read and let me know!

I'm BACK! + theBalm Tinted Moistureiser Review!

Guess who? Yep! After almost 2 months, I'm back!

Quick little story for ya - I moved to London, which most of you know, to start studying makeup for film, television, fashion and theatre. So far there has been a lot of hair, which I love, surprisingly, but also tons and tons of makeup, which I will post about soon. But somehow along the way, I lost interest in the makeup/blogging world. You see, when you're dealing with actual makeup for Television and Film and even everyday life on a day to day basis, it really makes you rethink this whole beauty blogging world. Because a lot of the people seem to be here for to make money and push products for the sake of it, and to me, that took the fun out of blogging... because, there really is no miracle foundation that will fix every problem you have or that one primer that will fill out your pores, its a combination of things, its always going to be, and there is no wonder product no matter how good the very edited campaign pictures may look or the blogger/ article may claim... but now that I've had some time to think about it, I still want the world to know my take on the product, so I'm back.. with a cheeky little review. I know, Shock horror! I maybe a bit slow getting back into things, but if you're still reading after this break, thank you, and stay tuned!

So, imagine my surprise when my flatmate walks into my room one day and thrusts a box at me and says "its too light for me, you try it". Ofcourse I had no idea what she was talking about. theBalm is not a company I'm very familiar with.. I know of their highlighters and eyeshadow palettes, but bases? I never even thought to try them. But here I was, holding a shiney new tube of theBalm Shelter tinted moisturizer SPF 18 in Medium/Dark which I naturally slapped on almost instantly. Fair warning, for everyone who is yellow undertoned, this looks scarily pink when you first apply it onto your face. Heck, it made me look very grey - which considering is the general colour of winter, not a good look, BUT after a few minutes, it sunk in and started looking pretty good, even if I say so myself. In terms of coverage it a light to medium, good enough to cover my hyper pigmentation, but not great with my acne scarring, so naturally, if you have spots and scars like me you'll need concealer over it. But I just add a bit of my MAC Studio Fix Powder over it to cover those nasty scars, and I, pretty much good to go.
Its glowey, so if you're looking for something matte - stay far far away, but it lasts pretty much all day long and makes me feel like I have nothing on (go figure - tinted moisturizer). So I would say, though I didn't pay for it initially, I would definitely be repurchasing this.

FYI, it costs GBP 17.50 and can be found at feel unique that ships internationally!

Have you heard of/tried this? What are your thoughts?