In the beginning of May, I picked up this cute set of theBalm products. I am a fan of theBalm in general, and did enjoy their concelear back in the day. I spotted this set at T.J. Maxx for $29.99 and figured it'd be worth a try, even though I thought the shades might be too light.
The products in this set are all full size, and include TimeBalm Concealer, SexyMama Powder, Liquid TimeBalm concealer, and BalmShelter Tinted Moisturizer. Here are a few swatches of the products included.
I did not test the powder, as I do not typically use powders for mattifying or setting purposes. As you can see from the swatch, it didn't really show up on my arm, which is probably a good thing for a mattifying powder. I was surprised to find that the shades were a bit different between products, even though they were all the "light/medium" shade. TimeBalm appears more peachy/pink when swatched on my skin, whereas Liquid TimeBalm had more yellow, which I prefer. BalmShelter was also more peachy than I would normally choose.
In terms of the products themselves, TimeBalm has a smooth, creamy texture that is great for under the eyes. It reminds me a bit of Laura Mercier's Secret Concealer, in terms of texture and application. Liquid TimeBalm is meant for acne spots, and contains tea tree oil and is paraben free. This worked well for me, and helped to cover the redness of spots that I had at the time, while giving it a mild tea tree oil treatment. While this didn't heal my pimples magically (and I didn't expect it to!), the breakouts I had never got worse when I wore this. Just a note as well, Liquid TimeBalm does smell like tea tree oil, so if that bothers you, you may want to skip this! I didn't time the exact length of wear, but it seemed to last the majority of the day.
I love the name of the BalmShelter Tinted Moisturizer, and this is a nice product as well. I love my Nars Tinted Moisturizer, so it is becoming increasingly difficult to impress me with regular tinted moisturizer formulas. This product has a slight makeup scent (like old school lipstick smells, almost?) that does go away a few minutes after application. The coverage is relatively sheer, but does help to even the complexion.
In the end, I decided to save my $32 and return the set. Yes, it was such a great value and I almost kept it, but the shades being not quite right for me tipped the scales. Besides, $32 is a good chunk of money to put towards my wish list instead of an impulse buy.
I hope you can find this great value set if you are interested! I will definitely try other shades of these products to see what shades fit better. What do you think of these products from theBalm?