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the Balm Hot Mama! Shadow/Blush Review (Holy Grail Product)

the Balm Hot Mama! Review

Step aside, NARS Orgasm, there’s a Hot Mama half your price roaming the shelves of Beauty Bar!

Yes, that’s right, this is a blush that isn’t as pink, but is really really close to NARS Orgasm blush! This is the Hot Mama blush of the Balm cosmetics. 
I was at Beauty Bar a few weeks ago and I was intending to buy a Nude ‘tude palette. Aside from the product being out of stock, I also found it unreasonably expensive at the SRP of Php2600++ when I know online sellers sell it for Php2000 at the most overpriced maximum already. So I just curiously browsed the shelves and saw this baby… 

I was then intrigued when I saw this baby on the shelf because I have long been hearing a lot about it. The general feedback was that it was a really big blush (as in the pan packs a lot of content) and that it was really pigmented and all. So I decided to try it out in the store, and it was waaay beyond my expectations. I barely swiped the tester brush over the blush pan and yet it went on really really colored and all on my cheek. 
I was even amused that this is also marketed as an eyeshadow because it is indeed amusing as one! 
And for those curious, these are the ingredients of the blush. I have yet to scan the QR code and see the video tutorial! 

the Balm Hot Mama! Ingredients

the Balm Hot Mama! Price

This is also a really cute product given that it’s got a protective sleeve with the exact same design!

the Balm Hot Mama! Packaging
This is why I am prolly gonna fool someone sometime by putting some paperweight in the sleeve and keeping the blush by myself bwahahahahahahah…
the Balm Hot Mama! Sleeve Packaging
And can I just say I suuuuper love the hot mama on the packaging and her maracas in tow? As in all my friends whom I’ve shown this too also love her maracas. I mean how many blush brands out there come with sexy ladies carrying musical instruments? 

the Balm Hot Mama! Blush and Sleeve

 As for color, it’s really amusing… It’s a coral colored blush with a golden toned hologram luminizer added to it which is why when you look at the pan itself it seems to have no shimmer and yet is far from matte.

the Balm Hot Mama! Pan

It really is a less pinky sister of NARS Orgasm because it’s got that golden hologram thing going on. 
the Balm Hot Mama! Blush Pan Zoom In

However, the reason why I personally prefer it more over the Orgasm blush is because it’s not as dusty… when I use a fluffy brush on it it will not dust up to the side of the pan but instead will stick onto the fibers of the brush. This is a key feature I look for in blush products because dusty blush equates to more product wastage.

This is the swatch. It is a warm based coral but with a cool gold hologram to it. It feels light on the skin (not as heavy as Hourglass’ blush) but it packs a lot of color and is really piigmented. It has no microglitter or shimmer, just hologram.

the Balm Hot Mama! Swatch

I LOVE the overall effect. In real life your cheeks have color and all, but what it does is in photos is that it ‘glows’ on the apples of the cheeks and colors up towards the hollows and the sides of the cheeks. You can see in this photo of me that nearer to the nose it looks golden but nearer to the ears it looks coral. The color is really nice and I do think that the hologram feature means that it will work really well on a whole spectrum of skintones. 
Just take note though that the color itself is not very dark, if you are really looking forward to looking really pink or to having doll-like features, you may have difficulties with this blush because by virtue its color isn’t very dark. It is, however, very buildable though. 
Wearing theBalm Hot Mama! Blush

theBalm Hot Mama! Blush Review

theBalm Hot Mama! Blush Review

Staying power is also very very good. I was able to survive a day in the summer heat (it stayed on all morning and still stayed in the evening after I had spent the whole afternoon outdoors) with this blush on. You can expect this blush to have no problems for 8-9 hours, even under more aggressive weather conditions.

It is also very good in sticking to the face based on my experiences on swatching this. Before I swatched this I used another blush of another brand and it easily came off as I was wiping my face with tissue. I re applied powder and put this one on, and after I took photos with this blush and was about to move on to the next, I had extreme difficulty in wiping it with tissue. I was not able to wipe a lot off and had to dust a lot of powder to be able to get the color off my cheeks.

So I think you’ve already seen the price awhile ago– I got this for Php775 from Beauty Bar. 
Value for money wise, get this. As in get this. 
If you’re looking for a decent NARS Orgasm dupe (I know there are many dupes but the blushes are either poorly suggested or do not have a lot of staying power), this may not be a very close match in terms of color, but if you’re looking for the general features of having a coral based blush with golden hologram, then this is for you. In general too, since this isn’t my first blush, all I do is just mix it up with a pink blush whenever I want to get the exact Orgasm shade on my cheeks…
If you need a good everyday blush that isn’t dark in color, looks natural and gives an overall glow, this is also for you. 
It’s not dirt cheap and all, but for the quality of the product and the amount of product that comes in the package, this is really a good buy. 
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