Balmbini Volume 2 Swatches and Review (VERY pic heavy!!)!

I don't know if you guys remember that Gonzo look I did recently but that was for a contest on theBalm's facebook page.  They were giving away a Muppet palette and you were supposed to do a look based on a Muppet and give it a name.  Well, I didn't win but I was a runner up and they sent the runners up each a Balmbini Volume 2 palette.  I got mine yesterday and since it's super new I figured I'd swatch it for you so you can decide whether or not this is a palette you'd be interested in!

Packaging:

 The cover splits so you can access just the shadows or just the lip/cheek colors

 Shadow swatches (over NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil "Milk"):

Swatches of the Balmbini Volume 2 colors vs. the first possible dupe colors I have that I thought of

As you can see, the "Peanut" is way more yellow toned than Promiscuous Pearl, which is a BEAUTIFUL color!  I absolutely see myself using Promiscuous Pearl a lot.  It's beautiful and shimmery and the texture is unbelievable.

NYX "Black" seems to be just a bit more black than Jinxy Jasmine but I still think that Jinxy Jasmine is a great black, I honestly do.  Again, the texture is soo nice!  I'll definitely use it.

And as for Manic Mirabel vs. U.D.'s "Baked" and Open to Offers Olwen vs. U.D.'s "Flipside", they're basically the same exact colors.  Urban Decay's are much more metallic but other than that, they're the same. I do really like these colors.  The pigmentation is great, as is the texture.

And I don't have any colors that would be a good dupe for Lavish Latoya because, to be totally honest, I'm really not a fan of that color.  The only thing I can see myself using it for would be maybe a smokey eye with a grey color I have from Inglot.  But I just don't have a dupe for it because it's not a color I would purchase for myself.

 The bottom half:

Swatches:

Strawberry is a really nice color.  I tend to go for powder blushes instead of cream because they can make my face makeup go muddy kind of, it's not a good look.  But I figured out if I stipple it over my foundation with my fingers, it doesn't mess up my foundation.

Nude is a pretty color but it's kind of drying feeling on my lips.  And it's a bit darker than nudes I typically reach for.

The whole thing open:

 It's not a huge palette, this is how it compares to my hand

And it's quite thin:

So out of the 7 colors in this palette, I really like 4.  The cheek color is ok and I'm sure I'll randomly use it.  But I don't see myself using "Lavish Latoya" or "Nude" very often, if ever.  I believe this palette retails for $28 on theBalm's website.  Would I pay $28 for it??  Probably not.  I do think the texture and pigment of the shadows is great.  I'm not a fan of 4 out of 5 being shimmery because I really like matte finishes.  I'm VERY glad the black is matte.  But they're not lacking pigmentation wise at all.  I'd buy it for sure if it were like half price.  I do love the fact that I can come up with a complete eye look using just this palette.  I hate having to pull out extra shadows to finish an eye look.  This has my matte black in it that I always use and an amazing highlight and some really great colors.

Now, I noticed that the back of the palette had a face chart that shows you where to place which product.  So I thought, since I'm reviewing this product anyway, that I'd follow the face chart and see what it would look like.  So here's the face chart

And here is what I look like after following it

I added some of the Open to Offers Olwen under my eye for a pop of color

Can I tell you how much I HATE that they said to put that Lavish Latoya in the inner part of the lid???  It looks terrible.  This look would be like 100 times better if they hadn't said to put that there.  

Can you see what a great cheek highlight that Promiscuous Pearl makes??  It's beautiful!

To me, this look was very blah.  I have complete faith that I will come up with some amazing looks using this palette, just the face chart look is not one of them.  I do think a big part of not liking it is the fact that I really don't like my whole lid to be shimmery.

I  really hope this was helpful to someone out there!  Do you think you'll be purchasing the Balmbini Volume 2??  Do you already have it?  Do you like it??

I hope you have a great weekend!  Thanks so much for checking this out!!!