TheBalm Nude 'Tude Eyeshadow Palette

I had long been curious about TheBalm but never bothered to check out their products until recently. Their palettes have been receiving rave reviews for the past year or so (I'm still sad that I couldn't get my hands on their limited edition, ultra-coveted Muppets palette, which had some of the most gorgeous, pigmented shades), and so when I saw that they had a promotion on their Shady Lady palettes (all three palettes for the price of one!) on their site, I decided I had to get in on this. Of course, because they only offer free international shipping for orders of $100 or more (otherwise it's $40 for shipping on their site), I ordered a bunch of other goodies, too. One of which was the Nude 'Tude eyeshadow palette.

This palette contains 12 nude/neutral eyeshadow shades inside a slim cardstock case (similar to a hardcover book) and has a magnetic close. It comes with a full-length mirror spanning the entire inside of the lid and a mini dual-ended eyeshadow/liner brush. There are two versions of this palette, one called "Feeling Naughty" that features nude pin-up girls with eyeshadows censoring various parts (which is the one featured here), and one called "Feeling Nice" that features a black-and-white photo of a bedroom similar to the one on the cover of the palette. Both palettes feature the same 12 shades. The palette contains a total of 11.08 grams of product, and retails for $36 USD.

Sassy, Snobby, Stubborn, Stand-offish, Selfish, and Sultry

Sassy, Snobby, Stubborn, Stand-offish, Selfish, and Sultry

Sassy is a pale white with a frosted finish. It has a soft, buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is similar to MAC Crystal Avalanche.

Snobby is a light yellow gold with a frosted finish. It has a soft, buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter than MAC Goldmine, and darker than MAC Ricepaper.

Stubborn is a light-medium pinked peach with a frosted finish. It has a soft, buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter than MAC All That Glitters.

Stand-offish is a light-medium gilded peach with shimmer in a frosted finish. It has a soft, buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is similar to MAC Naked Lunch.

Selfish is a medium-dark taupe in a frosted finish. It has a soft, buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter than MAC Satin Taupe.

Sultry is a medium-dark warm brown in a satin finish. It has a soft texture and goes on smoothly, but it almost blends out too easily so it can seem a uneven if applied with a heavy hand (like in the swatch, my finger dragged the pigment so that it looks sheered out). It can be layered easily. It is less orange-toned than MAC Saddle.

Sophisticated, Seductive, Sexy, Silly, Serious, and Sleek

Sophisticated, Seductive, Sexy, Silly, Serious, and Sleek

Sophisticated is a dark cool-toned brown with shimmer in a frosted finish. It has a soft, buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It's like a frosted version of MAC Brun.

Seductive is a medium-dark bronze-brown in a frosted finish. It has a soft, buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is less golden than MAC Bronze, and slightly lighter than MAC Tempting.

Sexy is a dark reddened burgundy in a matte finish. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and much more red than MAC Embark, and much darker and much less pink than MAC Cranberry.

Silly is a dark reddened brown with copper sparkle in a satin finish. It has a slightly drier, stiffer texture, so it goes on a bit patchy and powdery with some fall out. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is less red than MAC Embark.

Serious is a dark soft black in a matte finish. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more intense than MAC Carbon.

Sleek is a dark blackened brown in a matte finish. It has a soft texture and goes on smoothly, but it almost blends out too easily so it can seem a uneven if applied with a heavy hand (like in the swatch, my finger dragged the pigment so that it looks sheered out). It can be layered easily. It is more brown than MAC Mystery, and more blackened than MAC Brun.

A very solid palette, overall. It's a really good neutral palette that can be used to create simple, natural looks to much smokier, sultrier looks. With the exception of a couple of shades, the textures are generally soft and buttery, and they have great pigmentation and colour pay-off. Of course, comparisons to Urban Decay's Naked Palette are inevitable. I find that the Naked Palette still has better textures, pigmentation, and colour pay-off across the board. The Naked Palette as a whole is more expensive, but you also get more product; the cost per gram for both is actually quite similar (Urban Decay is $3.21/g, TheBalm is $3.25/g). However, those who wanted more satin/matte shades and more tonal variation from the Naked Palette (which consists of mostly warm shades) may want to check this one out.