theBalm Mary Lou Manizer Luminizer

Here it is, finally, the most popular illuminator the beauty blogging world has ever encountered – behold, theBalm Mary Lou Manizer Luminizer! The star of many, many blogs and it was catapulted into stardom during the past year. I've been familiar with it for about 2-3 years but I wasn't into online shopping back then so I never had the guts to order it. That was a damn shame because I missed a lot. Se here are my two cents about the entire Mary Lou Manizer situation and the frequently asked question – “is it worth the $quot;?First thing I felt a little comprehensive about was the packaging. I'm usually a fan of the sleek, simple and classic packaging (e.g.Chanel) or the smooth, luxury-dripping one (e.g.YSL). I'm the one that shifts between two extremes and I never bought anything by Too Faced because I found the packaging to be a little gimmicky, perhaps? Would that be the right word? Don't get me wrong here, I'm a fan of interesting illustration that brad features on its products – the thing I was worried about was whether they're covering poor quality packaging with lots of drawings, illustrations etc. The same thing was on my mind regarding theBalm products. Well, I'm so glad that my worries faded away the moment I held my own Mary Lou and felt it with curious fingers (perhaps I could have said this differently?). Yes, the cardboard box it comes in does look a million times better with the funny illustrations. Oh my, am I starting to actually like this type of packaging?

I napokon, najpopularniji iluminator, apsolutni vladar svijeta beauty blogerica – duboki naklon za theBalm Mary Lou Manizer Luminizer! Radi se o zvijezdi mnogih blogova koja je dozivjela slavu tokom prosle godine. Za ovaj iluminator sam zagrijana tokom posljednje 2-3 godine no prije par godina uopste nisam prakticirala online kupovinu tako da se nisam ranije odvazila da ga narucim sa neke online stranice. To je, priznati cu, velika steta jer sam doista propustala mnogo. Ovo ce biti moji dojmovi glede cjelokupne Mary Lou Manizer situacije (ili bolje reci manije) te cu pokusati dati odgovor na cesto postavljeno pitanje – “da li vrijedi novca”? Ono oko cega sam bila pomalo nervozna je pakovanje. Obicno ce mi se dopasti ili elegantno, minimalisticno pakovanje (kakvo ima npr. Chanel) ili ce mi oci biti fiksirane na ugladjenu, bezobrazno luksuznu ambalazu (kaku ima npr. YSL). Tip sam osobe koji uvijek ide od ekstrema do ekstrema i jos jednu stvar cu vam priznati – nikada nisam kupila neki make-up komad od brenda Too Faced iz razloga sto mi se pakovanje kakvo njihova kozmetika ima jednostavno cinilo kao distrakcija, taktikom odvlacenja paznje mozda? Ne bih zeljela da me pogresno shvatite jer mi je vizualno privlacno pakovanje tih proizvoda sa simpaticnim ilustracijama – ono sto je mene uvijek brinulo jeste da li sa tim ilustracijama pokusavaju odvratiti paznju od nekvalitetne “gradje” ambalaze. Da li sa oslikanom vanjstinom kompenziraju nekvalitetno pakovanje? Isto sam se pitala i kada je theBalm u pitanju. Drago mi je sto su mi svi upitnici iznad glave nestali a brige se razisle cim sam p;o prvi put drzala svoj Mary Lou iluminator i ispipkala ga znatizeljnim prsticima (tek sada vidim da se ovo moze dvojako shvatiti). I da, kartonska kutijica u kojoj je sam iluminator je nebrojeno puta ljepsa i privlacnija sa ilustracijama nego sto bi bila bez njih. Uh-oh, da li mi se ustvari ovakvo pakovanje pocinje zaista dopadati?

You get a whopping 8,5g of illuminator and that's quite a bargain when you purchase this particular one via feelunique here as it's the most affordable online shop I've found that stocks theBalm products. I bought mine during a sale but the full price isn't bad either (£16.00). It's decently priced in comparison to the Bath&Unwind price point of £18.79 (you can find here). The pot itself seems to be made of quality plastic but it seems rather heavy when you hold it. It has an industrial feel to it due to the aluminum silver-y coloring and there's also a nice retro, vintage feel due to the illustrated sticker on the lid. The lid is quite firm, opens and closes with a nice “click” sound (something I personally enjoy, have no idea why). And we get to the good stuff. It's of a warm golden, champagne – slash- honey color. It's somewhat difficult to describe as it's not cool but the intense sheen it has makes it cool under some light. On my skin it's pretty warm but I think that it's adaptable as I've seen pictures on the net on lighter skin tones and it does seem pretty much lighter than it does on me. That sheen it has is the most curious thing about this illuminator.

Po pitanju gramaze, ambalaza sadrzi 8,5g proizvoda sto ovaj iluminator cini ekonomicnom kupovinom, posebno ako ga nabavite preko feelunique stranice ovdje posto feelunique ima najpovoljniju cijenu ovog proizvoda. Svoj sam primjerak kupila tokom popusta no puna cijena takodjer nije strasna (cca 38KM). U svakom slucaju je privlacnije cijene u odnosu na Bath&Unwind stranicu gdje kosta cca 45KM (mozete pogledati ovdje). Kompaktno pakovanje je napravljeno od kvalitetne, cvrste plastike no dosta je tesko kada ga drzite u ruci. Posjeduje industrijski smek zbog tezine, cvrstine i srebrne boje koja je mene asocirala na aluminij. Takodjer je osjetan i retro, vintage smek zbog naljepnice na poklopcu koja je oslikana u tom maniru. Poklopac je dosta cvrst, nije labav i pri otvaranju/ zatvaranju proizvodi “klik” zvuk (koji, iz nekog cudnog razloga, smatram prijatnim). Iluminator je tople zlatne boje, pomalo nijanse sampanjca no na nekom svjetlu i njezne medene boje. Donekle je tesko opisati tacnu nijansu jer uopste nije hladnog podtona no, zbog odsjaja koji na svjetlu reflektuju sjajne cestice, nekada moze djelovati i hladno. Na mojoj je kozi dosta topao no mislim da je jedne prilagodljive nijanse jer sam na internetu vidjela fotke ovog iluminatora na kojima djeluje dosta svjetlije na svijetlijem tonu koze u odnosu na to kako izgleda na meni. Odsjaj koji Mary Lou ima je mozda i najintrigantnija stvar kod njega.

Sure, there's some extremely, microscopically tiny shimmer inside but it's so finely milled and the pigmentation and intensity of the color itself is so punchy – *takesabreath* it's very much a stunner, trust me. This one is an attention-grabber. It's luminous, light refracts on it, it's beautiful and gorgeous and it looks like something Disney princess would have on her cheekbones. Pressed fairy dust in a compact. You can build it up, layer it up any way you want. It can provide light, subtle pools of light but you can also apply it so that you'll be visible from the Moon (not exactly, but you get the idea). The texture is beyond amazing – so buttery and smooth, blends like a dream and you can easily incorporate it with your foundation, blush and bronzer so it doesn't seem to sit on top of the skin – it becomes a natural part of your skin and make-up. Longevity is amazing, more than eight hours on me. You can also use it as an eyeshadow and it makes a heck of an eyeshadow, let me tell you. Now, I want to know why are you still reading this? Go, go out there and get your own Mary Lou Manizer!

Ukoliko vas zanima – da, Mary Lou sadrzi ekstremno, mikroskopski sitan shimmer koji je toliko fino usitnjen a pigmentacija i intenzitet same boje je toliko jak – *hvatazrak* vjerujte mi, ovo je jedan fascinantan proizvod. Svakako da uvijek privlaci paznju. Presijava se, svjetlo se slama pod svim uglovima i osvjetljava lice. Toliko je nestvarno lijep da bih za njega pomislila kako mi izgleda kao nesto sto bi Disney princeze imale na svojim jagodicama. On je vilinska prasina u kompaktnom pakovanju. Mozete da postignete razlicite efekte sa njim ukoliko ga nanosite u slojevima. Od suptilno osvjetljenih tacaka na licu do intenzivnih bazena svjetlosti, vidljivih sa Mjeseca (malo pretjerujem no sigurno shvatate sto zelim reci). Tekstura je fantasticna – puterasto meka i glatka, blenda se bez ikakvih grubih prijelaza i sa lakocom postaje dio cjelokupnog lica zajedno sa podlogom, rumenilom ili bronzerom. Uopste ne djeluje kao nesto sto tek stoji povrh koze- on postaje dio vaseg tena i make-upa. Trajnost je odlicna, vise od osam sati na mojoj kozi. Mozete ga koristiti i kao sjenu za oci i stvarno je odlican i kao sjena, isprobala sam ga i u tu svrhu i odusevljena sam. Sada me zanima zasto jos me uvijek citate? Idite, slobodno odmah narucite svoj Mary Lou Manizer!