the Balm 'How 'Bout Them Apples?' Cheek & Lip Cream Palette: Thoughts, Swatches, and Review

First, Happy St. Patrick's Day. Are you doing anything fun! I am only wearing green eye shadow and liner today because I have no green clothes!
Today's post is about the relatively new the Balm 'How 'Bout Them Apples' Cheek & Lip Cream Palette ($32). I picked it up during their 50% off sale a few weeks ago...the one that kept shutting down. Miraculously, my order went through, but if yours didn't, they are having another one to make up for it soon...and this should be on your list!

This palette is big, and housed in a sturdy cardboard casing with a cute picnic pin-up girl on the outside. Too adorable...and I am pretty sure that pug is Wheezie, the Balms' chief pet officer. Cute!

The back shows all the colors and the ingredients, but honestly, there is very little difference on the colors, as you can see, kinda unhelpful, but that's okay...just open it up!

This features a full-size mirror and the pans are very good size, maybe just slightly smaller than a stand-alone cream blush. But my favorite part? You guessed it---the hunky guys representing each shade! Too funny!
Let's get onto swatches and more detail!

 'Apple' Cider is the first shade on the top left of the palette. It is the lightest-- a cool pale pink with just a bit of dustiness to it. The most creamy of them all, which causes a bit of patchiness in the swatch, but nothing that can't be smoothed out on the cheek. Cider is accompanied by a brooding cowboy with some tattoos. Also, there is no smell to any of these cheek creams.

'Apple' Cobbler is the red of the bunch. This is such a juicy shade, and really reminds me of a red delicious. Creamy and great on both lips and cheeks, but be warned, a little goes a long way! I use a stippling brush to make sure I don't overdo it. Cobblers' cowboy looks all chivalrous tipping his hat at us, doesn't he?

'Apple' Pie is the closest this palette comes to a hot pink, but it has just a hint of coral. A universal shade, in my opinion. And I think this cowboy looks a bit like Cillian Murphy if you squint?

Oh 'Apple' Crisp, you might be my favorite! While all the other shades are luminous creams, this has some gold shimmer to it. It really is gorgeous. This one is very easy to blend and gives the prettiest sheen to cheeks. A great shade to dab on the middle of the lips to work your pout as well! And you definitely want to work it, because Crisps' boy is very cute!

Not only handsome, but also sweet--- Candy 'Apple' is a lighter than Pie but still vibrant pink/coral that runs just slightly cool-toned. A little bit of this and some beachy hair would be the perfect summer look. These last a long time on the face, just as the Balm powder blushes do. I get about 8+ hours of wear, depending on how hot the day is. Since these are creamy, I set them with translucent powder on hot days. On the lips, I only get a few hours wear, but they are non-drying.

Caramel 'Apple' is a dark rose/brown shade that is simply gorgeous and rounds out the palette nicely. This is a 'my lips but better' shade on lips and gives a slightly more dramatic cheek. My only problem with caramel is that this cowboy looks a little bit awkwardly photoshopped... ;).

Overall, I would pay the $32 for this palette, but getting it half off is even better! The concept is fun and will make you smile every time you open it, the product is quality, and if you are new to cream blushes, this is an entire wardrobe all in one palette, and they can double as lip creams.

So, 'How 'Bout Them Apples?'

Tell me who your favorite cowboy is in the comments!