The Balm Nude Dude eyeshadow palette

Today we’re having a closer look at an eyeshadow palette that I have had in my collection for some time, but that I never got around to reviewing just yet. I am talking about The Balm’s Nude Dude eyeshadow palette. The Balm do some great eyeshadows and I think they are a very underrated brand. They are not my favorite, but I have tried their Nude Tude and Nude Beach palettes in the same line and generally enjoyed them. How did I fare with the second palette released in this series?

The Balm Nude Dude eyeshadow palette | Review, Swatch & Makeup Look

This palette is an oldie and definitely not a new palette. This has been around for a good 4 – 5 years now, but it is still available and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere just yet. It retails around the €35 mark and is most easily available online. It perfectly fits the style of the other palettes in this line. In part one, the shadows made up the coverage of naked women bodies, this one covers up the men, hence the name.

The Packaging

I have said this many times and I will say it again: The Balm’s packaging is one of the most appealing on the market. I like their retro styling and clever puns of shade names, products and general look and feel. The palette also has a very sleek design which is an added bonus. It comes with a full mirror in the lid, but still the packaging is super slim and easy to carry around. If you plan to travel with this, I would keep the sleeve this comes in as the palette doesn’t have a magnetic closure of any kind. So if you want to keep it secure in a makeup bag the sleeve is a must have.

The Palette

Like the Nude Tude and Nude Beach, Nude Dude contains 12 different shades. Unlike those palettes, the layout of the shadows is the most cohesive in this palette. In the other two the pans are shifted at a diagonal or vertical angle, but these are all laid out horizontally which is a lot more pleasing to the eye. In total you get 6 mattes and 6 shimmers and all of these shades have a bit of a rosy undertone. This is like the amped up version of Urban Decay’s Naked 3! Don’t believe me, let’s have a closer look at some swatches.

The Swatches

Most of these shades are well-pigmented and show up well against my fair skin. Only the very first shade top left in the palette is a bit troublesome for me, but it still makes for a good blending shade. As you can see all of these shades have a bit of a rosy/ pink undertone. They are all neutral shades, but they all have that hint of something else to them. That makes these shades a lot more wearable than the Urban Decay Naked 3, which some people claim makes them look like they have pink eye. I personally do not have that problem, but if that is you and you are looking for a pink toned palette that doesn’t do that, Nude Dude is your safest bet. It has a good variety of dark and light shades and all shades blend very easily.

The Application

My only gripe about this palette? That is isn’t very versatile, which is why I am giving you only one look with this palette. But especially on my lid I think you can see how these neutrals aren’t just standard browns and bronzes but have that little hint of something else to them. I have used as many shades from the palette as possible when I created this, but this is not the kind of palette that inspires me to use it over and over and over again. It is a good basic neutral palette, good for travel as it is so slim and it works well with my complexion. Some people have issue with The Balm’s eyeshadow disappearing on them during the day, but I personally never have that problem.

The Conclusion

The Balm’s Nude Dude eyeshadow palette is an oldie but a goodie. It is a great neutral palette that will deliver if you are looking for a more easy to wear pink toned palette. Sadly, it is a bit of a one trick pony, which leads me to not reach for this all the time. In fact, I think this may be one of my least used palettes in my collection. Then again, I like what it does and I feel there are some unique shades in this that I don’t have anywhere else in my collection, because of that rosy undertone. That is why it still deserves a spot in my eyeshadow palette collection.

Have you tried The Balm’s eyeshadow palettes?