The Balm Cosmetics The Manizer Sisters Palette Review & Swatches

When I first heard that The Balm was releasing a palette of their "Manizer" luminizers at Kohls a few weeks ago, I couldn't have been more excited! Mary-Lou Manizer is my favorite highlighter of all time and I use Cindy-Lou often as an illuminating blush. I also use both of them as eyeshadows from time to time...I love to use them by themselves with a little black liquid liner and mascara for a simple, everyday look. I haven't gotten around to purchasing Betty-Lou, mainly because it's too dark for me to use as a highlighter and too shimmery to wear all over as a bronzer. But I'm so glad I have it now because it'll make a great eyeshadow as well! I know a lot of you guys were wondering about the size of this new palette, so I just wanted to do a quick overview and comparison so you can see how it compares to the originals. Let's take a look! 

The Manizer Sisters- $28 at Kohls.com

The Manizer Sisters palette comes as a little cardboard foldover style palette with a magnetic closure. It was a little smaller than I thought it was going to be, based on the photos I saw online, but it's always so hard to tell.

The Manizer Sisters- $28 at Kohls.com

Here's the palette next to my full size Mary-Lou and Cindy-Lou, which will give you an idea of the size when compared to them. One thing I really love about the cardboard packaging is that I feel like it won't shatter if you drop it. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened to my Cindy-Lou Manizer compact when I was taking the photos for this post. It slipped out of my hands and onto the floor in a million pieces. :(

Opened up, you can see that the pans in the palette are considerably smaller than the full size version. They're .11oz compared to the original at .3oz, so they're just over 1/3 the size. A full size compact is $24, and this palette is $28, so that makes sense when you consider that three of the smaller sizes add up to a little more than one full size. The good news is, that these are so incredibly pigmented, you only need to use a little bit of product, so these smaller sizes will still last a really long time. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever finish my full-size version, as I've had it for about a year and it barely looks used. Granted, I don't use it every day, but still.

These swatches illustrate how pigmented these are...this is one swipe of each. Since I have fair skin, I use Mary-Lou as a highlighter and Cindy-Lou actually works as a blush on me. Betty-Lou will make a beautiful bronze eyeshadow, don't you think? So for me, this palette is great for travel, because I can use all three for different areas of my face. Perfect!

Overall, I recommend this palette to everyone...if you're already a fan of the Manizer sisters, it'll make an excellent travel companion (and won't be as likely to shatter) and if you're new to The Manizers, this is a perfect intro to all three shades. That way, you can find which one works best for you, or like me, find a use for them all! 

You can find The Manizer Sisters for $28 at Kohls.com.