Benefit's Christmas Gift Sets: Cheeky Sweet Spot

Good morning!

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend, we are currently suffering with hangovers and craving a greasy breakfast after spending the weekend at our friends house for a Harry Potter themed party, tour around the studios included! No doubt the themed cocktails and games will be explained in an upcoming post!

A few weeks ago we snapped up the Cheeky Sweet Spot blush set from Benefit after seeing it in Boots, and what a beauty it is:

How can you argue with a range of blush like this?!

I can't get my head around what an amazing set it is, especially for the £29.50 price tag. Not only is there 6 blushes in a range of colours and finishes there's also a brush and a little pot of Watt's Up.

I love the packaging style, it's like a gingerbread house and I love the Christmassy trees and colours on it too.

The box opens up to show the palette inside and also contains a booklet with tips and tricks on the best ways to use the blushes and bronzer.

The image above shows the Box o' Powder products laid out in a palette and the names of each one.

I've had Dandelion for years and Coralista is a firm fave with me; I've been raving about it for ages! You can see it's own review here.

The others are ones I've been desperate to try but never actually managed to get round to it (I've been saving my points for ages!)



Bella Bamba is a pink toned blush with a shimmer to it that I've often been recommended but I've never tried it myself having been obsessed with Coralista. Bella Bamba is absolutely beautiful and I can't believe I haven't listened to those who have recommended it to me, even Lisa Benefit herself told me I should be wearing it and now it's my new obsession. I can see me buying this in future!

Sugarbomb looks amazing in the palette and I was excited to try this after the success of BB, however I was really disappointed with this one. It's a quadrant of different colours but all have the same finish. For REALLY pale girls this might be great as a blush but as a fairly pale girl myself I didn't find this had much pigmentation, so I've been using it with the other blushes as a highlighter and it works great for that, though not for every day use!



Hoola is a gorgeous bronzer that doesn't have any shimmer in it and can be great for contouring. I tend to save this for weekends as I use my Bourjois one for work but the Hoola one is a perfect bronzer for contouring the cheekbones and adding a more defined look to the face.

Rockateur is another gorgeous shimmer blush, but it tends to be another highlighter for me as it's such a light rose gold colour.



This has been a perfect buy for me and I've loved trying out the new colours (new to me). Not to mention it's a bargain considering the weights of the products where Rockateur is actually the same size as the product to buy on its own.

Watt's Up is also a beautiful highlighter that can be blended into the cheekbones and eye bone for a soft and dewy glow.

Would fully recommend this as a Christmas present for a loved one or make up addict...........or maybe even yourself??

BUY IT!

L xxx





Hey All

As L said we've had a great weekend catching up with friends in lots of Harry Potter themed goodness!

After a stroll through boots and seeing this beauty I took L to go and see it too! We were both totally persuaded! Who could leave such a beauty behind. It's a great way to try other blushes!

I own Dandelion and Rockateur. Dandelion is one of my all time favourite blushes. It's such a beautiful soft pink. You can see a full review on it here.

Rockateur is a warm rose gold colour and there is a full review of that here.

Cheeky Sweet Spot costs £29.50! It's such a bargain considering one powder is £23.50. The products are all different sizes. The rockateur in the box is actually the same size as the full size box! The others are less.

Hoola is a colour I've been wanting to try for ages. It's not got glitter or shimmer so is a perfect contour colour and doesn't have an orange undertone. So far it's not disappointed and is so pigmented.

Coralista is one of L's favourites but it's not a colour I'd picked up for myself. I'm not an orange girl. I never thought it really suited my skin tone. I was wrong this looks gorgeous on the cheeks!

Bellabamba is a colour I've never even considered. A shimmery pink is just a colour I didn't think I needed. It's great to shave shades in you wouldn't normally try. It looks gorgeous on pale skin and gives a nice flush.

Sugarbomb is a colour I've been a little disappointed in. It doesn't seem to be as pigmented as the others but it does have it's uses and does add a gorgeous shimmer over colours like Dandelion. It would also look good over hoola if you were going for a bronzed look.

Watt's up is another product I've wanted to try for ages. I'm a massive fan of highlighters but a cream one isn't that always appeals to me as I wasn't sure how it would be over powder. It gives a gorgeous subtle glow without looking like a glitter ball. It's perfect for day and night!

I absolutely love this!! I love the metal tin and it's such a great mix of all the colours you need so would be perfect for travelling! This is a must have set in my opinion!

Thanks benefit for such an awesome set. I can see a lot more of my money going on the gift sets! Are any taking your fancy?

Love M

xxx

Benefit: Groovy Kind-a Love Make Up Kit

Hello!

I'm sure you've all seen the fantastic Christmas sets from Benefit this year, if not here's a link for you to browse at your leisure!

I have already purchased one of the tins (Love me B.right) which I will be reviewing very soon, but I couldn't resist but snap up this palette as well...

Groovy Kind-a Love is a beautiful palette containing an assortment of products. The back of the box shows the products, colours and names as below:

What excited me most was the dual blusher and the 4 eyeshadow colours, I don't own any eyeshadows from Benefit so I was really looking forward to trying them out.

It also contains the ever amazing Porefessional, Benetint and They're Real which I am a huge fan of.

The tin itself is small and beautifully formed, the pattern and outside images are really pretty and this would be great as a gift.
The inside is also displayed very well and would be a handy weekend kit or gift for someone who has never tried Benefit products before; or even for yourself as a payday treat like mine was. I'm such a bad saver!

Here's a closer look of the palette.

I love the arrangement and that the eyeshadows are in colour order, it would annoy me intensely if they weren't!
I also love that it comes with brushes making it a great kit for on the go or taking away with you.
Plus multi purpose products such as Benetint for lips and cheeks are great value too.

After applying my base as usual I then used the Dandelion and Gimme Fever blushers to give my face some colour and definition:

It's a beautiful colour and the shimmer is just enough to look like my skin has a glow but isn't glittery.
It's a gorgeous colour and I wish you could buy Gimme Fever separately!




I applied the eyeshadows in colour order, with Tickle My Ivory on the inner corner and Gilt-y Pleasure over the rest of the lid:



Shimmer Down was then applied to the crease and Kiss Me I'm Tipsy along the upper lashline:





These are such beautiful colours that can be worn day or night. They're perfect neutral colours for any outfit and occasion and I can see them getting a lot of use from me!

With They're Real applied the look is complete:






I do love how my lashes look with They're Real. They're lengthened, volumised and curled so I really cannot complain! I'd purchase this all the time if I could afford it but for the mean time the miniature versions are keeping me going as I've had a few different sets.



With Benetint applied as well this is a look I can see myself wearing regularly as it's pretty but chic.
I love the eyshadow colours a lot!

Do you like the palette from Benefit? It costs £29.50 and you can get it from Boots and Debenhams.

It's a great present for someone if you're stuck for something to buy and I would have loved to have received it if I hadn't have snapped it up myself already...

I've got my eye on Gimme Some Lovin' with Hoola and They're Real in, and also It's a Love Fest with Porefessional and Sun Beam (both £39.50)

Fingers crossed my mum will listen to my hints! Which would you put on your Christmas list??

L xxx

Review: Benefit Do The Bright Thing

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win this kit on a twitter competition along with a few books. I love the benefit kits as it is an easy way to try a few different Benefit products. I love the colours on the packaging and the 70s feel to it. I also love that the Golden Gate bridge is in the background signifying where it all began in San Francisco.

As with the other kits benefit sell it comes in the case with the lid. I also love with this that once you've used up the products you can remove the tray and use them to store products. It would be perfect for eye liners. 

Do the bright thing kit contains products to help brighten the complexion. It contains That Gal, High Beam, Dandelion, They're Real and Bad Gal Liner. All of these are products I've used and liked with the exception of the Bad Gal Liner. This would be a perfect holiday kit as for evenings it's great to look glowing and the liner is waterproof.

It contains tip and tricks on the the lid and a mirror. The tips and tricks mean these sets are also perfect for beginners. 

Dandelion is still my favourite blush. I love that the set contains the perfect size brush for the blush. (review here) I also like that high beam is a decent size and larger than what you get in magazines.

This shows the products. High Beam really is a great high lighter and perfect for under the brow bone and on the cheeks. That gal is a light primer. Personally I prefer others to this. The liner is really soft and goes onto the eyes easily without dragging. It also comes out really black on the waterline. I could speak about Dandelion all day. I love this blush. It's perfect on my pale skin and I couldn't be without it. They're Real is a great mascara and I do like it, I do love how it doesn't stray from the lashes either.

I really want the bronze of champions kit as it's got lots of products in I want to try. Have you got any of the benefit kits?

Love M

xxx

Review: Benefit Dandelion

I was lucky and for Christmas my other half cleverly consulted L on what I would like. L gave him some ideas and I'd been hinting after this blush a lot after purchasing Erase Paste (Review here) and the girl on the counter using it on me. I'd said Feeling Dandy to him most mornings for about 2 months as that was a Christmas Gift Set version I wanted. Bless him, when he went shopping he'd forgotten the brand so wondered round boots asking different counter girls for Feeling Dandy, unfortunately it had all sold out by the time he went shopping. I don't mind though as I've ended up with a bigger version of the blush.

I've never had a benefit blush before but had used a few of L's when I've been doing my make up round hers. At first I was sceptical of the cardboard boxes as I thought they'd get damaged and look tatty quickly. 6 weeks in and it still looks pretty good. I like that it's a flip back lid as it won't get lost and that it has a mirror in. 

I personally love the brush that comes with it. It's not the softer of brushes but it is amazing for applying the blush. The shape of it makes it really easy and I use the brush most days over my Real Techniques Blush Brush. I keep the little tray that comes with it to keep the brush and the blush separate.

Dandelion is a gorgeous soft pink colour. It is perfect on my rather pale skin. It goes on really easily and while it's pigmented it's perfect for building up. This blush is also perfect if you don't where blush much or are new to it as you can't over do it. As much as I love my Sleek Palette of blushes where they are super pigmented I have to be careful. With this it just looks like a gorgeous natural flush.

The swatch shows the gorgeous colour of it. It looks amazing on the apples of the cheeks and literally has been on my face almost everyday since I got it. I probably pick this one 9 times out of 10. 

As you can see it just gives a little flush of natural colour to the cheeks. I also have my Liz Earle Bronzer in the hollows of my cheeks. Another love of mine. I'll be reviewing it next week!

I literally couldn't be without this now. Dandelion Retails for £23.50 which is a reasonable price for the quality and you get a little brush too. The Feeling Dandy gift set I really wanted is on £24.50 and you get a smaller Dandelion Blush, Dandelion lip gloss, and mini's of high bean and posie tint. These set would be great gifts!

I really want to try another benefit blush. I love the look of 10 and Benefit Watt's Up. What is your favourite?

Love M

xxx