Benefit Cheek Parade Beauty And The Beat Blush Kit And Some Cheeky Gift Ideas

I've never made any secret of the fact that Benefit Cosmetics are one of my favourite make up brands. I know some people are put off by their fun and quirky persona but take my advice and if that's not your thing, get past that and see what lies beneath the cartoons and the colour.

I've lost count of how many Benefit products that I've tried over the years, but something that I always keep coming back to are their boxed blushers and bronzers. From long discontinued blushers like Georgia and Thrrob, to newer kids on the block like Rockateur, and Dandelion, it's pretty much always been love at first swipe.

Why do I like them so much? well not only do they come in a wide variety of colours to suit all skin tones, but they also smell amazing and those little boxes seem to go on forever and ever. I love them but they aren't always the easiest things to store - don't get me wrong I love the design of those cute chubby boxes even more so now that they've included a mirror in the lid, but they are a bit chunky and if you want every single one that they do they can take up a bit of room.

Obviously you could depot them and stick them into a magnetic palette but if messing around with flat irons and magnetics isn't really your bag then there are other options. Knowing the popularity of their boxed blushers and bronzers Benefit sometimes release handy palettes contain several different shades so you can increase your cheek colour collection in one go, and this time of year is the perfect time to get your hands on some Benefit cheeky loveliness.

As per usual Benefit have gone all out for Christmas, and you can currently get your hands on a couple of cheek themed gift sets and palettes include the Benefit Cheeky Stowaways Make Up Gift Set, which contains a palette with a mini Hoola, Coralista, Rockateur and Dandelion, and mini mascara and eyeliner which retails at around £31.50 and if you're more into bronzing, highlighting and contouring then you can also get your hands on The Complexionista Face Palette for around £26.50 which contains two shades of their famous Boi-ing concealer, as well as Hoola and Hoola Lite bronzing powders, Watts Up cream highlighter, and Dandelion Twinkle powder luminiser.

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Kits like those are great for travel or if you want to try some new shades or even try out Benefit for the first time, but none of the products in these kits are full size, and as much I love my minis sometimes I want a little bit more for my money.

The Benefit Cheek Parade Beauty And The Beat Kit came out in the Spring of this year, and I'm not going to lie, it's pretty hard (although not impossible! ) to get your hands on now, if you can find it though it's well worth picking up and I'm sure it would make any make up junkies day if they were to find this under their Christmas tree in just less that a fortnights time!

Even if you can't find it though, you can still buy ever colour in this palette individually in their own cute little boxes, but to be fair if you can find this kit why would you buy them separately?

The value of this kit in its simplest terms is insane, and that's probably why it doesn't seem to be a permanent item. This kit contains 5 FULL SIZE Benefit cheek colours, which when bought individually would retail at around £122.50 (that's around £24.50 each!) compared to the retail price of this kit which is just £49.50.

So what are you getting for your money and where's the catch? Well in it's simplest terms there doesn't seem to be a catch. The brightly coloured solid cardboard palette features a magnetic fastening, a tips and tricks leaflet, and a good sized mirror, you also get a full size version of Benefits famous square box cheek colour brushe.

In the palette your getting a nice combination of amazingly fruity scented (odd but true) blushers and bronzers, old favourites, and new products, to try. On the top row you have Hoola, Galifornia, and Rockateur, and underneath you have Hoola Lite and Dandelion

I've spoken many times about my love of Hoola bronzer but I think it may have been overtaken in the bronzer love stakes by it's paler cousin. You can read all about my love of the original Hoola here and here, but in summary despite being a pink toned pale person, it just works for me, it isn't muddy, it isn't orange, and it isn't sparkly, it's just gives me a bit more colour, and my face a bit more of a shape. I'm not gonna lie though, in the winter months, I can only wear it, by being super light handed and by blending it in really well, I guess that's why Hoola Lite has become my new best friend.

You can see the difference between the two products from the swatch above, if you're pale and you thought that bronzer and contouring was a no, no, then try Hoola Lite! Obviously it's lighter, it isn't as warm, and it's perfect for giving my face just a hint of warmth, and for doing that invisible contouring thing that just makes your face just look better. It isn't that obvious from the pictures below just how well this works on my skin tone, but I can assure that it really does make a difference and since this was pretty much a tan free year for me, I've been using this an awful lot just to get rid of that blue, grey, ill look that I can often get to my skin.

Hoola Lite isn't the only newish product in this kit, it also gave me the opportunity to try Galifornia. Released in the UK this year just in time for the spring and summer season, Galifornia is the perfect summer colour. It's a lovely mix of peach, gold, pink and coral, alas the golden sunburst is an over spray but it's still beautiful even without the extra golden hit. Again my picture isn't doing this justice at all but hopefully you can see even just a hint of the peachy, golden pink.

Alongside the Hoola cousins, and Galifornia, you also have two mainstays in Benefits boxed blush collection, the beautiful brightening pale pink of Dandelion

and the pink, nude, rose gold tones of one of the best selling blushers currently in the UK, Rockateur.

Although you can't see them too well on my face, the pigmentation in all of cheek colours is spot on. They are smooth and almost creamy and velvety to the touch and they apply and blend like a dream. Sometimes you get the impression with some palettes that the contents is slightly compromised to make it better but not in this palette, the quality and shades seem to me to be identical to the individually packed products.

I was lucky enough to get this palette for my birthday way back in May and although I've just got around to talking about now it has been one of my go to's. Yes I know I'm one of those people who likes to switch up a bit but for some reason I've just kept coming back to this palette. Maybe it's the convenience of having everything in one place, or maybe it's down to the wearability of all of the shades, I'm not really sure but one thing that I am sure of is just how pleased I am to have this palette in my collection.

As I say it isn't going to be the easiest thing to track down now but have a little search online and you may just find somewhere that has the odd one or two left. This would make a great gift for yourself or for someone else but even if you aren't lucky enough to find it, hopefully this post has given you a few ideas of some other Benefit gift sets or even boxed cheek colours that you could buy for presents or to treat yourself. Do you have a favourite Benefit boxed cheek colour? Let me know x

KIKO Milano Cosmetics Haul And Reviews

As I said before, I think we're pretty lucky in the UK when it comes to beauty products. There are a lot of great UK budget brands, and we also have some of the best European and US brands at our disposal.

One of the most recent brands to make its way on to the UK high street is KIKO Milano. I already own a few KIKO pieces that I'd got in European swaps but now we can buy KIKO here in blighty via there website and if your lucky enough you might even have a store near you.

I'm lucky enough to have two KIKO Milano stores pretty much on my doorstep now in both Sunderland and Newcastle, and I can never resist a little look in every time I go past. Over the last few months I've bought quite a few bits and now I've had a chance to use them all I thought I'd let you know my thoughts on some of their products.

Because the UK website existed before either of the stores near me did, I'd spent a little bit of time looking at the products and deciding what exactly I wanted to try and these Water Eyeshadows were right at the top of my list

These eyeshadows remind me a lot of some the MAC In Extra Dimension products. They look beautiful which is one of the reasons that i bought them I guess but these shadows are just about how they look.

They remind me a bit of a topographical map, with their grooves, peak and troughs, but these specially ergonomically designed 3D, eyeshadow, are actually designed to make these eyeshadows easier to apply, and to make the shadow itself easier to pick up.

There are 32 beautiful shades to choose from and I went for the shades 209 Olive Green and 227 Light Taupe, which is actually more of taupe, champagne colour. These shades are made using spherical powder pigments, which give them a soft and almost creamy feel. You can use these shadows in two ways, dry as you see below, which gives a more sheer, colour and you can also mix them with a little bit of water or some KIKO Mixing Solution, for a full on metallic, block colour finish.

There is literally nothing that I don't like about these shades, I love the chunky matte black packaging and the little mirror inside, I love the appearance of the shadows and I love how they perform. The pigmentation is superb, they feel super soft and creamy, and they apply and blend well and they last. The price of these and a lot of things from KIKO varies depending on the shade, and whether you buy them in store or online but I paid £4.40 each for these in store.

The next thing that I picked was a lipstick, and like their eyeshadow KIKO do a lot of different lipsticks, in different formulations, different packaging and in different shades. I decided to try one of their Smart Lipsticks, which is probably affordable lipstick line in their range.

There are 24  Smart lipsticks shades to choose from and being a creature of habit, I went for one of their nude, pink shades - 927 Intense Rose.

Packaged in a basic but stylish matte black bullet, all of the lipsticks in the Smart Lipstick line are designed to smooth, creamy and nourishing and this one is no exception.

It has a soft and creamy feel, and you get no dragging on the lips but it isn't so creamy that just disappears in a instant. The pigmentation and strength of colour is excellent, and it's also very buildable so can either apply a thin layer for a sheerer shade or you can build it up or apply it with a heavier hand for a full block colour.

Here you can see a couple of pictures of it on the lips, no close ups I'm afraid but I hope it gives you an idea of what this colour looks like on the lips.

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I don't know whether it's down to the super wearable shade of the creamy formulation but this has been one of my go to lipsticks for the last month of so. I've dabbled the odd red, purple or nude lipstick but I keep coming back to this one and for the price I really can't fault it. Again prices vary but I think I paid around £3.90 for this one. The only drawback I guess could be the taste and scent, I know not every likes a vanilla based scent and taste but personally I don't mind it.

Next up a blusher and something else with a chocolate, vanilla scent. This is actually a blush duo, and it's one of the KIKO Milano Cocoa Shock blushes.

Open the gorgeous mint green box, and inside you're greeted with two ginormous squares of chocolate! Okay it's not real chocolate but that's exactly what this sturdy, plastic compact is designed to look like, two rich creamy squares of milk chocolate.

Alas there isn't any chocolate inside but instead your greeted with two sweet and creamy scented, chunky squares of blusher, and a full sized mirror.

There are 4 different colour combinations to choose from and this is 03 Adorable Pink and Peach. Despite their traditional powder appearance these blushers are actually baked, to create an ultra lightweight buildable formula.

Every beauty needs a baby pink and a peachy coral blush in their collection and especially two blushers as nice as these ones. As well as being vanilla scented both of these blushers are super soft, and silky to the touch. It does mean that they are a touch powdery but given the softest and the superb pigmentation I can forgive a little bit of mess.

Alas the autumn and winter light has not been kind to me but I've tried to get a few pictures of these blushers on my cheeks - again it's not showing up to well especially with the peach coral but I hope it gives you some idea x The peach coral is first, then you can see the baby pink shade. I've chosen to use them separately but you can mix them together x

This palette is a little bit more expensive then the items that I've already talked about but for me it's well worth it. Although I'd probably save the peach coral shade for spring and summer, the baby pink shade is one of my favourite blush colours and it works perfectly with the pink undertones in my skin. I love the packaging, vanilla scent and the quality of the blushes themselves so I have no regrets about paying £10.90 for this palette.

The next couple of things that i got were both nail polishes and to be honest I will talk about more about these in a future nails of the day post but I thought I'd let you have a sneaky look at them now x

On the left you have the KIKO Nail Lacquer in 521 Pearly Ocean, which is beautiful metallic, glittery turquoise blue,

and on the right you have KIKO Nail Lacquer in 530 Pearly Blue Peacock, which is metallic glittery, teal which is shot through with gold shimmer.

Again the prices vary depending on the shade, and whether you buy them online or in store, but these polishes usually retail at around £2.50 for an 11ml bottle, but I was lucky enough to get them for £1 each. This formulation is supposed to be super glossy and almost gel like, throw in the fact that they are toluene, camphor, DBP and formaldehyde free and I really can't wait to try them out.

The final product I'm going to show is something that I've fallen in love with but unfortunately I don't think you can get it any more. I bought it from the sale stand a few months ago but I'm showing you it anyways just in case any reappear in either the Black Friday or the January Sales.

The first thing that I can say about the KIKO Milano Dessert Dunes Baked Blush is WOW! The packaging is beautiful. Open the box and you immediately spy a beautiful textured rose, gold compact. It's plastic but when it looks as good as this who cares!

As much as I love pretty packaging though - it really should be about the product inside and this compact from KIKO certainly doesn't disappoint!

Alongside a good sized mirror, you get a beautiful tri colour, baked blusher, which features a dark pink, a peachy coral shades, and a bright but so wearable baby pink.

Again with a slight vanilla scent, these baked powders are silky, silky soft and lightweight. Again you get a bit of dust and fallout but as I say I can live with that.

The pigmentation is superb, and you can use each of the colours separately or you can swirl them all together. I haven't managed to take a picture of this product on my face but you can see me wearing it like this in the lip pictures above and in the You Tube video at the end of this post.

I know this product isn't available any more but as I say you might be able to find it on a sale rack, if you can't though there are some beautiful baked blushers and bronzers in KIKO's Holiday 2016 collection.

As I say I've made a little You Tube video to accompany this haul which you watch via this link or below. If anything could go wrong in this video, it probably did but I hope you enjoy it and find it useful regardless of my total lack of professionalism :)



I'm now officially a KIKO convert and I would definitely recommend checking out their products either online and in store if you have one near you. If you have any KIKO recommendations I'd love to hear them so leave me a comment and let me know x

A Small NYX Haul And Some Mini Reviews

I know you US girls that follow me don't always see it, but believe you me, you have some amazing beauty brands at your disposal. I know we have some great home grown and international brands available in the UK but up until recently lot of US based brands just weren't available over here. Thankfully things are getting better and we can now pick up brands such as Tarte, Milani and Kat Von D online, and better still we can now pop into larger Boots stores and get our NYX fix.

I've been buying NYX products online for years now, mainly from the US but also from several more niche, professional make up stores, but buying things online just isn't the same as choosing products in person. I'm lucky enough to live near to two NYX counters, and I've really enjoyed going to the counter, seeing the full range of products, ands watching till my heart is content.

You know what watching leads to though don't you? Yes that's right buying, and since the first counter opened up north way back in May I've bought a few bits and pieces for eyes, lips and cheeks.

There really is so much choice at the counters that it is difficult to know where to start, but after reading numerous blogs I picked up a couple of different lip things, in their butter formulations.

The first thing that I got was one of the Butter Lipsticks in the shade BLS14 Taffy.  This lipstick as the name would suggest feels quite buttery and moisturising, if a little tacky on the lips but it doesn't have an overtly shiny or glossy finish in fact all of the lipsticks in this particular range have a satin finish.

This shade Taffy is a bright, but at the same time, wearable pink. with just a hint of warmth. The pigmentation in this lipstick is excellent, and given the satin finish and the not so greasy feel, the wear time is excellent for the price

If you've watched any of my You Tube videos over the last few months, then you've probably already seen this lipstick on my lips. Since about June time this lipstick has been one of my go to's, it's so easy to wear, and the colours brightens up my face in an instant.

As I say, there are so many shades in the Butter Lipstick that it would impossible not to find something to suit, I'm definitely fancying a few more shades including Gumdrop and Beach BBQ so if you already have those or if you have any other recommendations I'd love to hear your thoughts x The NYX Butter Lipsticks retail at £5.50 for a 4.5g tube from selected Boots stores or online x

The next product that I got was another lip product and another product for NYX's butter line. It was the NYX Butter Gloss in BLG04 Merengue.

Over the years I've had a very love, hate relationship with lip glosses but I'd heard so many good things about the NYX Butter Glosses that I had to give them a try.

Again there are a ridiculous amount of shades to choose from but I decided to try another pink, Merengue. Unlike Taffy this is a much cooler pink, and depending on how you apply it you can either  create a super bright look or a subtler baby pink shade.

This is obviously a gloss so the finish is super shiny, but again in this case the pigmentation is fantastic. The gloss has a yummy, vanilla scent, and unlike a lot of glosses it doesn't feel too sticky and instead it actually feels, smoothing and moisturising on the lips. Apologies that this iPhone photo isn't the best but I hope it gives you some idea of the gloss and the cooler tones of Merengue.

Despite my love / hate relationship with glosses, I think I understand the hype with this formulation, and again i love the colour. NYX Butter Gloss retails at £5 for 8ml of product again from selected Boots stores and online x

NYX isn't all about the lips though and one of the very first products that I ever bought from them was one of their Rouge Cream blushers, I still love them but I hadn't actually tried any of the powder blushers. So after seeing them in the flesh and swatching one of two, I decided to try one of the NYX High Definition Blushers in the shade HDB19 Hamptons.

First of all I want to talk about the packaging. Packaged in what looks like a rounded, black plastic compact, with a clear section so you can see the shade, what you can only just see is the tiny little bow clasp, you know me I love a bow, no matter how small and sometimes it's all about the detail, and for me that's what lifts this all be it very practical packaging to another level.

Open it up though, and what else can I say but wow!! This is probably one of the silkiest, smoothest blushers that I've ever felt. The powder appears to be very finely milled, and it feels silky soft on the skin.

Hamptons is a beautiful coral shade that will probably work on most skin tones, and whilst I've been wearing this on and off throughout the summer, I think it's a shade that will work on me even when my skin is at it's palest.

This blush feels soft and lightweight on the skin and it blends in to both powder and liquid make up with ease, giving the skin a really pretty, warm flush.

Like both of the lip products that I've already mentioned, these blushes come in a whole host of different colours ranging from pinks, to mauve's, corals and browns. Again there really is a colour to suit all skin tones.  The NYX High Definition Blush retails at £5.50 for 4.5g.

The final two items that I bought are both eyeshadows, and believe me I'm no stranger to NYX eyeshadows. I don't have any NYX singles in my collection but I do have a few palettes including one of the Smokey Look Kits and I love them, the quality and pigmentation has always been excellent, and although I really didn't need any more eyeshadows I couldn't resist buying a couple of eyeshadow singles.

NYX do a few different of types of eyeshadow singles, including their Baked shadows and their super cheap Hot Singles, but I decided to try a couple of shadows from their NYX Prismatic Eye Shadow range. Packaged in silver tone, circular plastic compacts, again with the bow clasp detail, these shadows are NYX's metallic and multi dimensional shadows. I love anything metallic and anything sparkly so these shadows are right up my street.

Again there are a wide variety of shades to choose from but I picked up two of the most neutral metallics, this one is PS04 Girl Talk, which is a beautiful pale almost gold, champagne,

and I also got the shade PS10 Bedroom Eyes, which is a beautiful chocolate, bronze, copper shade.

As you can hopefully see from these pictures the pigmentation, and the shimmer, and iridescence is fantastic, they look really pretty when worn alone, and thanks to the super soft texture and lightweight feel, they blend like a dream. If anything though I would probably say that they're a bit too soft. Like any shimmery, or sparkly shadow you get a bit of fall out but what I wasn't expecting was both of the shadows to be completely loose and separated from the pan. You can see a bit more of my rant in the video below but take it from me these shadows are pretty fragile. Thankfully with the help of some rubbing alcohol, some 10p coins and some kitchen paper, I managed to repress them   but that's not really the point. I love these effect and the colour range of these shadows but I really don't think that I while be buying any more. It's a shame really, i love the texture and the softness on my eyes but it's the softness that makes them so unstable :( You never know I may have just picked up a couple that had been bashed about a bit, so if you want to try them for yourself, the NYX Prismatic Eye Shadows retail £5 for 1.24g of product.

By and large I'm pretty pleased with the things that I picked up, the pigmentation and the quality seems to be there, and it's great to be able to buy another not only another US brand but also another cruelty free brand on the British high street. If you're lucky enough to have a NYX counter near you then I'd definitely recommend that you go and have a little look, and even if your not lucky enough to have a stand near you, you can know buy some of the range at Boots online.

Don't forget to check out the accompanying You Tube video below or via this link and if you have any NYX recommendations I'd love to hear them, so leave me a comment below and let me know x