My latest blush crush: Benefit Bella Bamba review and comparison swatches + a sale alert

I love blush. I'm easily enchanted by new products and can almost always justify the purchase. I'm a blushaholic!

I hadn't tried any of Benefit's cult-worthy blushes before. There were several reasons for this: partly because they are difficult to get your hand's on in Estonia, partly because their price tag, partly because there are many other great blushes out there...the list goes on and on.

Bella Bamba became mine (oh, mine!) this summer (read more about it here). I don't care that it has been reviewed a million time or so, it's my latest blush crush and I'm going to say a few words about it! 

Bella Bamba is not Benefit's latest creation in terms of blush, but it's their only 3D “brightening face powder” (they call their blushes “face powders” for some reason that remains mysterious to me, guess that's a part of their retro attitude). 

The first thing that catches the eye in Bella Bamba is of course it's colourful rectangular box with holographic effects. It is one of the famous cardboard boxes of Benefit's blushes: sturdy enough for keeping on your vanity, but will probably get ugly quickly if carried around in handbag in daily bases. But it sure does endure some dropping. 

The blusher comes with a natural hair brush, mirror in the flip over lid and plastic separator to keep the blush and brush apart. The brush is quite big and clumsy, but would do in case of emergency.

Bella Bamba itself is a most gorgeous watermelon-coloured blush, more bright pink than coral. I love the vibrant hue! The 3d part simply means it has lot's of pale gold shimmer-sheen in it, not holographic particles or anything. The shimmer is so fine that looking from some distance you can barely see it, you'll just notice a nice glow, the so-called brightening effect.

See the beautiful golden shimmer and holo effects on the box!

The blush is very-very pigmented, but it's texure is soft and well-blendable, so you can apply it with a light hand for only some rosy sheen on your cheeks or go for full on bright colour. Benefit says it amplifies cheekbones and creates the illusion of sculpted features: it sure does, you probably won't be needing any separate highlighter with it.

The blush is lightly scented (a sweet candy scent, doesn't remind watermelons to me), but you can only feel it when smelling the box directly, not on your cheeks.

Bella Bamba in the left, Nars Deep Throat on the top and Nars Orgasm below.  

I think Bella Bamba tends to beat Nars blushes, as it's texture is softer and even easier to blend. Don't get me wrong, I love my Nars too, but Bella Bamba just has something special about it. 

It is a lot more bright and vibrant than Nars Deep Throat and has a lot less of the golden-yellow sheen than Orgasm does (personally, I don't find the yellow sheen flattering on me). I hope you can see that from the swatches. Surprisingly, in the box Nars Deep Throat seems a lot lighter, but in swatches it came out really similar to Bella Bamba, minus the sheen. Maybe just a tad more red, whilst Bella Bamba leans more to the pink. 

Bella Bamba heavy swatch on my NC 15/20 skin.

From left: Nars Deep Throat, Bella Bamba, Nars Orgasm heavy swatches. Click on the picture to make it bigger ( as always).

Also, Bella Bamba is surprisingly a lot more affordable than Nars blushes (especially when you get it in a kit, like I did). Bella Bamba has 8 g (0,28 Oz) of product in it, Nars blushes have only 4,8 g (0,16 Oz). The prices in Europe are about 32-33 euros for Bella Bamba and 28-29 euros for a Nars blush. I don't know the US prices, according to Sephora.com they both cost 28 USD, but that makes Bella Bamba still a lot cheaper, as you get roughly twice as much the product. 

BTW, there is major Benefit discount going on on Cheapsmells.com website! They sell genuine perfumes and quality beauty products at affordable prices and deliver all over the world. So if you want to get your hands on some Benefit products at quite affordable prices (for Benefit of course), check this out! They have Bella Bamba individually and also some blushes in travel sets, but these are going fast! 

What do you think of Bella Bamba? What's your latest blush crush?

Yours Truly,
 Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Ma olen täielik põsepunahull! Minu viimane "armastus" on Bella Bamba Benefit'ilt, kuidas ma selle omanikuks sain, loe siit. Arbuusitooni, külluslikult õrna kuldset sädelust sisaldav Bella Bamba on veel ilusam, kui kultuslikud Narsi põsepunad (piltidel näed võrdlust). See on Narsi punadest pisut pehmema tekstuuriga, sädeleb rohkem ja on pakitud suuremasse karpi. Benefit'i tooteid saab Eestisse tellida näiteks CheapSmells'i lehelt või kõige lähemalt osta Poolast Sephora poodidest.

Milline on teie suurim põsepunalemmik?

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull