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

Sneak peek ...

... of a review & swatches to come! Do you recognize what's on the picture?

Yours Truly,
Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Kas arvate ära, mis on pildil?

Siiralt teie,
Tolmu Rull

Benefit The Pretty Committee kit review & swatches

Benefit Cosmetics is a company that has been on and off of my radar for quite some time already. I kind of love the retro design of Benefit's packaging, the witty names of their products … and at the same time these things scare me off. They make me feel that the products inside might not live up to their promises and the whole lot might be badly overpriced. So if I happen to come by a Benefit counter (it's not sold in Estonia where I live, so it can only happen while travelling), I usually just walk by.

I have had a chance to try their famous BadGal mascara sample as a magazine freebie and was very disappointed. It just turned my quite long and luscious lashes into scary spider feet. I don't really understand the people who love it. Then, after reading so many good reviews of their Creaseless Creams eyeshadows I decided to give Benefit another chance. I love each and every one Creaseless Cream I've tried. Talk about the mixed impression!

A few weeks ago in Poland I came across a Benefit counter again in a Sephora store. I was already leaving the shop but just hanged around a bit, browsing around to see if there's anything interesting.

Then I got a sight of The Pretty Committee kit from Benefit.

The kit consists of 5 items: Bella Bamba blush, Star Don't Stray primer for concealers and eyeshadows, Eye Bright eye brightener pencil (all in full sizes), High Beam complexion enhancer in a sample size and a mesh pouch.

The star of this kit is naturally Bella Bamba blush and I immediately asked the shop assistant to try it to my cheeks. Wow! I was instantly sold! Or should I say the kit was sold to me in a minute :P

Let's take a closer look.

Bella Bamba, a "3D brightening pink face powder" by name, is a most gorgeous watermelon-coloured blush. I won't tell much about it now, because it truly deserves a post of it's own. Let's just say that it beats Nars blushes by far. 

Stay Don't Stray is a skin-coloured primer meant to unify the tone of eyelids and keep all eye area makeup at it's place for whole day. It is a good match for my skintone and I think I won't need any separate concealer around the eyes while using this. The only fault I can find now is that a huge amount comes out of the pump bottle at once, wasting the product. I keep my fingers crossed that the staying power will be good. 

Eye Bright is a jumbo sized light rosy-white eye pencil that is meant to be used in the inner & outer corners of the eyes, under the eyebrows and on lower waterlines to give a “wide awake” look. I've used this type of products before and while it's not an absolutely necessary product for me, it is a very nice add-up to my makeup routine. 

High Beam is another Benefit's iconic product, a luminescent highlighter for cheeks, brow bones, your Cupid's bow and so on. I'm not very fascinated by liquid highlighters, but I've been slightly curious about High Beam for quite long, because it's rather pearly, not that outright shiny. I hope it lives up to my expectations. This sample size, although it's much smaller than a lipstick, will last for a very long time I think.

The pouch is just an ordinary mesh pouch with Benefit's logo on it. But I like it's size and rosy gold colouring quite a lot.

Left to right: Eye Bright, High Beam and Stay Don't Stray, unblended.

Blended on my NC15/20 skin. 

One of the best things about this kit (besides the outright gorgeousness of Bella Bamba blush!) was that the whole kit together cost less than merely Bella Bamba and Eye Bright together. That means, I got Stay Don't Stray, High Beam and the pouch for free. I would never have bought all of these products separately, but I'm a very happy kitty the kit gave me an opportunity to discover and try new things. 

I paid around 50 euros for the whole kit & purchased it from Galeria Kazimiers in Krakow, Poland.

Have tried anything from Benefit? Would you like to try something?

Yours Truly,
Tolmu Rull

Instructions on the backside of cardboard packaging.

For my lovely Estonian ladies:

Benefit Cosmetics on meigifirma, mille tooteid Eestis muidugi müügil pole. Välismaal käies soovitan aga silmad lahti hoida: selle komplekti ostsin Krakovist Poolast. Esmapilgul veidi ülepingutatuna tunduvad papist pakendid võivad endas peita väärt sisu. Ilukomitee komplekt väärib oma nime :P

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull

Frostbite in a pan: MAC Her Blooming Cheek blush swatch and review

This blush is not so new: it came out with MAC A Tartan Tale color collection for holiday 2010 (discontinued by now).

A Tartan Tale collection main visual by MAC.

I liked the visuals of this Scottish-inspired collection, but wasn't much into MAC at this time. When I saw it online at discounted price my curiosity began to rise, my strange infatuation with discontinued products rose it's greedy head and I bagged it.

I can say that my MAC collection is growing slowly but steadily and I admit that I have been oh-so-wrong about the brand!

Her Blooming Cheek is a sheer and cool rosy blush, with very-very subtle shimmer in it. While the blush looks bright like something from kids watercolors box, don't let yourself be fooled by it's appearance. It is in fact a gem for somebody who likes subtle no-makeup makeup look.

It gives my NC15/20 skin the most natural “just came inside from the freezing weather and my cheeks are a bit cold-bitten” healthy and rosy look. Of course, with temperatures as low as 30 degrees below Celsius in Estonia now you can get this look for free by just stepping out of the door, but who needs the skin damage that comes with it?

I use Her Blooming Cheek with my stippling brush, just dipping it in very lightly and blending carefully. It's so pigmented it stains the brush!

When I use it with regular natural hair blush brush, it tends to be overdone and loses some of it's gorgeousness. Surely it is easy to build it up, but I like it mostly for it's subtle and natural sheerness. That's why I apply it without any contouring and highlight.

The swatches. Should be blended out a lot more on cheeks.

This blush is definitely an investment. I can see myself easily hitting the pan of Nars's Deep Throat, but never with Her Blooming Cheek.

I ordered it somewhere in autumn, but it is still readily available from Fragrancedirect. It costs 14.99 GBP (around 18 euros) + shipping, but considering that MAC blushes cost around 10 euros more in stores, it's not a bad price. Especially calculating cost per wear :)

Yours Truly,

Tolmu Rull

For my lovely Estonian readers:

MAC'i Her Blooming Cheek on kärtsroosa põsepuna, mis hoolikalt hajutatuna annab põskedele tulin- just-kelgutamast väljanägemise. Ärge laske ennast esialgsest välimusest kohutada, tegelikult on see väga hea põsepuna igapäevaseks mul-pole-mingit meiki peal meigiks. Saadaval veebist.

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull