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