Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot Box 'O Blushes Review, Photos and Swatches

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

Holiday season when you're a beauty junkie is an exciting, tempting time. There are so many gift sets and special collections that come out starting in October and it's tough to avoid buying all of it. 

I was completely unable to avoid the temptation of snapping up the Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot Box 'O Blushes though. It's a palette containing six of Benefit's famous boxed powders - Dandelion, Hoola, Rockateur, Sugarbomb, CORALista and Bella Bamba, plus a little container of their Watt's Up cream highlighter and a small version of the boxed powder brush.

It retails for $43 CDN and is available at Sephora (stores and online) and in Shoppers Drug Mart stores that sell Benefit products. Comparatively, an individual Box 'O Powders retails for $36 CDN (a comparison of sizes comes later in the post). 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

Benefit is known for their packaging, and this one is no exception. It's a metal tin, shaped like a really narrow house, with a peaked roof. It's decorated to look like a candy store and is vaguely Christmas-themed.

Here it is in my hand to show you the size. 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

Even though it's made of metal, it's not heavy. The packaging reminds me of chocolate or cookie packaging, which is probably what they're aiming for. It'll be handy for storing things after it's empty as well. Oh, and the peaked roof bit comes off, so even easier to store. 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

The front of the box opens to reveal the palette inside. There's also an info booklet inside, which lists the ingredients in multiple languages and application instructions.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

There's a protective plastic sheet with each powder's names on it, that'll help keep the box clean and the blushes/bronzer protected from damage. Each powder has its name embossed in it, just as they do in the individual box 'o powders.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

The size of the blushes/bronzer in the palette vary as follows:

Dandelion = 4.0g Net wt. 0.14 oz.
Sugarbomb = 6.0g Net wt. 0.21 oz.
CORALista = 5.0g Net wt. 0.17 oz.
Bella Bamba = 5.0g Net wt. 0.17 oz.
Hoola = 5.0g Net wt. 0.17 oz.
Rockateur = 5.0g Net wt. 0.17 oz.

In comparison, the size of the individual Box 'O Powders are as follows:

Dandelion = 7.0g Net wt. 0.25 oz.
Sugarbomb = 12.0g Net wt. 0.42 oz.
CORALista = 8.0g Net wt. 0.28 oz.
Bella Bamba = 8.0g Net wt. 0.28 oz.
Hoola = 8.0g Net wt. 0.28 oz. 
Rockateur = 5.0g Net wt. 0.17 oz.

I'm not sure why there's such a variance in the size of the individual Box 'O Powders but the ones in the palette have less variance. It is of note that Rockateur in the Cheeky Sweet Spot is exactly the same size as the individual Rockateur, while the others are roughly half their individual size.

Here is a full-size Sugarbomb Box 'O Powder and the brush that came with it next to the palette to show size. 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes

Let's take a look at some swatches!

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Dandelion

Dandelion is a ballerina pink brightening face powder, very sheer, very pretty and a little shimmery. It's very soft and sheer, as you can see in the below swatch. Dandelion is a little chalky in texture but it doesn't sit heavily on the skin at all. This is one of my favourites of Benefit's Box 'O Powders. 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Dandelion

Bella Bamba is a 3D watermelon pink blush with gold undertones. It's a bright pink, but sheer and it's got a good dose of gold shimmer-sparkle. This is a highlighter and blush combined. Bella Bamba goes on silkily.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Bella Bamba

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Bella Bamba

Sugarbomb is a combination of four shimmery shades - peach, plum, pink and rose. You can wear each shade individually or combined. Well, in the regular-sized Box 'O Powder you can. Maybe not so in this smaller version, unless you have a tiny brush (tinier than the one included in this palette). For the swatch below, I did a swirl of the shades.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Sugarbomb

It's sheer, shimmery and quite a pretty shade, with pink and peach being the predominant colours. It's slightly chalky in texture. 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Sugarbomb

Hoola is Benefit's much-loved boxed bronzer and the only one in the palette that's matte. Hoola is a warm, medium-brown shade, without much orange to it at all, which is perfect. It wears very sheer, so it's an easy shade to wear, even on fair skin. It applies very smoothly.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Hoola

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Hoola

CORALista is a warm, shimmery coral-pink that gives the skin instant warmth. This is one of my favourite Box 'O Powders. It gives me an incredible glow when I wear it, without looking heavy or obvious. 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - CORALista

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - CORALista

There is talk that the CORALista in the Cheeky Sweet Spot Box 'O Blushes is quite different from the regular CORALista, so I thought I'd compare the two to see for myself. I only have a sample of CORALista, not the full box, so assuming that my sample is the same as the original, here's what the two CORAListas look like side by side.

On the finger on the left is a heavy swatch of the original CORALista and on the right is a heavy swatch of the Cheeky Sweet Spot CORALista. The one on the left is pinker than the one on the right, definitely. Both have the same amount of shimmer but the one on the left is definitely more coral than the one on the right, which looks to me to be more peach.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - CORALista

Here are the two CORAListas swatched on my arm, with the original CORALista on the right and the Cheeky Sweet Spot Box 'O Blushes on the left. Yes, definitely a peachier tone to the left one compared to the right. 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - CORALista

Rockateur is shimmery rose gold shade with much the same sheerness of the other blushes. It's probably the most silky of all of the blushes/bronzer in this palette and probably my favourite of all of them as well. It's an incredibly easy-to-wear blush.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Rockateur

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Rockateur

Finally, here is the Watt's Up highlighter. Watt's Up is a champagne cream-to-powder highlighter that looks like it might be too heavy when you apply it at first, but it blends out like a dream. This highlighter earns its praise and then some. It's so very, very pretty on the skin. 

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Watt's Up

Watt's Up has quite a stiff, almost dry texture, so you don't get a lot on your fingers (or brush) when you run them across it. This isn't a problem though, since you don't want a heavy application on the first try. Start with a little and build if you need to.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Watt's Up

I think it was a great idea for Benefit to include Watt's Up with this palette. With five brushes and a bronzer you're already focusing on your cheeks so why not do a bit of highlighting as well. Tapping a bit of Watt's Up onto the tops of the cheekbones and onto the brow bone gives a beautiful glow to the skin. 

One minor complaint about Watt's Up here is more about the packaging than the product. This Watt's Up comes in a little plastic case with a resealable lid.

Benefit Cheeky Spot Box 'O Blushes - Watt's Up

I flat-out love this palette. I've only tried a few of the Benefit Box 'O Powders before in the past and this is a fantastic way to try the ones I haven't. I also really love how you can mix them, adding a bit of one shade and then another or blending four of them onto your skin - why not? In terms of a blush palette, it doesn't have a lot of variation shade and texture-wise, but for a Benefit blush palette, this is pretty awesome. If you're a fan of the Benefit Box 'O Powders, this is a palette you want. 

One drawback is of course, the variation in CORALista from the original. While the CORALista in the palette is pretty, I prefer the pink of the original. 

But in all, this was an excellent purchase. If you've been wanting to try some of the Benefit blushes but the price tag has made you hesitate or you've been unable to choose which one to start with, this is the perfect palette for you!

Grade: A-

Benefit CORALista Review and Swatches

CORALista is one of Benefit's newest bestselling boxed powders. I received a sample of it recently and thought I'd review it since it's winter here and this is a box of summery-glow if I ever saw I saw one!

Also, I'm impressed with the sample - it's a good size (3g) and the container can be opened and closed. 

CORALista is a warm coral-pink and like all of Benefit's boxed powders, sheer and shimmery. The full-size comes in a box with a mirror and with a brush.

And here it is on me. Benefit's boxed powders range are quite sheer and CORALista is no exception. On fair skin like mine, it can be worn alone as a blush, but on darker skin tones, it'd work better as a highlighter or on top of another blush. 

I love the warmth CORALista gives my skin and it makes for a great shimmery blush. What do you think? Have you tried CORALista?


C.

Benefit Cosmetics CORALista Face Powder Review and Swatches

CORALista is one of Benefit Cosmetics newest boxed face powders, one of their top-selling products. You may have heard of Benefit's Dandelion, Thrrob, Hoola, Bella Bamba, 10, Sugarbomb or Dallas box o'powders. They're all fairly sheer, shimmery powders that can be worn as a blush or an illuminating powder and cost $32 CDN. They come with a wooden handled flat brush for application, and while you don't have to use them, they do work well for these powders and are easy to use, not to mention highly portable since they sit inside the box in a little tray on top of the powder. 

CORALista is a warm coral-pink face powder with lots of shimmer. On my skin tone it works as a shimmery blush and I can also layer it on top of a blush for added colour and shimmer. I got a sample from Sephora on a recent visit and was impressed by the sample! You don't normally get blush and eyeshadow samples simply due to the fact that they'd need to be made especially. Check it out!

CORALista blush sample

CORALista blush sample

It's 0.1 oz (the regular size is 0.28 oz) so it's a decent size and will last a few uses. Of course, the regular size comes with the little wooden brush for application, but any blush brush will work for this sample.

CORALista blush sample

CORALista blush sample

Benefit claims that CORALista wakes up the skin, which is an astute claim - most shimmery coral blushes will do exactly that. And so CORALista does, see below.

I'm wearing only CORALista in these photos to show how much pigment it has (which is not a great deal), but for me it works for a sheer pop of colour and quite a lot of shine. A bit too much for work look which is what I'm wearing in these photos but it'd be very appropriate for an evening look.


CORALista, as with all of Benefit's box o'powders, a pleasant perfumey fragrance which might offend some users, but I don't find it overwhelming at all. Dior mascaras, for example, have a strong fragrance that I find offensive. 


There's a lot of talk in the blogosphere about CORALista being a dupe to NARS' legendary Orgasm blush. I haven't ever tried Orgasm apart from swatching it at Sephora, so I can't say for sure if they're dupes but our fellow bloggers can't be too far off. You get more for your buck with CORALista so it's simply a matter of preference which you choose. As I said before, a shimmery coral blush is going to be extremely flattering and give the skin a pretty, soft glow.


Have you tried CORALista? What do you think? Do you have any favourite Benefit box o'powders?


C.