Benefit Coralista and Mememe Comparison

I was lucky enough to get the Benefit Some Beauty To Love gift set for Christmas. It contains a little Bad Gal mascara, That Gal Primer, Eye Bright (which I already have so I’m not sure what to do with this one) and full sized Coralista boxed blush. Cute isn’t it?

I’ve wanted this for so long but at £23.50, even for a whopping 12g of product, it just wasn’t a spend I could justify. I believe this set cost just under £30 making it the bargain of the century! I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled next Christmas to see if they do the same with any of the other shades. Anyway to the actual product. The brush is soft etc but so thin and flimsy that it went straight in the bin. The first thing I noticed was the scent. It smells sweet, a little bit like those love heart sweets. I know a lot of people love it but I find it a little sickly. It doesn’t linger though so it’s not a problem.

I thought it might be interesting to compare it with Benefit wannabe – Mememe boxed blush in Rouge. These cost £8.50 though you get a bit less product at 8g. I have never ever finished a blush though so the Mememe option is definitely a more purse friendly choice (I have done a full review of it if you are interested). It has the same style of packaging although it has a mirror in the lid which the Benefit doesn’t. In the pan they look similar, Rouge perhaps looks slightly darker and pinker. My lighting was giving me all kinds of hell. The actual colour is somewhere between the flash and no flash pictures though I think the swatch pic looks pretty true to colour. Benefit is always on the left, Mememe on the right. 

In the swatches they looks totally different. Coralista is much lighter and more shimmery. It looks less coral to me too. I will say that I feel Coralista blends ever so slightly easier on the cheeks. Clearly there is no dupe here which is in my opinion a good thing. I like the fact that Mememe are giving us a cheaper alternative but if they were blatantly copying exact shades I think it would be more than a little cheeky given how many other Benefit dupes they already have (e.g. their versions of Benetint and the highlighters). 

I would like to get the Mememe Coral blush and Benefit Georgia next but unless I win the lottery I know which one I’ll be picking up first! X

*Mememe Rouge was purchased by me, Coralista was a gift from a family member*

Clinique Blushing Blush in Cupid

Blushing Blush.... Silly name.  Thankfully it’s a rather lovely product which makes up for the daft repetition in the title. I picked this up on my honeymoon and I just realised I never got around to swatching it here! These blushes cost £18.50 so they ain’t cheap and you get 6g of product. I do love the boxes that Clinique products come in. Look at the pretty!

The actual packaging is nice to look at but not entirely practical. The bottom section is clear but the main section is mirror like metal. It’s a nightmare to keep it finger print free. You get a useless brush and a very handy mirror.

There is a faint shimmer in the pan but I don’t find that it really transfers to my cheeks which suits me down to the ground. It’s a gorgeous soft pink rose. Pigmentation certainly isn’t lacking but it’s not scarily vibrant like, for example, an Illamasqua blush. It blends like a dream and lasts all day. It certainly has the quality to match the price tag. 

The shade range in Phuket airport wasn’t huge but the other shades I spotted seemed a bit too frosty for me. If I found another in this semi matte/ satin finish I’d happily buy it x

*I bought this myself*

Benefit High Beam and Posie Tint

Months and months ago there were some Benefit Freebies being given away with a magazine. Why has it taken me so long to review them? Honestly it’s because I never use them. I have reviewed their Moon Beam highlighter here http://eyeliningobsessions.blogspot.com/2010/05/benefit-moonbeam.html and I use it frequently but I’m so glad that these are freebies and not products I spent actual money on. Here they are pictured with the full sized Moon Beam.

Now I know that plenty of people swear by these but hear me out. Moon Beam, a liquid highlighter with a warm pink/ gold pearl just works better on my skin tone than High Beam does. High beam applies beautifully, lasts well, can be mixed into foundation for a dewy finish. The end result though is a pale, icy pink highlight that doesn’t quite work for me. I’d still recommend the product, just pick the shade that will work for you.

I’m afraid to say that I do find Poppie Tint to be a total let down for me. It is a lip and cheek stain and the gorgeous bright pink looks fab in the swatch. Sadly I have a hard time getting it to show up on my cheeks (if you layer it too much the edges become really obvious) and it doesn’t show up at all on my lips. Add to that the nasty alcohol type scent and it’s pretty clear that I won’t be getting a lot of use out of this. But then I suppose I’m biased as I’m not a massive fan of stains anyway.

I think I will stick to Moon Beam, thank goodness for freebies! 

October Favourites

Happy Halloween everyone! I love October. It’s all snugly jumpers, deep colours and spicy scents. Here’s what I’ve been making dents in throughout the month:

Mememe Boxed Blush in Rouge – a gorgeous reddish pink with subtle gold shimmer. This is the kind of shade that suits me best and I love blushes with a touch of red in them for getting a ‘just in from the cold’ flush. And it’s less than a tenner, score!

Sleek Storm Palette – This is my favourite of all the Sleek palettes. I have a ridiculous amount of eyeshadow and yet I keep coming back to this when I’m rushing to get ready for work. 

Clinique Super balanced Foundation – My skin doesn’t know what’s happening right now. It’s still oily thanks to my two weeks in the sun but the dry patches associated with the colder weather are starting to appear. This foundation works for all areas. This is the lightest shade (Alabaster) and whilst it’s a perfect match for me in the summer it will probably be a touch dark in the winter so I wanted to get as much use out of it while I still can. 

ELF Studio Cream Eyeliner in Golden Olive – less harsh than black, prettier than brown and office friendly. I’ve already made a fair sized dent in this. 

Benefit Browzings – I find this holds my unruly brows in place far better than even my beloved clear mascara so whenever I have time to use this in the morning I do. Also as I recently dyed my hair darker and redder I’ve been doing a stronger brow and loving it.

No7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Pink Crush – I actually got this free in one of their gift with purchase sets. I love the formula which is completely none drying and the sheer deep pink shade is a wearable introduction to a slightly berry lip. I’ve been wearing it under...

 Lippie on the bottom, gloss on the top ^

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Frankly Flirty – I think this has been discontinued unfortunately. I got it at an outlet shop ages ago and haven’t seen it anywhere else. It’s a gorgeous berry shade. In the tube it has micro fine silver glitter but it doesn’t really look shimmery on the lips at all. If you see it snap it up! (Or if it’s not discontinued let me know ;-) 

If you’ve done a monthly favourites post please leave a link in the comments. I love reading them x

*I bought all the above products myself*

Venomous Villains Haulage

You are probably sick to the back teeth of this collection now. Nonetheless I was too excited when my parcel finally showed up (hey DHL, some of your staff are pathological liars. Just saying) that I just had to show what I got. Look at the sexy graffiti packaging...

We’ll start with Briar Rose from the Malificent part of the collection. It’s a beauty powder which in reality translates as a sheer blush. All of the packaging in this collection is a glossy black rather than the usually textured black. It’s a dirty darkish pink with the teeniest hint of silver shimmer. At least I think it’s silver, it really is very very small. At £20.50 it ain’t cheap but the compact comes with a mirror and 10g of blush will last you a long time. I think it’s very pretty.


Bite of an apple if one of the products that had the most hype surrounding it. It is a bright matte red/coral blush from the Evil Queen collection. I think this colour will be perfect in a month or two for creating a just in from the cold flush. The matte texture means that it can be a touch patchy but not to the point where it is unworkable. Worth £17? It’s nice but not that amazing.



I’m in lipstick love. Toxic Tale is an almost neon bright red/coral, gain from the Evil Queen collection. It’s technically a satin but looks matte on to be so make sure you’re lips are in top nick before applying. The staying power is pretty good too with a good 3-4 hours wear on me (I seem to eat lip products...) £13 very well spent in my opinion.



Finally we have Devilishly Stylish. It’s a peachy shimmery nude lipglass from the Cruella collection and carries a rather disturbing image of the lady herself nuzzeling angry looking puppies. Weird. It has a doe foot applicator which I like and I love the colour. It’s a fabulously low maintenance nude. The texture is so thick and gloopy though that I find it a bit uncomfortable to wear. At £13 I probably could have skipped this one.




In general I’m pleased I did buy some stuff from this collection in the end. I know if I hadn’t i’d be kicking myself later. My advice is if you want something head down to MAC and buy it because this collection is not hanging around on the shelves for long. Some of it is already sold out online!

*I bought the above products myself*

Mememe Boxed Blush in Rouge

I bet Benefits lawyers are scratching their heads at this one. Mememe, a super cheap brand found at Superdrug in the UK, have a history of ‘borrowing’ ideas from Benefit. These boxed blushes are more than a little reminiscent of the Benefit blushes. You get the same cardboard packaging, the same soft but too thin to be useful flat brush. Am I complaining? No. If the product is any good then I’m a lot happier paying £7.99 for the drugstore version than £23.50.



Rouge is a rather apt name for the shade. It’s a dirty reddish peach with fine gold shimmer and frankly rather gorgeous. It’s pigmented, not scarily so but pigmented enough. It blends nicely too (when you use a normal brush) and I haven’t noticed any fading throughout the day.


The packaging seems good quality. Yes ok not quite as good as Benefits but more than satisfactory for the price tag. There are 4 shades available and I think next spring Coral might be coming home with me... x

*I bought this*

Collection 2000 Blush

At £2.99 these are some of the cheapest blushes out there. And they’re cute too! Look at the pretty embossed pattern and the clear case to see it through. Adorable no?


Is it a £2.99 miracle product? No... they are surprisingly well pigmented actually and the shades (I have here 02 Bashful) are nice enough. The problem I have is that you have to bully it into submission to get it to blend at all. I’m surprised I have any cheekbone left by the time I’ve gotten the edge to soften out. This one has an ever so slight satin sheen (hehe alliteration!) and looks really nice once it’s on but it’s an awful lot of work. It's a wamr, reddish pink.

I’ve used worse, more expensive blushes to be fair but when I’m in a rush in the morning I just don’t have time to spend 5 minutes blending my blusher. I won’t be repurchasing for that reason. They are still cute though!

*I bought this myself*

ELF Blush & Bronzer Compact

I’m finally working my way through some more of the goodies I got in the ELF 50% off sale. This is normally £3.50 for 8g in total. The packaging is lovely with sturdy feeling black plastic and a huge mirror.

The blush is a peach shade with a gold pearl. It blends effortlessly and if a fabulous easy to wear every day shade. Shall we get the inevitable NARS Orgasm comparison out of the way? It’s not a dupe. Sorry but it just isn’t. Orgasm is much more reddy pink, deeper and more shimmery. Given a choice I actually prefer the ELF blush! I’ve swatched them here with NARS Orgasm at the bottom.

The bronzer is a funny one. It’s quite a warm shade but not orangey which I like. There is a gold sheen evident in the pan and the swatch but when you buff it into your skin it disappears leaving an almost-but-not-quite-matte finish. It’s really very flattering. I don’t have NARS Laguna to compare it too I’m afraid.

I’ve been getting a lot of use out of this little compact and definitely something in the ELF Studio line that I would recommend picking up! X

*Bought by me*

Autumn Blush Picks

You may or may not have noticed that it’s Autumn now. Well, here in Glasgow it is. Given that I am very much an Autumn/ Winter kinda gal I’m pretty chuffed about this. No although I am a firm believer in wearing whatever you want whenever you want I do love the look of deeper berry blushes on pale cheeks at this time of year. It just make you look as though you’ve been out frolicking in the cold and the leaves without you know, having to touch dead leaves with bugs in them. Here are some of the blushes that I’m going to be using to achieve the look whilst pandering to my OCD.

Swatched left to right; MAC, Bourjois, Earthnicity, ELF.

Bourjois blush in 74 Rose Ambre. A matte reddish deek pink.

Earthnicity in Sorbet. It’s a similar to the Bourjois shade but slightly more orange and with a silver shimmer. Unusually and gorgeous although it’s a bitch to blend.

ELF Studio Blush in Blushing Rose. A deep wine shade with fine gold pearl. I wonder if this is a dupe for NARS Mounia? If anyone has both please do let me know.

MAC Beaty Powder Blush in Briar Rose. Yes I know and I’m sorry but this was ltd edition last year with the Venomous Villains collection. I’m sure there must be a similar shade out there. It’s a deep berry pink that is a little easier to wear than the more red shades.

The key to wearing dark blushes on pale skin for me is the MAC 188 brush (or similar duo fibre blush). Just apply tiny amounts and build it up. When in doubt I use the kabuki I applied my setting powder with to buff over the top to make sure everything is toned down and blended properly x

*All bought by me*

Bourjois Little Round Blush Pot: Rose Ambre

I think I might have to collect these. I’m rather partial to this little pot of loveliness! These little domed blushes come in a variety of finishes ranging from matte to full blown shiny. This is one of the more matte ones (thankfully). It’s a deep, rich pigmented rose shade. I like it now but I suspect I’ll love it in the winter for giving my pale skin a ‘just in from the cold’ flush.

The packaging is nice too. You get a little mirror and although the brush is too thin to be of any use to anyone it’s a nice touch that they included one and in a pinch you could use it to touch up during the day. The powder is extremely soft and you only need to tap your (proper) brush onto it to get enough colour. It blends better than many drugstore blushes too so if you do go overboard, as I often manage to, you can buff it away quite easily.


This does fade on me a little by the end of a work day but then pretty much all blushes do on me. That said my ‘work day’ is pretty gruelling with me putting on my slap at 6am and taking it off at 9:30pm.

There is a surprisingly large range of colours from silvery baby pinks to bronzes so chances are I’ll find some more shades in this range to pick up. I’ll confess I was nervous about trying this as I’m not a fan of Bourjois domes eye shadows. I find them to be too hard and lacking payoff. Thankfully the blushes don’t seem to suffer from either of those problems. I have read though that some people have found that these harden over time but that scrubbing them with a toothbrush or something to take the hard layer off sorts out the problem.

For £6.99 I think these offer a good range of colours and finishes and a surprisingly high quality too. I like ‘em and will be picking up more in the future I’m sure xxx

*I bought the above product with my own pennies. My reviews are always my honest opinion. For more info see my disclosure policy on the left*