Product Review -- Benefit Cheek Parade Bronzer and Blush Palette

When it comes to blushes, bronzers, and other cheek products, Benefit is definitely at the top of the class.

Their Rockateur Blush is one of my favorite blushes ever made -- it's just the perfect rose gold shade and pairs well with so many different eye and lip looks that I wind up wearing it a ton.

I also love Hervana and Coralista, so let's suffice it to say that I have a fairly large collection of Benefit's boxed blushes.

Still, whenever they put out their blush and bronzer palettes, I'm always a tempted, even though they are usually duplicates for blushes I already have. But I've never tried Benefit's famous Hoola Bronzer, which is usually included in the palettes -- and I don't know that I need a full size of it because it seems pretty dark and my skin is so fair -- so I find myself thinking that it might be worth it to pick one up.

Well, their newest blush and bronzer palette, the Benefit Cheek Parade, was the one that finally reeled me in because not only does it contain Hoola, it also features the newer Hoola Lite, which is probably a better fit for my pale skin, and Benefit's newest blush shade.

Review -- Benefit Rockateur Blush

I wanted Benefit's Rockateur Blush from pretty much the moment it was introduced two or so years ago.

But it's $28 and the blush drawers in my makeup collection have been overflowing for a while now, so I told myself that I couldn't justify the purchase.

And unlike so many times in the past when I didn't listen to my own advice, I actually held fast and didn't buy it, even though I wanted it desperately.

But then a couple of months ago, I found myself in the Benefit section at Sephora and that damn little box just screamed my name. And honestly, I kind of felt like I'd earned it because I'd waited so long to get it and I'd actually gotten rid of several powder blushes in my collections.

So I bought it.

What I'm Wearing Today Vol. 2

I apologize for the lack of a formal post, but I'm a little under the weather today and have fallen behind on work so it's probably going to be a long night.

I also thought today would be a good day to share the makeup I'm wearing because I even thought I feel like crap, I actually look pretty good - and I used a new palette that I just got and am super excited about (review coming once I've tried all the colors).  I'm particularly loving my eyeshadow combo today, so without further ado, today's makeup:

July Favorites

July goodies

Since tomorrow is August 1st (it really is terrifying how fast time starts to go as you get older...), it's time to share my July Favorites.

But I should preface this post by confessing that I've already written about every item on my list before - some of them pretty recently, actually.  I just don't have it in me to fake a favorites list of new items, though.  These were my honest to goodness favorites this month, so I'll share them but just keep the blabbering to a minmum.

Or try to anyway.

I do tend to ramble. 

Favorite Cream Shadows

I have to admit - for a long time, I wasn't really a fan of cream eye shadows.

For one thing, they always seemed too sheer to really pack any punch on the eye.  And probably more problematic, they creased like mad on my oily lids so they definitely didn't seem worth the trouble.

Now, in all fairness, my first introduction to cream shadows was Revlon's Illuminance Creme Shadows, which - I think most would agree - are one of the worst cream shadows on the market. 

I think I uniformly boycotted all cream shadows for years after my experience with them, actually.

Of course, now I realize that all cream shadows are not created equal.  And I think I've learned how to use them more effectively (and deal with creasing) so I'm better able to get the most out of a cream shadow when I use one. 

Still, there are some I like better than others so I thought that I'd share my favorites in case you're in the market for a few good cream shadows.

Favorite Blushes

My very favorite blushes

Over the past couple of months, I’ve become a total blush fiend.

Being so fair, blush has always been a necessity for me since I look pasty and washed out without it, but it ranked near the bottom of wishlist items when I headed to Sephora.  I mean, if I had a gift card, chances were good I was walking out with a foundation or a couple of eye shadows or lipsticks, not a blush.

Lately, though, I’m buying nothing but blush.  It’s kind of crazy.

I blame the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes for it really – they’re so long-wearing and highly pigmented that they’ve really made me appreciate what a good blush can do.

Everyday Makeup Bag

My everday makeup essentials

I have a ton of makeup. 

More makeup than any one person needs, really.

When you’ve got so many products, it can be really difficult to find a particular item that you need when you’re in a rush to get ready in the morning.  I try to organize my makeup as best as I can but that’s not really one of my strengths. To cut back on the time that it takes me to get ready, I keep all of the items that I use on a regular basis in a makeup bag so I only have to grab  face products, shadows, blush and lip color for the day when I’m getting ready.

My Current Wishlist Or: Items I'm Interested in Trying

My foundation drawer's already overflowing, but more than half of my wishlist is face products. Crazy!

I try to responsible when it comes to the money that I spend on my makeup – I generally give myself a budget that I’m allowed to spend each month and try my hardest to stick to it. Now, admittedly, I’m probably only half successful. I have a habit of buying things kind of impulsively. So far in the new year, I’ve been pretty good, though. One of my tricks for sticking to my budget is keeping a running tally – a wish list, if you will – of all the items that I’m interested in so when I have money to spend, I know what I’m going to get. Here are the things I’m interested in trying right now (in no particular order):