Obviously, buying Christmas presents is super duper fun. I love online shopping, reading gift guides and searching the shops for that special gift that will make someone’s day. Buuuut, inevitably in all that selfless hunting you will stumble across a gift for yourself. Sure, you can drop hints, you can write to Santa, you can outright demand that your boyfriend buy you it, but sometimes it’s easier just to buy yourself a little present.
The Benefit Sweet Cheeks set that came out last year was this for me. Last year I resisted buying it and missed out. So when the Real Cheeky Party palette was released this year I just had to get it.The RRP is £29.50 (apparently it’s worth £110.23) and is currently available at John Lewis for £26.55.
The packaging itself is gorgeous, the inside is tin in the same design as the outer box. The pink and green might not be to everyone’s taste but I personally love it. The leaflet inside includes mini face maps to show you where to use each of the different powders to their best effect.
The kit includes four blushers, a bronzer, a highlighter, an eyeliner and a mascara. Last years was the same, except instead of the eyeliner and mascara you got a fifth blusher (Bellabamba) and a small brush.
The bronzer is their famous Hoola bronzer which seems to be widely loved. I actually find it a bit orange toned for me so probably won’t get much use out of this one.
In terms of the blushers, I have had Dandelion and Coralista before and loved them both. Along with Rockateur and Sugarbomb, they are soft with a light pigment so are buildable and wearable. They have varying levels of shimmer with Dandelion being almost matte and Rockateur having the boldest shimmer.
The ‘extras’ are a nice sample of the Watt’s Up highlighter and a mini of the They’re Real mascara and eyeliner. I really don’t like either of the They’re Real products – the eyeliner is flaky and the mascara is just not for me (I’ve found that people are either They’re Real fans or Roller Lash fans, I’m definitely the latter), but I love the Watt’s Up sample. It’s great that it is removable from the palette and has a cover to prevent dreaded powder fallout getting in it.
In a totally ideal world I would swap out the eyeliner and mascara for another blush – I really would have loved Hervana to be included as it’s so unique – and maybe even a sample of the Majorette cream blush in a similar style to the highlighter. Wishful thinking perhaps but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the 2016 edition!
Overall, I love this palette and I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of use out of it. It would of course make a fabulous Christmas gift for any make up fan, or like me, why not treat yourself? You deserve it!
For more gift ideas, check out my gift guide for the Beauty Queens here.