Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot O'Blushes comparison swatches

As promised in my review of the Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot O'Blushes holiday blush palette (here), I now have comparison swatches to share. Before purchasing this palette, I didn't own any Benefit powders. This limited edition palette includes Dandelion, Bella Bamba, Sugarbomb, Hoola, Coralista, and Rockateur, plus a mini cream Watts Up highlighter.

Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot palette swatches

From left to right, Benefit Dandelion, Bella Bamba, Sugarbomb, Hoola, Coralista, Rockateur

Keep reading for comparison swatches to other products in my collection. All swatches in this post were done with my finger on bare, unprimed skin.

3 Bold Drugstore Blushes for Fall

I think good blush formulas are hard to come by in the drugstore - many are poorly pigmented, chalky, and don't hold up throughout the day. I wanted to share my top 3 bold drugstore blushes for fall, each of them pigmented and vibrant enough to make a statement, yet refined enough shades to be wearable. Plus, each of these 3 would work on most skintones, from fair to deep.

Top 3 Favorite Neutral / MLBB Drugstore Lipliners

I wanted to share my top 3 favorite drugstore MLBB (my lips but better) neutral pink lip liners. Neutral pink shades are the ultimate in versatility - perfect for everyday makeup, adding definition to nude lipsticks, and adding dimension to berry lipsticks. Even better, each of these is under $5!

Without further ado, my top 3:

• NYX Lipliner Pencil - #860 Peekaboo Neutral
• Milani Color Statement Lipliner - #03 Nude
• Jordana Easyliner For Lips - Tawny 

Milani Baked Blush in 05 Luminoso review & swatches

Milani's baked blush in Luminoso is stunning golden peach shade that leaves a healthy glow on the cheeks. I reach for Luminoso on the regular all the time in the spring and summer. Like all of the other Milani baked blushes I have tried (I reviewed the line here), Luminoso is pigmented and complex. I bought mine at CVS for $8.49.

Luminoso accomplishes something that is difficult to execute well - it is a full color blush that packs pigment without overwhelming fair skin. I have no trouble buffing this blush into my skin and find that it is equally beautiful in a saturated or diffused application.

My Favorite Drugstore Blush Formula - Milani Baked Blush

Milani Baked Blush is the classic drugstore tale of a great product hidden in unfortunate packaging. Milani's Baked Blush line contains an impressive 8 shades (plus a 9th - a medium bronzer) with a surprising amount of shade complexity. Of the 8, 6 are satin or shimmery and 2 are matte. These blushes cost $8.49 for .12 oz (3.5 grams) of product.

I have 3 shades: 07 Fantastico Mauve, 03 Berry Amore, and 05 Luminoso. (Separate swatch posts to come!)

• #7 Fantastico Mauve is a shimmery red leaning berry with golden and bronze veining
• #3 Berry Amore is a shimmery warm bronze rose with golden and bronze veining
• #5 Luminoso is a satin warm peach with a hint of pink that comes off with a sheen on the cheeks (note: Luminoso is not a NARS Orgasm blush dupe - the Milani blush that was similar to Orgasm was called Luminous and is discontinued)

Milani Brow Shaping Gel in Clear review

I bought Milani's clear brow gel because I saw a review of the product that mentioned the small brush. Most clear brow gel products at the drugstore, like Ulta Eye Brow Gel, Essence Lash & Brow Gel, and elf Lash & Brow Clear Mascara, have large wands that end up depositing too much product on your brows (and usually smearing some on your forehead). Milani's Brow Shaping Gel comes in an opaque black tube with a gold cap for $4.99 for .15 ounces, which comes out to $33.27 per ounce.

Packaging:

Unlike most brow gels on the market, Milani's comes in an opaque tube. On one hand, it is nice not to see how gross brow gel gets when you use it frequently - nobody wants to see your cloudy taupe brow gel. On the other hand, you can't see how much of the product is left.

Brush:

The brush on the end of the wand in this product is substantially smaller than every other drugstore brow gel I have tried. It has a tapered triangle shape with bristles that spiral around the wand. I did buy this product for the brush, and unfortunately the brush is the reason this product is a total fail. The bristles are so widely spaced out that the product collects in between the grooves and does not deposit evenly in your brows. The brush always pulls out of the tube with way more product than you need and overloads your brows with gel, creating a wet looking crunchy brow. Even if you wipe the excess product off of the brush, the widely spaced bristles leave little tracks through your brows, leaving you with unattractive linear clumped stripes.

Formula:

This formula is mediocre. By my lunch break at work, I feel like I need to reapply to make sure my brows stay in place the rest of the day. Not the worst formula I have tried in a brow gel (that spot goes to Ulta's store brand Eye Brow Gel), but the best I can say is that it is adequate.

The bottom line - Don't buy this unless you want clumpy, wet looking crunchy brows that will only keep their shape until lunchtime. I love Milani, but this product lets down the line.