Benefit has come out with new shades of their iconic boxed blushes and redesigned the packaging. There are 12 full size shades retailing for $29 each and 7 of them come in mini sizes for $17 each. I have all but one (Starlaa) swatched here for you.

One of their original shades, Dandelion, is still a part of the range. The broken one in the corner is the shade Butterfly. Most of them have some level of shimmer but there are a few matte shades. They all have easy-to-work-with, buildable color payoff and none of them look “glittery” or give too much of a reflective shine to the skin.

They are all similarly scented but they do not all smell exactly the same. The box packaging is flatter than it used to be and no longer includes a brush. I think it’s a little easier to get a blush brush into the pan without smashing the bristles (as much) into the sides of the box.

Swatching these next to some of my older Benefit blushes, none of them are repeated shades or “dupes” (except Dandelion). My favorite of their old ones was Rockateur and the most similar of the new shades, I’d say, is Willa.

Where to buy: Ulta, Sephora, Benefit

Dandelion

Dandelion is a super pale pink with the slightest hint of a golden sheen. It is the palest of all the shades and doesn’t show up that well on me. What you see in the photo of me wearing it is several layers. It has decent color payoff – it’s just very light.

Willa

Willa is noticeably deeper than Dandelion and has a more obvious shimmer to it but no large sparkle. If you like the idea of Dandelion but have had trouble getting it to show up, you might like this one better.

Peachin’

Peachin’ is almost as pale as Dandelion but the orangey tone shows up better on me. It has a very subtle satin sheen to it, kind of like a natural-looking highlight.

Sunny

Sunny is a matte apricot. This is surprisingly bright on me for how it looks in the pan.

Shellie

Shellie is a lightly shimmery coral. It’s a little more pink than Sunny.

Crystah

Crystah is very bright but seemed to end up looking not that far off from lighter pink shades like Willa. I’m sure I could apply it much more heavily to get it to look closer the swatch/pan. It has a golden shimmer but when blended, it isn’t very obvious.

Butterfly

Butterfly is a deep orange with a bit of golden shimmer.

Moone

Moone is a deeper berry shade with a reddish sheen.

Pompom

Pompom is a very straightforward matte mauve. This one was just a hair patchy but still pretty decent.

Java

Java is a deep chocolate with a bit of a reddish undertone and a matte finish. By the time I got to demoing this shade, my skin was getting irritated LOL so it may look a bit more red than normal.

Terra

Terra is a reddish bronze with a little bit of golden shimmer.

Benefit Blush Bar is a Cheek Palette containing 4 blushes and one bronzer, all full size. There is a small brush included and a mirror inside the lid. The lid closes shut with a magnet. It retails for $58 and is available to purchase from Benefit, Sephora and Ulta.

Individual boxed powders retail for $29 whereas, in this palette, you are getting them for just under $12 each. The included brush has enough stiffness to blend shades out well. It’s not incredibly soft but it’s still comfortable against the skin.

I usually don’t order palettes like these because I am skeptical that I am getting the same exact products as the original, full sized ones. I grabbed what I could to compare to out of my collection. I have full sizes of Dandelion and Rockateur, and mini sizes of Galifornia and Hoola. See the comparison swatches below:

The two that I have full sizes of are pretty darn close to the ones in the palette. Dandelion in the palette is a tiny bit brighter in color and more powdery than the original. Rockateur is nearly identical though the palette one is a smidge more powdery and less pigmented. Galifornia in the palette is a different color and finish than the mini size I have. Hoola in the palette is much more pigmented and very easy to over apply.

If anything I think the quality of the powders in the palette is better than the two minis I have, but slightly less quality than the original full sizes.

Galifornia

Galifornia has a cool-toned medium pink base with a warm-toned peachy sheen. It is bright but not too pigmented so a brush picks up just the right amount of color. It applied evenly and blended well. There is a noticeable sheen when it is swatched but applied on the cheek, it imparts a barely-there satin glow that mostly looks like the natural finish of skin. It wasn’t powdery or dusty in the pan. It started fading after 5 hours of wear and was barely visible at 8 hours.

Gold Rush

Gold Rush is a warm-toned, pale, muted peach with a very subtle golden sheen. It was very sheer. I had to really load up my blush brush and apply a few layers to get it to show up on me. It applied evenly and blended out easily. This was a little bit powdery in the pan. I noticed light fading after 7 hours.

Dandelion

Dandelion is a cool-toned, pale pink with a subtle golden sheen. This is supposed to be a brightening face powder but I use it as a blush. It’s a bit too dark for my complexion to use as a face powder. A brush picks up more product than Galifornia and Gold Rush but because the shade is pretty pale, it’s not an issue. The color applies evenly and blends out easily. This was somewhat powdery, more so than the original Dandelion I have in my collection. This started fading after 7 hours.

Hoola

Hoola is a very warm-toned medium-deep bronzer. It is also very pigmented and somewhat loosely pressed. My brush picks up a lot of product so I need to tap it on the back of my hand first to avoid over-applying. I have to work carefully with this one but it does apply evenly and blend out well. This is the most noticeably powdery shade in the palette. It lasted for 8 hours with very minimal fading.

Rockateur

Rockateur is a peachy pink with a bluish-pink sheen and warm undertones. The base color of this looks very similar to Gold Rush but the sheen is different. It has semi-sheer pigmentation but it builds up easily. It applies evenly and blends out well. This faded after 8 hours.

Product Description

What it is: Rockateur is one of Benefit’s newer Box o’ Powders. It is described as a rose gold shade that will give you a “provocative flush” and is supposed to have a “specialized formula” that will deliver 1.6 times the color payoff.

Price/Quantity: It costs $28 for 5.0 g / 0.17 oz

Availability: Benefit’s website, Sephora, Ulta, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s

Packaging: The product is housed in a square printed cardboard box and closed with a magnet. There is a small-ish mirror on the inside of the lid and flat brush that sits in a plastic holder above the powder. Many times, I’m not a fan of the brushes and applicators included with cosmetics but the ones that come with these boxed powders are actually pretty good quality and can work for everyday use.

Smell/Fragrance: Like all of Benefit’s Box o’ Powders, this has a lovely floral fragrance which fades away once applied. The fragrance is strong if I am actively trying to smell it but when I am just applying this as usual, it’s pretty faint from a normal distance.

Performance

While I really like Rockateur, it wasn’t quite what I imagined it would be based on the description. When I think of rose gold, I think of jewelry – rings, necklaces, earrings – with a beautiful pinkish copper metallic glow. The closest approximation I can think of in terms of makeup, would be shades like Nars Orgasm, that have a bright rosy base and strong golden sheen. This was more of a muted brownish pink with a very subtle purplish pink sheen. It’s a color I could see a lot of people using for their “everyday” or “no makeup” looks because it looks very natural and subtle. I think it would best suit fair and medium complexions with warmer undertones, though it isn’t too hard to pull off on my cooler skin tone.

The pigmentation of this blush is just perfect – not too sheer but not so pigmented that it’s hard to work with. It’s easy to pick up plenty of color on a brush but at the same time it’s hard to overdo it and look like you’ve applied too much. It blends with ease and creates a smooth, even gradient when you blend out the edges. It never looks splotchy.

The quality of this product is very nice. It has a very finely milled, soft feel and isn’t powdery at all. Once you brush off the sparkly overspray, the pan never gets messy or powdery. Some blushes seem to sit on top of the skin and even stick to peach fuzz. Not this one. It adheres so well to the skin that it looks like it’s your own skin. Even though it has a sheen, the sheen is very diffused and doesn’t make any textural imperfections in my skin more obvious.

I usually wear my makeup between 8 – 10 hours on a typical day and this has never faded on me in that timespan.

Comparable Shades

• Smashbox Blush Rush in Bare – slightly browner
• Rimmel Lasting Finish Blush in Santa Rose – damn near an exact color dupe but doesn’t sit as nicely on the skin
• Elf Blush in Mellow Mauve – slightly more plummy
• Tarte Exposed – also slightly more plummy and has a matte finish

Worth Buying?

Yes. This has been one of my most used blushes since I bought it. I think it would work best for warmer skin tones but even on my cooler skin tone, it works just fine. The only downsides are that it does have a somewhat strong fragrance and you get quite a bit less product than you do in the other Box o’ Powders. This one has 5g / 0.17 oz. whereas most of the others have 8g / 0.28 oz. As a casual consumer, I’m not really too concerned about getting less product because I almost never use up blushes anyway. For a makeup artist, though, this could be a concern.