Benefit Celebutante

RRP: £21.50 at www.trinitydivinity.co.uk
contains: High Beam (2.5ml), Benetint (2.5ml), Dallas (3 grams), I'm With The Band (2.5ml), Lady's Choice (1.2 grams), No Competition (1.2 grams), Leggy (1.2 grams), Dandy Brandy (1.2 grams), 1 fluff shadow/talent brush, 1 powder brush

--What does the promo say?--
"Benefit Celebutante kit is packed with everything you need to look like a Hollywood celebutante. This stylish Benefit Celebutante set is a must-have gift for every lady. With all your faves in a glam clutch-style case and a step-by-step make-up lesson...it's the perfect accessory! Get one for all the celebutantes in your life...like YOU!"

--Packaging--
Pretty, pink, and finished off with plenty of chain drawings and gold lettering...a bit chavvy? Maybe, but inside it redeems itself, being all very compact and complete with two decent brushes for travelling and a mirror of goodly size. Can't complain :)

--Application--
A full step-by-step makeup lesson booklet is included in the pack to help you along, and it successfully takes you through everything from how to apply the highlighter through to which lip colour to choose (there are three).

--Scents--
Nothing has any scent really to speak of, which is good for those of you who are funny about that sort of thing.

--Appearance--
The contents of this palette assume by default that you have perfect skin, with not even so much as a concealer being included. This means that you do need to pack your own when travelling if you require it. Once you've applied any prerequisite base, however, the looks that this palette provides range from subtle and downplayed to more dramatic. Leave out the eyeliner, and choose Lady's Choice lipstick or I'm With The Band gloss for more of a daytime look, but add in the eyeliner and choose No Competition lipstick for something more vampish. You could also up the Benetint at this point if you wanted to. The selection of products works well for anyone, especially those with pale skin.

--Textures and consistencies--
The eyeshadows and Dallas can be a bit too powdery at times, but not much (if any) is wasted as it's still very easily controllable thanks to the dexterity of the brushes provided. No problems with any of the other products - Benetint and High Beam blend well, the two lipsticks are not drying, and the lip gloss is hard-wearing without being sticky.

--Longevity--
Benefit probably does best out of this, although everything else is exceptional in how long it lasts. Lipstick only needs to be reapplied once or twice a day at most; lip gloss does its best and holds its own in its price bracket.

--Value for money--
Excellent, as the Benefit palettes always are. It would be nice if there was a concealer and a mascara included, even though I know that the former is fraught with risk; however, they probably wouldn't be able to do this without making the palette quite a bit bigger. You can also get this for a lower price if you search around, particularly on ebay - you won't find this in the shops now, in any case, as it was their Christmas special edition for 2009 and it's now gone from the high street for good. It's worth looking around to see if you can get hold of one, though - the Celebutante is great for travel and provides near enough everything that you need to make it through your holidays.