My Latest Beauty Purchase...

...is a hot new product by cult beauty brand Benefit Cosmetics, Fine-One-One Sheer Brightening Color for Cheeks and Lips.

Spotted at Matthew Williamson and hailed as "a new make-up bag must" by Glamour UK magazine, Fine-One-One, according to the Benefit website, "gives your look instant LIFT, SHAPE and POP".

So, what is it, basically?

It is a compact, light-weight stick which can be swept onto cheeks and lips for a dewy finish.

The metallic rose gold packaging is absolutely gorgeous and, admittedly, what prompted me to give this product a go and buy it on my last trip to Sephora.

Once you lift the lid, you'll find inside a retractable three-colour stick. Left to right in the picture, the shades are Soft Coral, Sheer Watermelon and Pink Champagne.

I have to admit I wasn't utterly impressed with the colours. I'm more used to powder blushes, which of course last way longer than this, and I found the colours in this one are all rather sheer. 

Pink Champagne, the lighter of the three, has a lovely golden shimmer which you can just see in the photo above, but more or less disappears on my skin-tone. 

Soft Coral, on the other hand, is much more vibrant than anything I'm remotely used to wearing. 

This leaves with Sheer Watermelon, which is very pretty, but again, rather too...watermelon-y!

Note my thumb nail painted in the new Chanel Emprise (two coats) + Dior Nail Glow (1 coat)

All in all, a brilliant product for carrying around in your make-up bag during the day, won't lug you down and allows you to minimize the number of products you need to take with you (as this could, theoretically, double up for lips as well, but again the colours are rather transparent, and anyway you'd need a lipgloss on top to make them pop, in my opinion).

On the other hand, you must be sure that the colours work for you, as the downside is that it's really eye-wateringly expensive for what it is (8.0 grams, or 0.28 ounces, of product, really!), retailing at €32/£23.50/$30.

I think I'll stick to my beloved Benefit Benetint for the time being!