Kit da benefit-she"s s...jetset!

I'm spending my day up in the air (off to NYC for a bit!), so I thought it would be perfectly appropriate to review Benefit's She's So... Jetset! kit for this holiday season.

"Upgrade your look in an instant! This posh and polished makeup kit for eyes, lips and cheeks will turn you into a high flyin’ head turner who looks effortlessly glamorous. Follow the 'in-flight' makeup manual, filled with tips and tricks, and lift off to lovely."

First off, I like the theme of this kit and the fact that it includes a good variety of product. I also like the packaging, but it does have its downsides in my eyes. More on that later.

The kit includes:

• mini "the POREfessional" primer
• 4 eyeshadow colors
• 2 cheek colors
• mini lip gloss in "Life on the A List"
• mini "They're Real" mascara
• mini blush brush and eyeshadow applicator

I am really thrilled with the product selection and color scheme for this kit. It's a really nice combination of wearable colors and things you actually would use for a quick touch up and a simple look.

The eyeshadows in this kit are gorgeous. The sheen of that lightest one is begging to brighten up my eyes. The pigmentation is perfect, formulation is smooth, colors go well together. A+ here.

There are two colors in the cheek powder of this kit, but the total powder itself is very small, so you would likely just mix these together. However, I've swatched them separately for you here. The left shade is a light, nude-peach, and the right is a more medium coral pink. The lighter shade has a definite sheen to it. Really nice formulation of these colors as well.

Then last, but not least, is a swatch of the lip gloss, Life on the A List. This is a sheer peachy pink color, and I love it! Reminds me a little of NARS Turkish Delight lip gloss in the sense you could wear it with literally anything else on your face.

The lid of the box features a mirror surrounded by little airplanes!

Now for the downside: for my personal travel preferences, this box packaging is a little unpractical for me. Realistically, I would be using my own brushes-- take out the sponge applicator and mini brush. Then the lipstick, lip gloss, and primer would take up less space in a makeup bag-- take those out too. Thus, I am left with a relatively small amount of powder stuck in a relatively large box.

Because the box doesn't have extra room for me to leave everything in it and throw in a few extras (eyeliner, eyeshadow primer, etc.), I would have to take a makeup bag with me as well. So while this is adorable for everyday use at home, notorious suitcase crammers (like myself) would be more likely to depot the powders, stick them in a mini Z-Palette, and throw the rest in makeup bag.

Often times, holiday kits or mini sets "wow" in packaging, but not in product. The product quality in this kit surpassed my expectations. Yet as I explained above, the packaging isn't spot-on for me if I were to actually use it for traveling.

She's So... Jetset! retails for $36 and can be purchased wherever Benefit cosmetics are sold. For the price, you get a pretty good variety of product and the quality is there. I think this would make a great holiday gift for a daughter/sister/girlfriend/anyone else who is into makeup, but may not be the perfect fit for a true jetsetting pilot/flight attendant/traveler!

Are there any holiday makeup releases you have your eye on this year?
xx, Allison