Benefit Hervana: Comparison with Coralista and Bella Bamba

Benefit's popular line of box o'powders received a cute new addition this spring: the orchid blossom hued Hervana. Cheekily described as a "good karma" face powder that gives one the "heavenly flush of enlightenment", the name is derived from combining 'her' + 'nirvana'.


This angelic blush actually spent over two years in development (read more about it on the Benefit blog). It contains four shades (lucky shell, divine peach, heavenly rose and berry delight) in a swirly pattern.

It looks like a soft matte at first but when placed under a bright spot light, the ultra refined shimmer is visible. There's no need to worry though as Hervana applies on the cheeks with a very natural finish without any metallic frostiness or visible glitter bits.

Swirling the included brush over the surface results in very minimal loose powder being kicked up. The individual strips of colour also do not run over into one another unless I use my finger to brush across the surface. The tinge of pink on the inner half of the shell shade was due to swatching with my fingertip.


The included brush has a tapered shape that works well for hugging the contours of the cheeks. It also picked up the blush powder easily with just a couple of gentle swirls around the surface.

Aside from Hervana, I also own Coralista and Bella Bamba, both of which are amongst the most pigmented of Benefit's boxed blushes. Other popular shades like Dandelion, Thrrrob and Sugarbomb are too pale for my liking.

The Coralista box is slightly taller and contains a much more generous 12g/0.42oz of product, versus 8g/0.28oz for Hervana and Bella Bamba, despite being priced the same. Both Coralista and Bella Bamba are made in the USA while Hervana is made in France.

The included brushes also differ in design and quality. The Coralista brush with the brown handle feels the stiffest with a bit of scratchiness. The Bella Bamba brush has longer bristles and is a bit softer against the skin but not as soft as the Hervana brush.


Swatches done on bare skin without any primer. Coralista and Bella Bamba are both more pigmented with a more glowy finish than Hervana, which is more muted.

The pic above was taken under bright indoor lighting so the shimmer particles are more noticeable while the pic below was taken next to the window in natural daylight.

For the look below, I applied Hervana with the included brush over Rouge Bunny Rouge Milk Aquarelle Foundation Liquid Foundation. While it doesn't swatch as well compared to Coralista and Bella Bamba, it actually shows up on the cheeks quite readily without the need for excessive layering. The shade is also so natural-looking that it never looks over-done. Nevertheless, as it is quite pale, I think it looks more suitable for fair skintones whereas Coralista or Bella Bamba would be more flattering choices for medium/tanned skintones.

Hervana retails for S$46 in Singapore, US$28 in US, £23.50 in the UK and €32 in France. The recent price adjustment by Benefit Singapore means that the price is now slightly cheaper compared to the UK and France, although still not as low as that in the US. Benefitcosmetics.com offers free international shipping for orders of US$125. Read more reviews on Makeup Stash! and Lipglossiping.