I've tried a lot of Benefit's products - mainly because I think that whoever developed the concept behind their products was a pure genius. The packaging, the names, the styling of the counters ... it all speaks to me. It begs me to come and play. I also feel they hit the nail on the head with a lot of 'issues' women have with their cosmetics. They promise to shrink pores, give you breathable foundation, cancel out redness, erase undereye circles, give the world the first moisturising concealer. The list goes on.
I do find however that their products are majorly hit and miss when it comes to effectiveness. Amongst others I have tried their "You Rebel" tinted moisturiser, "Some Kind A' Gorgeous" foundation, "Dandelion" blush, "Erase Paste" under eye concealer and "You're Bluffing" yellow concealer, and none of these floated my boat. For their price tag, they were a disappointment. But Benefit do offer some absolute gems, and they are actually easy to identify, mainly because they get so. much. hype.
My 'recommended' Benefit products, honed by years of cosmetics splurging, are:-
1. Hoola bronzer
2. Bad Gal eyeliner
3. Porefessional
In my mind, these are the winners of the bunch, and the only ones worth the price tag (all around £15-£24 each. Yikes).
But because of the price tag, I have to be a bit reserved when buying these. I don't always buy them as soon as they run out and I am ALWAYS looking for cheaper dupes.
My Hoola ran out centuries ago, my porefessional is getting extremely low, and my mascara has all but dried up completely. So when I saw Benefit's Limited Edition Sugarglam Fairies gift set, I genuinely thought the cosmetic gods were speaking to me. Speaking to me from high above, via a Christmas decorated tin of EVERYTHING I love from Benefit.
So, I simply had to share my excitement with you all. If you are looking to give some of Benefit's wonder kid products a whirl, then you have to look into buying this set.
At £44.50 you get a full size Hoola, full size Porefessional, full size "They're Real" mascara and a mini Benetint.
All of these items individually would equal approximately £68, not including the mini Benetint. That's a saving of nearly £25! Plus if you can get it in one of the Christmas deal days where places like Debenhams offer 10% or 20% off, then basically you're laughing.
Hoola
I have talked about Hoola in a couple of bronzer posts (here and here) and you will see that in both of them, I'm using Hoola as my ideal bronzer and then trying to find cheaper dupes. I love this bronzer because it is completely matte and has minimal orange undertones to it, meaning it looks natural but still manages to keep the face warm (rather than grey, like some non-orange bronzers can do). At £23.50, I think it is a bit overpriced for my kind of budget, but there's no denying it is a very easy to use, flattering bronzer and other than Bahama Mama by The Balm, I've struggled to find anything that comes close.
Porefessional
For me, Porefessional is a bit of a random product. Obvious pores are something I struggle with a lot, and I am always trying to find ways to smooth them over. I've tried a number of pore reducing products, such as L'Oreal's Blur Magic and Smashbox primer. I can honestly say that none of them have worked for me. Some just sit in my pores and make them look even more obvious and others just matte my skin off but don't touch the appearance of my pores. Porefessional is basically the best of a bad bunch for me. I really like the consistency as it isn't as waxy as other products, and if you rub it in, it doesn't break up into little waxy bits (like when you try and rub a sticker off something and it breaks up - best way I can describe it!) It certainly doesn't erase my pores completely, but I think it does calm them a bit. It isn't drying, it hasn't given me spots and it does provide a good base for your foundation. But I'm still on the look out for an alternative, it definitely isn't holy grail status for me however a lot of people swear by it.
They're Real mascara
If you're a regular reader of my blog, you are probably reading this bit thinking "what the hell!?" Because a month or so ago, I wrote a pretty scathing review on this mascara (see here). I still stand by the majority of my comments, but I will admit that as the mascara has dried out, it has actually worked a lot better. At this point I have to say two things. Firstly, I am massively intrigued to see how I get on with my second batch. Will it perform as badly as the first one did originally? Secondly, if this hadn't of been in this gift pack, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have parted with £19.50 to buy one. As in my main review, I still think this is an application thing, and I am interested in giving it another whirl, but if it performs like the last one did then, even with the improvement at the end of it's life, I still think this would be the end of my relationship with They're Real.
Benetint
I've literally never tried this, so haven't got anything to give you. It looks a random product, some kind of gel based liquid blush tint that is applied with what looks like a nail varnish brush? Hmm.
Bad Gal waterproof eyeliner
When buying the gift set online, a cheeky little extra popped in my basket to enable me to get free delivery, and that's Benefit's Bad Gal waterproof eyeliner.
*Please let me reiterate that this doesn't come in the Sugarglam gift set*
I haven't used this eyeliner for a while, and have been pretty faithful to my Mac Smoulder kohl pencil, but recently have found my Mac pencil to give me a serious panda eye after a few hours of wear. My Mac pencil is down to the stub, so I was in the market for a new eyeliner and thought I'd go back to the Benefit one. From what I remember, this eyeliner lives up to its waterproof claims, so is ideal for the waterline. I don't recall being particularly excited by the smudger end, which didn't smudge very evenly, but the liner itself was always strong in pigment and long lasting. Fingers crossed my memory is right!
