Benefit Her Glossiness Lipgloss: Who Does Your Work?

Thanks to so many times of trial-and-error, I've finally figured out that the best lip colour to suit my skintone as well as my lips would be something that's berry-ish. I've yet to find my perfect red, pinks make me look ill, but something that's berry-ish or even plum-ish is very flattering.

A very simple gloss which does as it promises and nothing more. Very glossy, slightly sticky and with a hint of berry scent.

The stickiness does not bother me because I love it for the colour. There's not a hint of shimmer or glitter in it which makes it suitable to wear in almost all circumstances. I love to pair this with a nude eye. The pop of colour on the lips is all that's needed for a 9-5 day at work.

However, I do find that it stings a little on the lips upon application. I'm not sure if the stinging comes from the plumping effect but I most definitely do not find my lips plumped up.

Benefit glosses are, well, glosses. Nothing more, nothing less. Would I re-purchase? Probably not. But, the consistency and the texture is good. BUt the one thing I'd noticed is that the colour does not last long. The gloss and shine effects are still rather prominent after 3-4 hours but the colour is all but gone. I'd say not as pigmented as I thought it would be.

There are always new and more exciting glosses out there so it's always fun to try and experiment new ones.

Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Skinny Jeans

It's been quite a long while since I got this eyeshadow. On days that I'm pressed for time, (e.g. rushing to catch the 725 to Richmond to make it for the 739 Blackburn only to find out bloody Connex has cancelled my 739 and I'd missed my 734 Lilydale. !*(&(#*^(*!&(!*&!!!^@^%@&^%) this is truly a God-send!

Image from benefitcosmetics.com

The colour is most definitely office-friendly. Names of colours on Benefit products aren't usually self-explanatory. I mean, who in the world would understand what sort of colour Skinny Jeans is? Except for yours truly because coincidentally, my first pair of skinny jeans was in dark grey. So, it's close enough. This is shimmery pewter or very dark grey with a tiny hint of green at certain angles. Most definitely office-friendly and I love that the finish is almost the smoky eye but not quite there yet.

The pot is most certainly generous and I have no idea how in the world I'd be able to finish using up every single bit of this eyeshadow. Even if I were to use it everyday, there's really no way one could use up the entire pot before it dries up.

Texture wise, it's very creamy as its name suggests and very, very soft. It is most definitely blendable and almost idiot-proof.

I guess that's where the pros of this product ends. I hate its claim that it's creaseless. It's most definitely not. I prep my lids with the world-reknown Urban Decay Primer Potion and at the end of a 12-hour wear, there's a little hint of creasing. So, one fine day, I decided to test it for its creaseless claim. No primer, nothing to prep the lids. It creased within a couple of hours. To be fair, I do have fairly oily lids but I dislike the claim and aimed to prove it wrong if it's not performing up to its claims.

It's a very easy product to use. I usually use a stiff brush (an eyeliner brush is a good bet) and load it up with the product. I draw a thick line near to the lashline and flicking it out a little as one would do for an eyeliner. Using my finger, I'd blend the colour up towards the crease. With that, I get the liner as well as a shadow effect in one. Then, I'd load up the colour a bit more for the outer corner of the eye and blend it in. Finally, a little lighter colour as a highlight for the brow. My staple for highlighting is Dior Mono shadow in Ready-to-beige. It's a great champagne-y-gold colour that's very subtle.

If I have a little bit more time, I usually go over the colour with a powder shadow in a similar shade. I pick Rock from the Bobbi Brown Stonewashed Nudes palette. The finish is a bit more dramatic compared to using only the cream eyeshadow on its own.

If creasing is not an issue with you then, this is a great everyday office-friendly colour. If you have oily lids, then it's a good idea to find a primer for your lids and then load the product on. Having said all that, it's a pretty good value for money because of the huge pot you get. And, it's a great colour to use that is timeless and suits almost all skin tones.

Benefit Thrrrob

Having gotten our Victorian Licenses burning in our wallets, we made our way to the city yesterday for a good roam around.

The Benefit counter at Myer was having a field day! They've got a huge promotion to launch the very pretty, very shimmery face powder thrrrob!

Shaped exactly like its predecessors Dandelion, Georgia, Hoola and Dallas, thrrrob is meant to simulate the natural flush one gets when her heart races. And, like all its other predecessors, it comes with a square little brush with the exact same soft bristles.

I picked up the box and held it side-by-side with my staple Dandelion and Dandelion simply looks peachier compared with thrrrob. Dandelion is a simple ballerina pink with no shimmer but on the other hand, this new member to the family has the faintest bit of shimmer that's hardly noticeable when brushed onto my hand.

Taking into account that neither Dandelion nor Georgia shows up at all on my hand, it is not really saying much. As usual, I had on my regular Dandelion and was rather reluctant to slap on more colour. However, when I swiped the powder with my finger, it's a very sheer dusky pink that would most definitely look gorgeous on the Asian skintone. To be fair, the picture below does do thrrrob justice. This is probably as close to the real thing as it gets.



If it is as sheer as I'd seen it, I would see it no problem at all for cool-toned and fair (moi!) girls. You've just got to be a bit careful and light-handed with it. Even with Dandelion, on certain pale days, I could go overboard and end up to be too red.

Currently retailing for AUD$49, it's priced exactly the same as the other face powders from Benefit. Taking a step back, with the AUD being almost neck-to-neck with the USD, it's rather ridiculous to be paying almost double for a product here. thrrrob retails for only USD$28, so if you've got your own cosmetics mule doing the runs for you, get this in the US (and let me in too to share in with your mule!).

There's also a promotion running in Myer currently. Purchase thrrrob and any other item, you'll get a free gloss from the Her Glossiness range retailing for $32.00 each. Or, purchase any Benefit item, and get a tiny free Benetint sample.

Myer stores carrying Benefit Australia wide:
Bourke St, Melbourne
Chadstone, Melbourne
Highpoint, Melbourne
Queen St, Brisbane
Bondi Junction, Sydney
George St, Sydney
Castle Hill, Sydney
Chatswood, Sydney
Hay St, Perth
Rundle Mall, Adelaide
Pacific Fair, Gold Coast
Chermside, Brisbane

New Goodies From Benefit

Browsing beauty websites is one of my favourite hobbies. It's like window shopping. All from the comforts of my room. And, Benefit cosmetics always has one of the most fun stuff. Quirky names, pretty packaging, they all seem to beckon at me from across the oceans.

One of the first few stuff which I came across was a set of brushes. Or, I should say one of the first few things which caught my eye since brushes are always interesting. This set contains 4 brushes, from its description: the powder brush, fluff brush, hard angle brush, and the talent brush.

I would think the fluff brush would be your regular large eyeshadow brush. The hard angle brush (last brush on the right depicted below) can be used for filling in the eyebrows and finally, the much-talked about talent brush (2nd last brush from right below) is multi-use. I imagine it would be suitable for a cream eyeshadow and even for undereye concealer! I wouldn't dream of using this to correct spots because it's just too wide for precision.

This set goes for USD$44.00.



Justine Case, a twist to the popular phrase just-in-case is a set made up of miniatures of Benetint, eyecon, california Kissin' and Some Kind-a Gorgeous in a pan. I would think this would be a good chance for those who have been dying to want to try some of these products. Benetint has received its fair share of good (and lousy!) reviews but you'd never know if it'll work on you until you've tried. eyecon is their eye cream which is touted to reduce dark circles but having tried an entire tub, I can safely say that it does not work. Well, that's the thing with dark circles. You cannot simply eliminate them with products. Trust me on this. California kissin' is a blue-tinted lipgloss which is supposed to make teeth look whiter. Well, it is true that a red lipstick with a hint of blue would make lips whiter but I still could not justify spending so much on a lip gloss. According to some complaints in forums, Some Kind-a Gorgeous is too expensive to be used solely as a foundation. You'd see the bottom of the pan in no time. Well, like I'd said, you wouldn't know until you've tried it.

This cute little palette retails for USD$30.00



Grabbing all the favourites from their range of products, Best of Benefit: Iconic Classics consists of Dr.Feelgood - a balm and/or primer for the face, Benetint and Badgal Lash mascara. These products are all packed up in a pretty little paper box and ready to be given away (or kept for yourself). Other than Dr.Feelgood, I can't say for how good the rest of the products are. I am actually rather disappointed with Dr.Feelgood. It made me break out at the oddest places! The little spots would pop out at the little crevices at the sides of my nose. Between the nose and the cheek. Just one or two. I've completely given that up. But, having said that, I've still not learnt my lesson and would, every now and then give it a go, just in case, I've gotten over the reaction.

This pink package retails for a whopping USD$58.00



Finally, a little gift set they've dubbed Best of Benefit: Beauty Bag Essentials consists of Dallas the bronzer, Badgal Lash mascara as well as eye bright, a pink pencil to be used to brighten up the eye area.

This retails for USD$46.00.



I've always loved stuff from Benefit, but somehow, I was just not inclined to buy anything this time round. Maybe the phase for Benefit has finally passed.

Note that this is not in any way sponsored by Benefit. I just think that their products are cute and are worth sharing. I shall not be held responsible for any spending sprees going out of control.