Benefit is back!

If you've been living under a rock the past few months: hello and welcome. The quirky and fabulous American makeup brand, Benefit, has relaunched in South Africa. I bought two things from the counter in Sandton City and thought I'd share my initial thoughts with you.

Benefit "do the hoola"

This little box of goodness contains everything you need to get that Benefit Hoola bronze. For R450 you get to try out five of Benefit's most-loved products; some old, some new. If I'm not mistaken "dew the Hoola" is a kit-only release, meaning that you can't buy it separately.

The Ultra Plush lip gloss in "hoola" is a gorgeous bronzy gold lipgloss that has a watery texture. It glides onto lips and keeps them moisturised and is the most non-sticky gloss I've had the pleasure of applying...ever. The colour, however is a bit misleading. I thought I would sport a golden champagne pout, but the colour is very natural with only a hint of bronze.

The They're Real! mascara is a mini, but has the same brush as the full-size. I forgot to photograph the brush, but it's quite a long brush with little bristles at the tip standing in all directions: this looks a bit odd but it helps grip those hard-to-reach lashes in the inner corner of the eye.

After buying this I read that Kim K's contouring powder of choice is Benefit's hoola. If it's good enough for her, who am I to disagree? I don't like the woman but she does a mean contour! What I love about this kit is that the bronzer comes in a teeny tiny little compact, which means that you can pop it in your handbag and don't need to take the whole box with you (it also comes with a little brush, which I don't use). The powder is buttery and soft and has a lovely warm colour without looking orange. It does look slightly lighter than the one I have in another kit, but I haven't compared them side-by-side yet.

Dew the hoola is basically the hoola bronzer but in liquid form. This comes in a little pump bottle and the bronzer is a bit darker than that of the powder version. It gives a stunning and healthy glow, but things can get a little bit orange/brown if you're heavy-handed.

The last item is probably the cutest of them all: a mini version of the BeneBalm tinted lip balm. This one is the red lip balm and leaves your lips with a sheer red tint. It doesn't smell like what you'd expect a lip balm to smell like, to me it almost smells like lavender! I was a bit disappointed with this as it leaved my lips chapped within a few hours, but I'll give it another couple of tries...

Benefit Fine One One

 

This deodorant-like stick is a multipurpose lip and cheek product: cream blusher in a twist-up stick. I have always been intrigued by this product and decided to add it to my basket. Fine One One contains three colours: Soft coral, sheer watermelon, and pink champagne. You sweep all three colours in one go onto the cheekbones. The colour starts off very sheer but can be built up to a nice juicy blush.

I like to start from my cheekbones and sweep upwards and outwards and then blend everything out with my Real Techniques Stippling Brush. They say you can wear this on its own, or underneath your favourite Benefit box blush. You can also use this on your lips, but I normally don't find these multipurpose products to be hydrating enough for my lips.

Do you have your eye on something from Benefit? Let me know in the comments section!

Until next time!

Hildegarde
xoxo