Benefit Makeover

Last week I was wandering around Fenwick in Newcastle when I decided to have a look at the Benefit counter and drool over the beautiful packaging. After asking me if I needed any help, the lady at the counter asked me if I wanted to have a makeover, and seeing as I was going for drinks that night, I pounced on the opportunity. I realise there is a slight obligation to buy when you have one of these make overs, but I had been eyeing up a couple of items from Benefit for a while, so I thought, "why not, it'll be fun!"

The Finished Product

So, I sat in the chair and let myself be guinea pig. First, the lady talked me through some of Benefits primers, Stay Flawless, which prolongs the wear of makeup by acting as a magnet; and The (infamous) Porefessional, a balm which minimises the appearance of pores and fine lines. I use Mac Pro Longwear foundation anyway (which doesn't budge, not one bit), so I have no need for a prolonging primer, so I decided to try out The Porefessional. The MUA put a bit of the product on the part of my hand between my thumb and index finger, and WOW, those little wrinkles on my hands just disappeared. Amazing. I don't really have wrinkles on my face, or big pores, but I could definitely see the difference in my skin: it just looked so perfect.

Next she used some of the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation. Apparently, this doesn't contain any preservatives or nasties that are normally included in cosmetics, so it is kind to the skin. It also has SPF 25 and PA +++ so it protects the skin from both UVA and UVB damage. I've never really given this foundation too much thought, as I've been too busy lusting over YSL's Le Teint Touche Eclat, but it's really nice. It's quite light coverage (which I like) and gave my skin a really luminous finish. I did notice however, when I looked in the mirror at home that it clung to the dry patches on my skin. She also used some Fake Up concealer under the eyes, which covered up my dark circles nicely.

Then onto the eyes; first off the lady did my eyebrows with the Browzings palette. I have quite nice brows naturally, they have a good shape and they aren't sparse, so I've never filled in my brows and, to be honest, I was dubious when she said she was going to fill them in. At first I thought the brows were a bit much, but now I look at the pictures, I think they look really good! I think maybe it was a bit of a shock to the system.

Then she used some of the Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows from one of the nude palettes (I can't remember which). Seeing as these claim to be creaseless, I was very interested in trying these, because so far, I haven't had much luck with cream eyeshadows. The MUA swatched them on her had to show me how they don't budge after they dry. However, when I got home I noticed that the eyeshadows had creased a little, but I rubbed the shadow with my finger to blend it in, and after that it actually lasted all day. So perhaps they creased because it had been a hot day, or I had opened my eyes before they dried.

Slight Creasing

I also got to try the They're Real Mascara, but I put this on top of my L'Oréal False Lash Flutter mascara, so I couldn't see the unadulterated supposed magic of this mascara.

Then the lady used some Hoola bronzer on my face and did some contouring. I've never used a matte bronzer, and I have to say, this worked much better for this purpose than my Guerlain Sheer Bronzing Powder. When she showed me Hoola in the pan, I did actually think it was way too dark, but it blends out really easily, so you can get a sheer colour with it at first and then build it up if you want to. This made my cheek bones look awesome! She also put a little bit on the rest of my face, but it actually looked really natural, which kind of proves my point.

CHEEKBONES AT LAST!

Next we tried Fine One One, which I have been pining over for ages. It is a little stick of cream blush which has a coral shade, a watermelon shade and a champagne highlighter. I think this is so nifty, you can keep it in your handbag and pop it on your cheeks and it instantly brightens up your complexion. You can also use it on the lips, but I didn't like the texture at all, it felt powdery and clung to the dry patches on my lips like nobody's business.

Finally, I got to try the Watts Up highlighter (which I have also been pining over). It is the prettiest champagne colour and also comes in a nifty stick style, so is easy for on the go application. I decided to go for this product, as the Fine One One looked pretty similar to my Topshop cream blush in Flush, and I couldn't afford both.

All in all it was a really fun experience, the MUA was so nice, and my makeup looked great. It was really nice to try out some products that I probably wouldn't have chosen on my own and be introduced to filling in your eyebrows! 


A full review of Watts Up to come

If you want to have a look at the products I tried, here's the Benefit Website