
A taste of what’s coming for the holidays from Benefit. 🙂 More info, pics and swatches in two swipes of Dancing Queen gloss.


by Karen 4 Comments

A taste of what’s coming for the holidays from Benefit. 🙂 More info, pics and swatches in two swipes of Dancing Queen gloss.


by Karen 18 Comments

“Hey, baby, can I perk you up?”
No, seriously…I’m pretty sure I met that dude on the cover of Benefit’s new pocket-sized $30 Perk-Up Artist complexion corrector palette at a bar in San Francisco’s Financial District some years back.

Boom-chika-wah-wah!
This was pre-El Hub, so I may or may not have allowed him to buy me a mojito, LOL!
Pink hearts, Edwardian Script, a cheesy dude with aviator glasses and little plastic covers to protect the three creamy face perfecting products from drying out? Benefit always does packaging right.
So what do you get in this travel-friendly palette? Basically, Benefit’s Lemon Aid, Boi-ing and Eye Bright, each in pot form.
There’s Correct, a creamy yellow for neutralizing redness; Cover, a medium beige concealer to mask under-eye circles; and Brighten, a pale pink eye brightener to give tired eyes a lift (just apply in the inner corners of your eyes).

by Karen 32 Comments

Of course I got all jazz hands (JAZZ HANDS!) when I saw the neutrals in Benefit’s new eye illuminating kit, Peek-A-Bright Eyes ($32).
Brown, beige and pink eye makeup works on me like shot of makeup love straight to the heart! The combo takes me to that happy place where pink unicorns with rainbow manes roam free, Ryan Gosling walks around shirtless 24/7, and everyone’s eye makeup always looks flawless. 🙂
Benefit says the shades in the kit, which arrives at Benefit stores, counters and online next month, all work together to create a dazzling, bright-eyed, wide-awake look.
It comes with three eyeshadows (a base shade in Buff, a contour shade in Brown and a highlight in Pearly Pink), two tiny eye brushes, an Eye Bright and a booklet with a tutorial, and some tips and tricks.
For my makeup this afternoon, I used the tutorial in the kit as a jumping off point…


by Karen 13 Comments

In case you were thinking about partaking of Benefit’s Beauty Kit fall 2012 flash sale tonight, here are pics and swatches of the six limited edition kits to help you decide. 🙂
The online-only sale (no promo code necessary) ends tomorrow morning, July 20, at 9 a.m. (PST). After that, these kits are going, going, gone…



by Karen 3 Comments

Benefit’s newest scent, See & Be Seen Sasha Eau de Toilette, $36. Available now at Benefit counters, boutiques and online at benefitcosmetics.com.
Official fragrance notes:
Top notes: orange flower absolute, apricot, pink freesia
Middle notes: ylang ylang, tiare flower, white peony, jasmine sambac
Base notes: crystal amber, liquid musk, vanilla
by Karen 21 Comments

Wearing Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in Dallas on my lips and Dallas Boxed Blush on my cheeks
Like with your shoes when you go to class.
There’s nothing like that moment one morning when you glance down at your feet in the middle of your botany final and see a pink shoe on your left foot and a blue shoe on your right.
“What the what?!”
FCS, or Falsus Calceatus Syndrome (Wrong Shoe Syndrome), strikes thousands of young adults each year, many of them after all-nighters spent studying C3, C4 and CAM photosynthesis.
Like last night, when I dreamed that Tabs had an identical kitty twin.
In theory, one might think, “OOH! Matching bookend tabbies would be so awesome!”
Except it wasn’t.

The twin tabbies did everything together. They whined for gravy together, launched off my tum at 3 in the morning together, and collectively draped across my right shoulder while I tried to blog (that’s 40 pounds of cat, yo!).
They also demanded that I push them around town in a tricked-out Louis Vuitton kitty carriage, complete with spinning chrome rims, and I’m pretty sure they were also plotting to crush me. To death.
So which of these two cat-egories do the new $16 Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Glosses fall into?
I’d say the first one. When it’s good to match.
Benefit designed this new line of six sheer glosses to match their bestselling Benefit Boxed Blushes, and color my lips thrilled! 🙂
Most of the time when it comes to lip products, I think I’m pretty easy to please. Gimme a tube of Benefit Sugar Cookie Lipstick, and we’ll call it a day.
But I’ll never say never (Bieber-style) to a gorgeous gloss, especially one I openly wished for back in 2008, when I wished for a lipgloss that matched Benefit Coralista blush (or Dallas, or Sugarbomb).
With these Ultra Plush Glosses, Benefit delivers exactly that.


Swatches from the left: Dallas, Sugarbomb and Coralista
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by Karen 28 Comments

Wearing Benefit Bella Bamba Boxed Blush and Bella Bamba Ultra Plush Gloss
Ever get a hankerin’ for easy-to-apply sheer glosses in shades that match your favorite Benefit boxes blushes?
If you do, Benefit’s latest launch might be of interest.
Why? Because it’s Ultra Plush. 🙂
The six $16 shades that comprise the Benefit Ultra Plush Glosses match some of the lines bestselling boxed blushes.
Officially, they arrive at Benefit counters, stores and Sephora next month, but I’ve heard whispers about it being stocked at some Sephora stores early.
Here’s a brief look at three of the upcoming shades…


Bella Bamba

Hoola
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by Karen 22 Comments

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?
Benefit has an answer for that, and the answer, my dear, is you. 🙂
It’s movie magic time! — and this fairy tale is all about value. The new Benefit Rare Beauty Kit ($45), a limited edition set released to celebrate the launch of the upcoming movie, Snow White & the Huntsman, comes with products to re-create Snow White’s makeup look from the film, and to keep everything safe from the evil queen, a cute and convenient makeup bag.
The movie hits theaters June 1, but the kit arrives online at benefitcosmetics.com April 17 and to stores and counters in May.


I’ve been really looking forward to the movie since seeing the trailer a couple weeks ago. It looks intense and frightfully medieval, like a tale told to mischievous children hundreds of years ago to keep them out of the big, bad woods. 🙂

