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Benefit

Benefit Set a New Guinness Book of World Records Record in the Brow Arts!

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Among the things I’ve accomplished thus far in my life…

And now I can add witnessing the setting of a Guinness world record in the brow arts to the list!

Dude, I was obsessed with the Guinness Book of World’s Records when I was a kid (was I the only one?). The latest edition was always the first book I grabbed off the shelf at the school book fair.

So, when Benefit asked me if I wanted to bear witness to Guinness World Record history (and that it would also have something to do with brows), you better believe Raul and I said yes.

The event took place last Friday in San Francisco’s Union Square, where Benefit set a new Guinness World Record for — wait for it — the most people filling in their eyebrows simultaneously, and hi — they did it just in time for October 2nd, which is National Brow Day, a.k.a. the Super Bowl of Brows in Benefit’s world.

Yes, brow history was set by 295 Bene-babes and dudes (a few were dudes) of all ages…

Fun fact: If you’re going to set a record for filling in brows, all of the participants need to remove their existing brow product first…because you gotta take ’em off before you can put them back on.

The actual brow products were provided by Benefit goody bags, and the participants then waited to make history in one of the two designated hot pink brow waiting areas marked in the middle of the square.

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Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation Has Potent Pore-Pleasing Power

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benefit hello happy
SO KAWAII!

Things that make me happy:

  1. Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake
  2. Lifting heavy weights
  3. Cats (obvs)
  4. Sleeping in
  5. Hearing Connor say her name for the first time (“Cah-nah”)
  6. The happy heart eyes on these Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation bottles

Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation ($29, 12 shades)

I like this lightweight matte liquid foundation primarily for its pore-blurring prowess and SPF 15, and as long as I only blend the tiniest amount on my combo dry/oily skin — literally, just a few drops! If I use any more than two or three drops on each cheek, and yes, YOU KNOW I COUNTED THEM, it looks pretty obvious.

“Hello YOU! This lightweight foundation evens out skintone and blurs imperfections with soft-focus optical blurring spheres. With a natural-matte finish and light-to-medium coverage, it looks like skin and feels like nothing at all. Happy looks good on you!”

— benefitcosmetics.com

Use a few drops, a few gentle taps with your fingers or a damp beautyblender (don’t rub, lest it pill up), and poof! — homegirl be like WHAT PORES? Of course, my pores aren’t completely vanquished, because this is light-medium coverage makeup, not magic (although, one could make the case that makeup IS a form of magic, but that’s another discussion for another time), but still, the difference is significant enough to make me go DAYUM! — I see you Benefit. I see you. 😉

benefit hello happy swatches
For reference, I’m a MAC NC42, and I wear shade 6 (I could probably also go with 7 as well).

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Prospecting Ain’t Easy: Benefit Gold Rush Blush Takes Work

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benefit gold rush blush pacaging
The newest boxed blush by Benefit

Girl, I used to wear shoes like the pair on this box of Benefit Gold Rush Blush, and I’d be able to run in them, too!

Ah, memories of my former taller life… And by “taller,” I mean 5 feet 5 inches tall in 4-inch ? heels.

(In my mind, I’m a 5-foot-8-inch Glamazon, LOL!)

OK, enough rambling. 🙂 Benefit Gold Rush, their latest box o’ blush, just arrived on counters in two sizes, a full-size 0.17-oz. version for $29, and a smaller 0.08-oz. mini for $15. Both are peachy pink with big baddie gold flecks.

That top layer of golden shimmer is an overspray, but there’s also glitter within the peachy pink powder itself. So you won’t be hurtin’ for glitter with Gold Rush. That’s all I’m sayin’.

benefit gold rush blush pan
Yes, that’s an overspray, but there’s also glitter within!

You also won’t be hurtin’ if you’ve been looking your whole life for a HEAVILY scented blush that’s strong enough to pass for a perfume, because this one can.

All of Benefit’s boxes o’ blush are scented (I believe), but this is the strongest one. Definitely the strongest I can recall. I get strong sandalwood and sugar notes, and it’s also supposed to have citrus and vanilla, but I don’t detect those at all.

So, I actually like quite a few perfume-y powders, like Guerlain and Chanel bronzers, and I totes don’t mind smelling like a Nordstrom fragrance counter when I wear them, but Gold Rush is a tad too sweet for my taste. I think it’s cloying, like it belongs in a hot pink body spray with neon star-shaped glitter, but you know how it is with scented products. Just because I’m not a fan doesn’t mean you won’t love it.

benefit gold rush blush swatch
Look closely, because the swatch is there, man!

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Benefit BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara

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benefit badgal bang before and after
$24 Benefit BADgal Bang!

If I could go to Mars, but I could only bring one tube of mascara with me… LOL! It’s a variation on the “deserted island” theme.

Anyway, would I bring new Benefit BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara?

Hmm… Maybe? Perhaps for the poetic irony, because according to Benefit, BADgal BANG! does incorporate space-age technology, so there’s that… Benefit says that they used lightweight aero-particles, which were first developed by the space industry, to lift lashes to gravity-defying heights.

“BADgal BANG! 36 HOUR* FULL-BLAST volumizing mascara creates MASSIVE volume without weighing down lashes. The gravity-defying formula contains aero-particles, one of the lightest known materials, derived from space technology. This innovative intense pitch black mascara layers easily for bigger & BIGGER impact. It’s custom big Slimpact! brush is streamlined to reach root-to-tip, corner-to-corner, upper & lower lashes for BIG VOLUME WITH 360° REACH!”

— benefitcosmetics.com

My lashes definitely look lifted when I wear it…but seriously, not nearly lifted enough. In fact, the formula relaxes a lash curl a bit and leaves the ends of my lashes pointing out rather than sticking up (I prefer the latter look because I think my lashes look curlier that way).

benefit badgal bang closeup
Two fresh coats on my upper and lower lashes

Not that I dislike the way my lashes look when I use this mascara. I like how much longer and thicker they look, and I like the lightly glossy finish, like they’ve been dipped in lacquer. It’s a similar look to the gorgeous NARS Audacious, sans the curl hold and with slightly less volume.

On my average lashes, I’d call the overall lash look a few steps above natural but a few steps below glam — so somewhere right in the middle for length, volume and lift — and I also like that BADgal BANG! doesn’t flake or smudge. It’s also easy to remove, and I don’t need a separate long-wearing eye makeup remover to do it.

But…I want MOAR DRAMA (she roars for the millionth time)!

If your lashes are already naturally lush and long, you might like this and, heck, you might even love it enough to take to Mars. I, on the other hand, am more likely to wear it on a slow Tuesday on Earth. I mean, it’s pretty, but it isn’t nearly dramatic enough for me to pack in my Mars “go bag.”

And let’s get real — if I’m willingly hurtling my body through the Earth’s atmosphere into space for any reason, I’m gonna do it with glamorous drag queen lashes OUT TO HERE, no doubt!

benefit badgal bang full size mini

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A Glamorously Grungy Makeup Tutorial: Smoky Reddish Brown Eyes and Vampy Matte Lips

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reddish brown smoky eye tutorial top pic 1

I’m warning you now — ONLY wear this makeup when you want to feel like a total bad-@ss capable of capturing, and then breaking, all of the hearts in a room within the span of 5 minutes.

This beauty buddy movie pairs two bold focal points together — a messy reddish brown smoky eye and a crisp blackened red matte lip — to create a jammin’ juxtaposition of grungy and glam, and you know I’m all about the contrasts in makeup.

To keep the overall look approachable and well out of Insta-glam territory, I paired the eyes and lips with moderately matte skin (there’s a semblance of a sheen), casual, messy brows and a warm bronzed mauve cheek.

red brown smoky eye tutorial top pic 2

red brown smoky eye tutorial top pic 3

Are you ready to rock?

What you’ll need

FACE PRODUCTS

EYE MAKEUP

TOOLS

  • Smudge brush (MAC 219S)
  • Fluffy angled eyeshadow brush (MAC 275S)
  • Blush brush (MAC 127S)
  • Flat eyeshadow brush (or, you can just use a finger)
  • Something to blend your foundation (BeautyBlender)

red brown smoky eye tutorial products

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Say Hi to the Benefit Foolproof Brow Powder Kits

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benefit foolproof brow powder swatches final
New from Benefit: Foolproof Brow Powder ($24 each)

I have this theory that everyone at some point in time goes through a big ol’ bold brow phase, where all you want in life is OTT BROWS BROWS BROWS for days.

Mine happened circa 2014-2015, and when they happen, you gotta get them out of your system, like dating bad boys or wanting a pony or getting food poisoning. You just have to let it pass through you.

If you happen to be going through that era of your makeup journey right now, Benefit has three new brow kits you might like.

The Benefit Foolproof Brow Powder kits come in 1 Light, 3 Medium and 5 Deep. Each one has two shades — a lighter shade for the inner part of your brow and a darker shade for the outer tail — to get that bold ombre brow effect. They’re $24 each and available on counters right meow.

benefit foolproof brow powder swatches final
From the top: 1 Light, 3 Medium and 5 Deep

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Benefit Is “Baton” a Thousand With the Benefit Cheek Parade Blush Kit

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benefit cheek parade blush kit
The Benefit Cheek Parade Blush Kit is a parade of blushes! It comes with 5 full-size blushes and costs $58.

Band Geek Karen knows that the sassy majorettes on the new Benefit Cheek Parade Blush Kit are doing high mark time. Yes they are!

Oh…I marched across a lotta football fields back in the day with my flute, but these chicks look a lot cooler than I ever did.

benefit cheek parade blush kit closeup 3
Filed under “Things Band Geeks Know”

Five full-size pans

A new LE blush and bronzer kit, Benefit Cheek Parade is $58 and comes with five — FIVE! — full-size products from the Benefit permanent line, including Hoola Bronzer and the new Hoola Light; old-school blush faves Rockateur and Dandelion, as well as the new Galifornia; and a full-size face brushy-brush.

benefit cheek parade blush kit open

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Two New Ways to Hoola! Benefit Hoola Lite Bronzing Powder and Hoola Quickie Contour Stick

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benefit hoola lite quickie contour stick 1
The new Benefit Hoola Quickie Contour Stick and Hoola Lite Bronzing Powder

A true-life conversation between me and contouring…

ME: Will you please go away?

CONTOURING: No.

ME: *sigh*

I mean…I’m pretty sure that contouring has to fall out of favor and fade into the shadows someday, but it’s still going strong for now, especially at Benefit, and I’ve got the evidence for ya: the new Hoola Quickie Contour Stick ($28) and Hoola Lite Bronzing Powder ($29).

I think I mention this every 15 minutes, but I’m not a big contouring person (highlights for life, yo!). I gave it the old college try once again, though, with these new products because, well, you just never know, right?

benefit hoola lite quickie contour stick swatch
Swatches of the Benefit Hoola Quickie Contour Stick (top) and Hoola Lite Bronzing Powder (bottow)

I started with the Quickie Contour Stick…

Benefit Quickie Contour Stick

It’s a matte warm bronzed brown cream-to-powder contouring stick, and Benefit recommends that you can apply it down the sides of your nose, under your cheekbones and around the edge of your face, then blend it in with your fingers or a brush.

After a few go-rounds with it, well, let’s just say that I won’t be flipping over to #TeamContour anytime soon…

It’s kinda difficult to use, because the stick is wide and feels awkward when I run it under my cheekbones and down sides of my nose.

I always end up with waaay too much of it on my face, and then after I blend it in, I can’t really see any contouring effect at all.

I think there are few things going on…

benefit hoola lite quickie contour stick before
Before applying Hoola Quickie Contour Stick and and Hoola Lite

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