Benefit

Natural-Looking Skin the Easy Way With Benefit’s Big Easy Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector

February 28th, 2014 by Karen 27 Comments

The new Benefit Big Easy Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector, $38

This morning I woke up feeling like this…

…because of this.

Yup, just call me TBK (Two Beer Karen), LOL!

We took that out-of-town friend of El Hub’s who stayed with us last night to a local brewery here in Novato called Moylan’s, where I “sampled” some of their Pomegranate Wheat, and since I hardly ever drink, I did not feel exceptional this morning.

I intended to do a full face o’ warpaint today, but when I sat down in front of my makeup mirror, my arms felt like lead weights… My body was like, “Oh, hell naw, hookah. We’re doing minimalist makeup today.”

So, out came my tube of Big Easy, a new BB cream from Benefit.

Dude! This stuff is boss. I’m not usually a big BB cream fan, either, mostly because I rarely feel like they provide enough coverage for me.

But Big Easy evens out my skin tone and blurs my pores without leaving my skin looking overly “done,” if you know what I mean, and the natural-looking, velvety matte finish is my favorite thing about it.

More quick and dirrrrty deets…

The oil-free liquid-to-powder formula is non-comedogenic.
It’s available in six shades. I wear the darkest one available, which is 06 Deep Beige.
The colors seem to be flexible with regard to working with your skin tone.
Contains broad-spectrum SPF 35.

It has an interesting texture — kind of slippery like many face primers (it does contain silicones), and it glides across my skin easily, buffing and blending with very little resistance.

The matte finish looks very flat on my combination dry/oily skin — no shine whatsoever — and I can even skip setting it with a powder, which is nice. It stays matte, too, as the day wears on, and controls oil like a champ.

Benefit Big Easy Ingredients — Ingredients…

I do find that Big Easy will settle into my pores and get a little streaky on my drier spots (like my cheeks) if I don’t moisturize immediately beforehand, almost like the product skips a bit on those dry patches. Benefit suggests applying it after moisturizer, and I can see why. It glides across my skin more smoothly when it’s thoroughly moisturized.

Three of the six Benefit Big Easy shades, from the left: 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige — Three of the six Benefit Big Easy shades, from the left — 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige — on my NC42 skin

02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Biege swatched on NW25 skin — 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige on NW25 skin

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The Fab 5, Vol. 1: Benefit Cosmetics

December 31st, 2013 by Karen 12 Comments

Welcome to The Fab 5, a new video series I’m starting where I’ll be rounding up (like wildcats!) various lists of five fab products in different categories and from different brands (think best o’ the beauty best).

In this first video, I share five of my favorite products from one of my all-time favorite brands — Benefit Cosmetics.

Products mentioned in this video

Benetint Lip & Cheek Stain ($30)
Hoola Bronzing Powder ($28)
Dallas Face Powder ($28)
Skinny Jeans Creaseless Cream Shadow ($20)
Birthday Suit Creaseless Cream Shadow ($20)

Thank you for watching, and have a great night (we’re gonna just stay in and rent a movie). Happy new year! Be safe out there if you brave the crowds. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Benefit’s New Lavender Pink Lollitint Cheek and Lip Tint Is Pretty Sweet!

November 27th, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

I’ve been wearing Benefit’s cheek and lip stains off and on for the better part of, oh, the past 13 years (give or take).

In my early 20s, Benetint was TOTALLY my jam, and I wore it all the time. In fact, I traveled the country spreading the gospel of its wonders to the makeup masses!

OK, not really. 🙂 But I do remember driving across Washington state with my ex-boyfriend and his two teenage nieces in 1999 to see a concert at The Gorge.

It was the first time I saw Beyonce in concert (*tears*), and as I was putting on my makeup in the car, one of the girls asked me about the bottle of Benetint in my makeup bag. I was thrilled by her interest and did two impromptu makeovers right there.

Part of me wishes I’d taken that as a sign to pursue a job in beauty, but alas, it was a hint I totally ignored at the time. I mean, when you feel compelled to help two teens discover the wonders of lip and cheek stains in a cramped Subaru, it’s gotta be a sign.

Anywho, even though we all had vastly different skin tones, Benetint looked great on all of us, and I think that’s one of the reasons Benefit’s tints are so appealing — the colors seem to work well on everyone!

I’m hoping (and betting) that’ll also be the case with Lollitint, the newest member of the Benefit tint family.

Benefit Lollitint — Sweet tooth says what now??

Worn sheer on me, Lollitint looks like a very sweet lavender pink, but build it up with multiple layers, and you get a brighter, intensely purple-pink fuchsia.

Very cool.

Now, I know that the thought of wearing violet on your face might seem a little scary at first, especially if you’ve always stuck to traditional pinks and peaches, but please give it a chance. This one’s surprisingly wearable — shockingly so on cheeks.

Like Benefit’s other tints, Lollitint works best on me when I apply it on bare skin. For some reason, the liquid formula lasts longer when there aren’t a lot of other face products up in the mix. If it’s just Lollitint on top of bare cheeks, I get a good 8-9 hours of wear.

That said, Lollitint does do pretty well on top of BB creams and tinted moisturizes, as long as I only use very little. Too much of either, and Lollitint starts acting difficult, refusing to absorb as evenly as it does when I wear it by itself.

How about wearing it with liquid foundations? Well, I think I’ve found a way…

If I swipe a few strokes of Lollitint on the back of my hand first, and then take a dense synthetic foundation brush (I’m using one from last year’s Sephora Collection IZAK Brush Set), press and swirl the brush head into the liquid to help the bristles pick up as much of the product as possible, and then press the brush on the apples of my cheeks using a tapping motion and a moderate amount of pressure, it works well! — and I get the blush on there nice and even without messing up the foundation underneath.

Benefit Lollitint Swatch — Swatches of Lollitint unblended (left) and blended (right)

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Bene-Babes Who Like Stripped Down Looks Will Luv It Up! Benefit’s New Holiday Kit Flaunts Nude Colors for Eyes and Lips

October 29th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Benefit Luv It Up Holiday Kit — Wearing Benefit’s new Luv It Up kit on my lips and eyes

It’s been a minute since I was a teen (give or take, oh, 25 years), but I’m pretty sure 14-year-old Karen would have flipped out over Benefit’s new Luv It Up eye and lip kit.

For starters, it’s only $25, which means I might have been able to afford it on my meager paycheck, which consisted of what I earned giving piano lessons to the neighborhood kids for $5 a pop.

Second, the sheer nude shades — totally appropriate for a young lady — would have been (and are) infinitely easy to wear (just swish a single shade on your lids and go).

I may even have been able to talk my parents into getting it for me as a Christmas gift, but that conversation would have gone down a little something like this…

14-YEAR-OLD KAREN: Mom, could you get me this kit for Christmas? I really like nude makeup.

MOM: What do you mean you’re going to be a nudist!?

14-YEAR-OLD KAREN: No… I… It’s nude makeup. Not nudist. Nude.

MOM: No daughter of mine is going to be a nudist!

And that pretty much sums up my teenage years.

But enough about that. 🙂 Let’s get back to the kit!

It contains five pieces of soft, flattering makeup for subtle eyes and lips.

You get three Longwear Powder Eyeshadows in shimmery beige Call My Buff, shimmery pink Nude Swings and shimmery golden taupe Thanks a Latte; one Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in shimmery pink R.S.V.P.; and one Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in sheer pink Dandelion.

All of them are travel-sized, and the entire kit, which comes in a cute tin, almost fits in the palm of my paw.

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With Four Neutral Eyeshadows and More, Benefit’s New $36 Set Is a Groovy Kind-a Kit

October 28th, 2013 by Karen 27 Comments

Benefit Groovy Kind-a-Love — The new $36 Benefit Groovy Kind-a Love

I tried hard not to think about Phil Collins today while playing with Benefit’s new $36 Groovy Kind-a Love holiday kit…but it was really, really hard, man.

I told myself, “Focus! Think about the eyeshadows!” (There are four of them, all neutrals and very wearable.) and “Get your head in the game, Karen! You could use the blush combo as a highlighter if you layer it on top of Benetint.”

But nooOOOoo. I just kept hearing Phil ask, “Wouldn’t you agree? Baby, you and me, got a groovy kind of love?”

Yup.

That tune is etched in my mind as the song my college neighbor played whenever a girl would break up with him.

He’d play it on full blast, too, and whenever Phil got to the chorus, the guy’s dog would get in on the action and start howling. 🙂

It was…sweet, and yet also painful.

Hopefully, wearing this limited edition eye and cheek kit will paint a different, but just as groovy, kind of love on my memory banks.

There’s a lot to like about it. It must have been designed with girls who love natural-looking pink cheeks and shimmery brown, beige and gold eyes in mind (like me!).

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According to My Calendar, It’s Time for a Beauty Treat: The New Benefit Countdown to Love Advent Calendar Beautifully Counts

October 15th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Five, four, three, two…

LOVE!

The countdown to love is on, and Benefit is managing the clock. You might feel the love, too, if you find Benefit’s new Countdown to Love Advent Calendar ($68) under the tree this year.

Remember advent calendars when you were a kid? With the tiny toys or pieces of candy hidden behind little pop-out compartments? They’d usually start on the first day of December, or thereabouts, and you’d get to open another one of the compartment every day all the way to Christmas.

The ones I usually got had hard candies and chocolates, and those were always fun, but Benefit took the idea to a higher plane of awesomeness with their new Countdown to Love kit, which was obviously designed to drive Benefit babes wild.

Countdown to Love comes with 24 surprises, which works out to just under $3 each, including 21 travel-sized mini Benefit products and three accessories (two charms and a barrette).

Yes, it’s really, really cute, albeit extra large, but it’s more than that. It contains some of the best stuff in the Benefit line — practical, everyday products you could work into your rotation immediately, like Hoola, CORALista, Benetint and Highbeam.

Benefit Countdown to Love Advent Calendar sugarbomb — Hoola, Sugarbomb and Sunbeam

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Touch Up After You Touch Down: Benefit Introduces New Automatic Kiosks at 25 Airports This Fall

September 4th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

“This way to baggage claim…and this way to Benefit!”

Ever your find yourself in Austin wishing you had Dallas?

If Benefit is your jam — as it is mine, says the girl who went BAT SH*T CRAZY when she saw this pink Benefit vending machine at the airport! — now you can get glam on the go with Benefit’s glorious new Glam Up & Away automatic kiosks.

I’m serious, seeing one of these right when you step off the plane is like being greeted by an old friend. “Ahh…” 🙂

These luxe new kiosks are landing at 25 airports this fall, including Austin, Houston, Savannah, Cleveland, Raleigh and yes, Vegas, baby!

As you can see, against a backdrop of uninspiring airport design, the cute kiosks are hard to miss.

Like little cosmetics candy stores, each one is stocked with 30 Benefit bestsellers, and you can even get tips and suggestions on the user-friendly touchscreen while you peruse.

The Porefessional, with some other Benefit goodies

Boxed blushes and more (yay, my favorite Hoola bronzer is there!)

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Like the Universe, Benefit’s Box O’ Powder Line Is Expanding…With Rosy Gold Rockateur Powder Blush

August 23rd, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

Soft rocking with rose gold Benefit Rockateur ($28) on my cheeks

With Rockateur, Benefit’s Box O’ Powder line is expanding! (like my husky tabby’s waistline/kitty empire) — while simultaneously shrinking over time…

Stardate: 2008. Bene-babes were bringing home their Boxes O’ Powder, like the lovely Coralista, for $28 each, but they were getting 0.42 ounces of product.

Fast forward five years to today…

We’re all driving hover cars, our greatest scientists are cats, and most of the brand’s powders still cost $28! — except that now they contain just 0.28 ounces of product (with the exception of Thrrrob, which still comes with the same 0.42 ounces for some reason).

Benefit Rockateur Pan Closeup — A closeup of the Rockateur pan… The rosy golden shimmer at the edges is an overspray.

Stranger still, the new Rockateur is even smaller, containing just 0.17 ounces of powder.

Hmm…

Could this mean that all of Benefit’s Boxes O’ Powder will shrink over time without a drop in price? I don’t know (but I hope not).

Thankfully, Rockateur’s small stature doesn’t take anything away from the blush itself, a lovely neutral rosy gold with shimmer. More of a light peachy coral pink on my tan skin, it should look even brighter and more intense on lighter and medium skin tones.

It reminds me a lot of Benefit Sugarbomb, but with less coral and much more pink. I’m wearing two layers to really convey the color in these pics, but one layer works just fine for heading out and lasts through an eight-hour day.

Benefit Rockateur Box — The front o’ the box…

Benefit Rockateur Ingredients — Ingredients

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