Benefit

5 Things I’ve Been Loving Lately, Including a Benefit Body Oil Mist, a Veggie-Themed Hand Wash, a ClÃ© de Peau BeautÃ© Lipstick and Bamboo

August 13th, 2013 by Karen 15 Comments

1. Benefit Bathina Soft to Touch…Hard to Get ($34 for a 2.5 US fl. oz. bottle)

Ha! This body oil mist sounds like it was inspired by Tabs. 🙂

The name could be his official slogan, ba-dum dum!

Thank you, thank you! I’ll be performing again at 11.

Soft to Touch…Hard to Get is one of those lovely, girly bottles that looks right at home on a vanity. With sweet almond, olive and avocado oils, the lightweight formula lightly moisturizes while leaving skin with a slight sheen and a jasmine flower scent.

The bottle has some heft to it (feels like it’s made out of glass…or really heavy plastic), so when you spray it on damp skin after your shower or on your significant other/booty call as a massage oil, you’ll feel super fancy… Just don’t drop it on your foot.

Yes, I speak from experience.

2. Method Gel Hand Wash Orla Kiely Spring limited Edition in Tomato Vine ($4.49 for a 12 US fl. oz. bottle)

I’m so glad I picked up this bottle of Method Gel Hand Wash in Tomato Vine at Target a few weeks ago. The cute green bottle was just sitting there with a sale sticker next to it at the end of the toothpaste aisle.

I needed some hand wash, soooooo of course I unscrewed the cap and gave it a big sniff right there in the store. (Don’t front! I can’t be the only one who’s done that before.)

DUDE! It really does smell like tomato vines. I’ve got some on my deck right now.

The scent is a little weird at first…but I’m addicted to it now. It reminds me of when Demeter was doing cool, unusual scents like Thunderstorm (before they went completely off their rocker and started doing perfumes like Play-Doh and Crayon).

Anyway, I have to run back to Target today, and I’m hoping they’ll still have a few more of these limited edition scents by Orla Kiely (an Irish fashion designer) left, not only because I think this one smells great, but because it also gets my hands squeaky clean without sucking out every ounce of moisture.

If you don’t live near a Target, you can also find it online at methodhome.com.

3. ClÃ© de Peau BeautÃ© Extra Rich Lipstick Silk ($40)

ClÃ© de Peau BeautÃ© Extra Rich Lipstick Silk in 201

Speaking of fancy, if a mysterious benefactor were to offer to fund a leisurely life of lunches and makeup, for the record, I would not say no.

If that were to happen, you’d find me at the Neiman Marcus Rotunda in San Francisco from Mondays through Fridays for tea around lunch, and then at the ClÃ© de Peau BeautÃ© counter downstairs playing with the smooth, silky and indulgent Extra Rich Lipstick Silks ($40) and Extra Rich Lipstick Holders ($25).

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Benefit Stay Flawless 15-Hour Primer Base

June 13th, 2013 by Karen 15 Comments

New from the babes over at Benefit! — Stay Flawless 15-Hour Primer Base ($32), coming soon to Benefit counters, stores and online.

9 Disco-Driven Things You Might Want To Do When You Wear the Products in Benefit’s New The Rich Is Back Set

May 24th, 2013 by Karen 17 Comments

Benefit The Rich Is Back — Turn the beat around with Benefit’s The Rich Is Back ($34)

9 Disco-Driven Things You Might Want To Do When You Wear the Products in Benefit’s New The Rich Is Back Set

Strike a pose on a flashing disco dance floor, Staying Alive-style, while wearing the new disco-inspired limited edition Rich Is Back set, available now exclusively at Sephora stores and sephora.com.
Track down a mirrored, multi-faceted disco ball for your condo, and contemplate how you’re going to talk your boyfriend/boo into hanging it from the ceiling in the dining room for you…
Read up on English fashion designer Matthew Williamson’s career, and then visit matthewwilliamson.com, and add a redonkulous amount of stuff to your cart (without necessarily checking out).
Do the hustle! — as you daydream about the tiny tube of They’re Real Mascara in the set (so cute!)
Listen to Donna Summer’s Last Dance while you bang out a gold, beige, brown and teal eye with the set’s four powder shadows, which range from moderately to highly pigmented, and nod to yourself in approval at the absence of fallout.
Awww freak out! — when you can’t find your box of Hoola, which you feel like you need to wear with the frosty pinkish peach blush that comes with the set (if you feel like it makes your pores look like lunar craters, go easy on this one).
Belt out “Burn, baby, burn…DISCO INFERNO!” at your cat right after you slick sheer red Inferno Gloss on your lips, and then laugh maniacally as he darts away in disgust. 🙂
The first time you finish your makeup with this set, turn a fan on high, stand right in front of it, start playing Super Freak, and dance like you’re on Soul Train!
Wonder if you could have held your own with the party people at Studio 54 way back when, and then realize, “Yeah, probably not. I’m too much of a square,” but then think, “Who cares? With Benefit’s The Rich Is Back, I’ll just pretend…”

The set includes…

One 0.14-ounce tube of They’re Real Mascara
One 0.22-ounce tube of Lip Gloss in Inferno
One 0.07-ounce Gimme Fever Cheek Powder
Four 0.03-ounce Eyeshadows in Solid Gold, Get Down Brown, Disco Dust and Feel So Teal
One miniature cheek brush
One step-by-step tutorial booklet

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Holy Smokes, Is That Strut? Benefit’s New Creaseless Cream Shadow in Holy Smokes Plays Dale to Strut’s Brennan

January 28th, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

The new Benefit Holy Smokes Creaseless Cream Shadow ($19)

For the Bene-babes dabbing daintily at glittery tears while clutching embroidered hankies and waiving a slow, sad farewell as their favorite Creaseless Creme Shadows sail away to the Island of Dr. Moreaus’s Discontinued Beauty Favorites, I have some potentially good news. 🙂

At least one of the colors, Strut, will live on in the newly repackaged Creaseless Cream Shadow line launching this spring.

Remember Strut? The dark shimmery gray has long been a perfect partner in crime for smokey eyes, and it’s not going anywhere, although it has been slightly tweaked with a blink of taupe and given a new moniker: Holy Smokes.

A few days ago, I wore Holy Smokes on one eye and Strut on the other, with Laura Mercier’s Stormy Grey along my water lines (they go together like peanut butter and jelly), and really, I couldn’t tell the difference between them on my lids (unless I looked really close).

Benefit Swatches of Holy Smokes, Strut and Skinny Jeans — Swatches from the left: Holy Smokes, Strut and Skinny Jeans

Benefit Holy Smokes — Wearing Holy Smokes on the eye on the right of the screen and Strut on the eye on the left

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Benefit’s Fakeup Crease-Control Hydrating Concealer Disguises Dark Circles, Doesn’t Leave a Trace

January 25th, 2013 by Karen 25 Comments

Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer 1 — The new Benefit Fakeup Crease-Control Hydrating Concealer ($24), coming this March

The first time I twisted Benefit’s new Fakeup Crease-Control Hydrating Concealer, I came this close to swiping the stick across my lips.

But can you blame me? Doesn’t it look an awful lot like one of those hybrid lipstick/glosses we’ve seen stalking makeup counters over the past couple years?

Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer — From the left: Light, Medium and Dark

The Fakeups, which arrive this March, borrow that same lycanthropic idea by combining two different things. Twist up the tube to reveal a stick with a creamy concealer center surrounded by a solid moisturizer containing vitamin E and apple extract.

For a brighter under-eye area, less visible dark circles and a lightweight look, just swipe under your eyes, and blend with a finger. The hydrating formula (decently moisturizing, but I wouldn’t give up eye cream for it) steers clear of my fine lines, too, and I swear it looks like real skin.

Benefit likes to streamline their products, many times releasing things in one or two shades. Sometimes, I think it really works. Keep things simple, right? Like with their famous Benetint Lip and Cheek Stain.

But for certain products, like concealers, a very limited color selection can be a turnoff, particularly for people with extremely light or dark skin.

Guess what…? Fakeup only comes in three shades (Light, Medium and Dark).

Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease Control Concealer swatches — From the left: Light, Medium and Dark

Benefit Fakeup Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer closed — Travel-ready stick packaging

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Look for 12 New Longwear Powder Shadows to Spring Up on Benefit Counters This March

January 24th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

The New Benefit Longwear Powder Shadows, $19 each

Stricken with a bout of beauty-fueled insomnia last night, I lay awake in bed reading what Susan Miller had to say about my near future.

As a side, Astrologyzone is my frickin’ jam! Swear to gawd, Susan’s forecasts are freaky accurate. I don’t hold ’em as gospel, but if she were to tell me, “Karen, don’t cut your hair this month or buy any new electronics. It’s the planets, Karen… They aren’t looking good,” I’d be all, “Affirmative!”

So, the horoscope. Susan suggested that the end of this month would be a great time for me to take a big trip.

Cool! Except that it’s already the twenty-fourth, and I still don’t have tickets…

Oh, well. I guess there’s still time for Jeremy Renner’s people to call and invite me on a last-minute cross-country road trip. Seriously, guys, I can be ready in a flash. I even know which eyeshadows I’d bring with me — Benefit’s new Longwear Powder Shadows — which I could test on the trip. 🙂

The Benefit babes are re-launching their color line this spring, which means new packaging, new colors and, in some cases, new formulations.

Benefit Milk It Longwear Powder Shadow — Milk It, a pearly white

Benefit Call My Bluff Longwear Powder Shadow — Call My Bluff, a pale shell

The Longwears will replace Benefit’s Velvet Eyeshadows — the square eyeshadows with the white tops and the birdie design.

With the new Longwears, Benefit is maintaining the same quantity of product per pan (0.11ounces), while raising the prices from $18 to $19 each.

The new line features 12 shades, and it doesn’t look like any of the previous colors were invited to attend… Some of the new shades bear resemblances to their older brethren, like the new It’s Complicated, which looks to me a little like Nice Melons, and Kiss Me I’m Tipsy, which reminds me of Dandy Brandy.

And there are other colors here that seem to resemble the Velvets, although they don’t appear to be exact matches, as far as I can tell.

They come in three finishes — matte, satin and sheen — with a majority of them being neutrals, with a sprinkling of pink, blue and purple for spice.

Benefit Pinky Swear Longwear Powder Shadow — Pinky Swear, a soft matte pink

For the record, the Longwears feel just as soft as the Velvet eyeshadows do to me, and when I place a finger in one of the pans and swirl it around, the finger picks up a lot of product. The formula feels comfortably creamy for a powder eyeshadow, perhaps due to the microscopic powder grains, which seem more finely milled than before.

Benefit Its Complicated Longwear Powder Shadow — It’s Complicated, a golden peach

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Benefit’s Six New Ultra Plush Lip Glosses Lightly Tint Lips While Treating Them to a Moisturizing Formula

January 23rd, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Benefit Fauxmance Ultra Plush Lip Gloss — Wearing the new Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in Fauxmance ($16), one of six new glosses coming this March

Got any extra room in your book bag? How ’bout that secret pocket where you stash those emergency Fun Size Snickers bars and cat treats (because you never know when you’ll meet a sweet stray)? If you do, lucky you! Because you’ll want to make room for these new $16 Ultra Plush Lip Glosses from Benefit.

They’re just so cute! And Art Deco-ey (I don’t think that’s a real word…).

I love the scalloping at the top and the fonts. Plus, all six new shades are sheer enough to apply easily without a mirror, so as your professor drones on about the Krebs Cycle, you can gloss your lips without missing one minute of the metabolic pathway excitement. (P.S. You’ll forget it all in 10 years.)

As part of the relaunch of their color collection this spring, Benefit’s also revamping their glosses, ditching their Ultra Shines for this new line of Ultra Plushes, which are lightly tinted, non-sticky glosses with a faint fruit punch flavor and scent and a wear time from 2-3 hours.

Remember the Ultra Plushes Benefit released late last year to go with their boxed blushes? The six new shades coming to the permanent line soon are members of the same family.

FYI, in the event that you snarf down half a bag of Trader’s Joe’s Olive Oil Popcorn while watching Snookie and J-Woww one afternoon (it happens), you’ll need to reapply, as these don’t hold up well to snacks or meals.

Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss tubes — From the left: Icebreaker, A-lister, Lollibop, Kiss You, Poutrageous and Fauxmance

Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss swatches — From the left: Icebreaker, A-Lister, Lollibop, Kiss You, Poutrageous and Fauxmance

Benefit A-Lister Ultra Plush Lip Gloss — A-Lister, a bubblegum pink

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Dressed to Impress! Benefit Gives Their Creaseless Cream Shadows a Makeover, Introduces New Packaging and a Bunch of New Shades

January 22nd, 2013 by Karen 32 Comments

Holy Smokes! Just My Two Cents, but I hope you don’t mind that I’m wearing my Bikini-Tini. Translation: Here I’m wearing the newly repackaged $19 Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows in Bikini-Tini, My Two Cents and Holy Smokes

If, when you read the title of this post, your eyes bugged out and you felt a sudden surge of panic as you exclaimed, “OMG! Did Benefit get rid of Skinny Jeans!?” chillax, kitty cat (as I often tell Tabs).

No need to shake your fist angrily, and shout like we’re in the audience on The Maury Povich Show. Benefit’s got our back.

Yes, they repackaged their Creaseless Cream Shadows. Yes, they added some new colors. Yes, they discontinued some of the old-school shades (RIP, Sippin’ N Dippin’), but they did keep three all-star shades from the existing line, and one of ’em is Skinny Jeans, THANK GAWD!

Because if they’d gotten rid of Skinny Jeans, first, I would’ve freaked! — then, I would’ve had my unicorn teleport me to Sephora to pick up every last pot. Then, I would’ve cryogenically frozen them to keep them fresh for the day when I’m buried next to Tabs in his pyramid…

My point is this: don’t panic (she says, rocking you back and forth gently).

Of the 10 new Creaseless Creams, seven are new shades, and three — Skinny Jeans, R.S.V.P. and Birthday Suit — are old-school MVPs.

So wipe that glittery perspiration from your perfectly plucked eyebrows. Things are gonna be okay. 🙂

I’m waiting to hear back from Benefit about the formula they used for these and whether it’s new or remained the same, but as far as I can tell, these new versions look, feel and behave like the previous Creaseless Creams.

Lightweight and creamy, they’re easy to build up in layers or apply sheer, and they last on my lids all day long. They also remain the same 0.16-ounce size and price: $19.

Um…anyone else getting a Paul & Joe vibe? Not that I’m complaining. I love how these look (part of me hopes the Bene-babes go full-on Paul & Joe cat lady one of these days).

Oh, and Benefit did something kinda neat with these I’ve never seen before with a cream shadow…

The Newly Repackaged Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows — New packaging!

Benefit Birthday Suit Creaseless Cream Shadow — Birthday Suit, a brushed chrome

Benefit Bikini-Tini Creaseless Cream Shadow — Bikini-Tini, an oyster pink

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