benefit

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Have a Cookie, Sugar, with Benefit Sugar Cookie Lipstick

September 21st, 2010 by Karen 31 Comments

benefit sugar cookie review swatches photos
Did I mention it’s fat free?

Do me a quick favor and check your blush stash, boo. If you find enough peaches to bake a cobbler, then I’d like you to meet my new go-to girl, Benefit Silky Finish Lipstick in Sugar Cookie ($18).

The color — a warm, shiny peach with flecks of gorgeous gold — has been around for a while as a permanent member of Benefit’s Silky Finish Lipstick line. Like the other Silky Finish gals, she’s got a thin, creamy texture (very hydrating, to boot) that glides on slick and smooth, and I think she looks GREAT paired with peach blushes like Benefit Georgia, NARS Orgasm, MAC Sunbasque, MAC Margin and MAC Peaches.

benefit sugar cookie and nars orgasm blush equal fabulous

Do you remember the sparkly glitter from last week’s look with MAC Lipgelee in Resort Life (part of the Venomous Villains release)? — how it ended up all over the place? Well, Sugar Cookie isn’t messy like that at all. Her golden glitter stays put, but all is not peaches in the garden of golden glitter.

Sadly, this Sugar Cookie disappears faster than…sugar cookies, or the box of toffee macadamia nut chocolates I opened last night right before bed.

My thighs keep telling me “No,” but my taste buds keep telling me “YES!”

I have to reapply Sugar Cookie often — about every two hours or so — unless I layer it atop a nude lip liner, which almost doubles her wear time.
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Behold the Benefits of This Magic Ink: Benefit Magic Ink Liquid Liner

September 14th, 2010 by Karen 40 Comments

Just in case you were wondering, the answer is yes, you may replace the words to the Lil’ Kim/50 Cent joint, Magic Stick, with the name of Benefit’s new liquid liner, Magic Ink ($20).

Magic Ink: The Magic Stick Remix

I got the Magic Ink
I know if I can hit once, I can hit twice
I hit the baddest chicks
Shorty don’t believe me, then come with me tonight
And I’ll show you maaagic
(What? What?)
Maaagic
(Uh huh, uh huh)
I got the Magic Ink!

For reasons unknown even to me, I’ve taken to singing this while I line my lids with Benefit’s new jet-black liner, and I’m pretty sure it’s driving my cat cray-cray. 🙂

For the record, it’s kinda hard to apply liquid eyeliner, even a smudge-proof one like this, while singing (try it sometime!), but in this case, I think the applicator has something to do with it.

Magic Ink comes with a thin, flexible brush a lot like the brush that comes with NYX Studio Effect Liquid Liner but less firm.
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Should You Go on the Hunt for Benefit Prrrowl?

September 13th, 2010 by Karen 55 Comments

Benefit Prrrowl ($28) sure is sneaky.

(How sneaky is it?)

It’s SO sneaky that it had me expecting something entirely different before we met.

New for fall, it’s a duo with a peacock blue iridescent mascara on one end and a sheer, shimmery pink gloss with blue glitter on the other. The iridescent blue mascara’s designed to work as a glittery topcoat for regular mascaras (or applied to bare lashes), and the gloss end’s designed to either be layered atop lipsticks or worn alone. The two are an unusual pairing, if nothing else, so I gotta give props to Benefit for originality.

benefit prrrowl review benefit prowl review swatches photos product shot

benefit prrrowl review benefit prowl review swatches photos mascara wand closeup

benefit prrrowl review benefit prowl review swatches photos mascara tube closeup
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I’d Like You To Meet Benefit Girl Meets Pearl

September 13th, 2010 by Karen 66 Comments

I’m going to ask you for a favor, young lady, and I’d like you to just do it for me as a friend. Please? I need you to channel Elmer J. Fudd while you speak the name of Benefit’s new highlighter out loud.

Are you ready? Okay, it’s called Girl Meets Pearl ($30).

Elmer J. for Benefit Girl Meets Pearl

Ha ha! 🙂

Okay, so maybe I’m too easily amused, but at least my skin’s glowing while I laugh maniacally by myself in the corner. Viva la Girl Meets Pearl!
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The $38 Benefit Femme Metale Precious Metals Eye Makeup Kit: An Alchemist’s Delight

September 11th, 2010 by Karen 30 Comments

Before the new limited-edition Benefit Femme Metale Precious Metals Eye Makeup Kit entered my life, the closest I’d come to metallic greatness was the time James Hetfield and I shared a sidewalk.

For $38, you get three full-size Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows and three large sample-size pencil liners in the Sephora exclusive kit — a headbang-worthy bargain (insert sign of the beast [HERE]), considering the Creams usually go for $19 a pop.

Femme Metale’s gilded metallic shades, new but limited edition, give the kit an almost steampunk vibe, and all six colors apply with shimmer to spare.
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A Benefit Sunday Funday Makeup Tutorial: Purple and Bronze Eyes Any Day of the Week

July 14th, 2010 by Karen 60 Comments

benefit sunday funday palette eye makeup tutorial

Is it wrong to want Sunday brunch on a Wednesday afternoon? — or to get a little dolled up and don colorful makeup in the middle of the week? I hope not, because today the Benefit Sunday Funday palette and I have reservations. We’re doing a daytime/brunch look together featuring eyes in purple and bronze.

To test the versatility of the brushes that come with the kit, I told myself not to use any other brushes for this look, which was tough because I’m really picky about my eye brushes. I usually ditch the ones that come with palettes like this one, but the Sunday Funday brushes actually shine like stars. I wouldn’t toss my best brushes for ’em, but they should be great for trips and purses when you want to travel light.

Benefit Sunday Funday The Maggie Collection

The Benefit Sunday Funday Palette

Despite the palette’s name, I’m guessing these colors are safe to wear any day of the week, ha!
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Be Foxy, Lady, with This Benefit Ultra Shines Lip Gloss

July 8th, 2010 by Karen 15 Comments

benefit foxy lady ultra shines

Greetings, girls, and happy Thursday. 🙂 Save a spot on your pink lipgloss wishlist for Benefit Ultra Shines gloss in Foxy Lady ($18). She’s a shimmery, sheer rosy pink with just enough pigment to work in most situations.

benefit foxy lady ultra shines
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Benefit Dancing Queen Ultra Shines Lipgloss Is My Jam

July 2nd, 2010 by Karen 19 Comments

benefit dancing queen lipgloss swatches reviews photos

Everyone has at least *one* song that always gets ’em on the dance floor (and don’t even pretend; I know what you do when you hear “Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt,” LOL!).

As a lifelong lover of public displays of ridiculousness, I actually have quite a few booty-shaking dance jams. One of my all-time faves: Dancing Queen! 🙂

See that girl, watch that scene, diggin’ the dancing queen…

Yeah, “young and sweet and only 17” — that was a loooong time ago for yours truly, but the song still totally moves me. And when Benefit announced the new Ultra Shines lipglosses a few months ago and included a color called Dancing Queen ($18), I thought, “It’s destiny!”

I’ve really been into bright lips lately, like Dancing Queen, a flirty, shimmery hot pink with subtle blue iridescence.

Like the other Ultra Shines I’ve tried, Dancing Queen goes on silky smooth, with loads of pigment and shine, and I love how great it looks on different skin tones. The color looks lovely on Erin, a pale blonde beauty with green eyes, and Marisol, a brown-eyed babe who’s a few shades darker than me.
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