Benefit Box Powder/Blusher Comparison

I thought it was time I showed my Benefit powders, as they sometimes seem to get a bad press. Mainly due, I think, to people expecting them to do something they are not designed for.

I love the Benefit box powders, I went through a phase of having to own them all, but at £23 a pop they are not cheap and I still have to buy a couple I am missing.

I love the whole thing, the packaging is adorable, I know some people hate the cardboard, but I love them. I love the little brushes that match the boxes. I also love the powders, they are very finely milled and all have a small amount of shimmer, but they never look glittery or over the top, the shimmer is very, very subtle, with the exception of the highlighter in the 10 powder, but then that is supposed to be more shimmery by nature!



I thought I would show you swatches of the ones I have for comparison purposes. Most of them are very sheer, I would say they were more complexion powders than blushers, though a couple are more pigmented and so can easily be classed as blusher.
By showing them here I hope to help you avoid disappointment when buying them, as some people buy the lighter ones as blusher, which I feel is not their purpose, they are more finishing powders or brighteners.
I would class the first three as complexion powders and the last three as blushers.

Okay out of the range, I have the following:


Georgia: Most definitely a complexion powder I think, you would have to be the palest white to use this as a blusher, though if you are pale it could be built up as a sheer blush I guess. A very pale peachy toned powder. It makes a perfect finishing powder for the whole face and is best used this way in my opinion.



Dandelion: This is one of my favourite ones. A sheer pink powder with a small amount of shimmer, not at all obvious, just glowy. I tend to use this one as a finishing powder and brightener, it gives a very warm look to your skin, just brightens nicely and makes you look healthy. It can be built up more as a pale blush, but it is still very pale, so I only use it as a blush when I want just a hint of colour.



10: Now this is another firm favourite of mine. It is a highlighter and contour/bronzer powder duo, they work so well and have a subtle shimmer to them. This is the only powder where I do use the brush that comes with it. I sweep it down the centre, getting one colour per side, then sweep across my cheek, I then buff it with another brush to soften the line. It gives a great contour and highlight with little effort, love it! I especially love the highlight colour, I use that a lot. It can also be mixed to give a lighter shade of bronzer. A very versatile powder this one!


Thrrrob: A very light sugar pink blush, though this could also be used as an all over powder if used carefully. This is still very sheer and needs to be built on the cheeks, but gives a lovely sugary glow to the cheek, a nice and subtle flushed look and my favourite of the blushers, great for summer.


Coralista: a very traditional blusher this one, mush more pigmented than the previous ones and you need to be a bit lighter on the hand with this one. It is a lovely peachy/coral toned blush and I like to use this one over Autumn/Winter time, preferring pinker tones for Spring/Summer.



Dallas: a good strongly pigmented blusher with a more russet tone, you have to have a very light hand with this or you will end up looking so bad! It could potentially be used as a bronzer too I guess, though you would have to dust it very, very lightly....



Below you can see the powders swatched, none of them are built up, I only rubbed my finger over them twice to get the colour shown, you could build them more if you wanted. See how sheer they are? I personally like that they are sheer, I hate harsh looking powders and blushers and prefer to build them than have one go on too heavy, but then my skin is fair/medium. Darker skin tones may not be as happy with them.

1. Georgia, 2. Dandelion,
3. 10 highlight, 3a. 10 contour, 3b. 10 mixed
4. Thrrrob, 5. Coralista, 6. Dallas

One of my Cosmetic HG's - Benefit's Eye Bright pencil

Like many of you, I am searching for my HG cosmetic and nail items. I am happy to say I have found at least one of them.........

If I was able to own only one item of make-up, this would be it. I love this little pencil, it works wonders on me. No one can tell that I am using it, but the difference is amazing.



It is a very soft textured light pink pencil. It is designed to be an eye brightener and this is exactly what it does. Benefit say it can be applied to the inner and outer corners of the eye to brighten them and make you look wide awake. Some people like to use it along the lower waterline, they feel that helps make the eye pop for them.
I only use it on the inner corner of my eyes. I just dot it around the tear duct area and slightly along the inner part of the lower lash line. Then I very gently pat it into place, you don't need to pat more than once or twice as it blends like a dream and you cannot see where it is. What you can see is your eye pop! It looks brighter, wider, younger, awake and lively! I adore it.......

This may look like one boring little pencil, but I would never be without it now. Even on days when I can't be bothered to put make-up on, just a little dot of this and it helps lift my eyes and in turn, my face. I honestly never thought such a little thing could make such a difference, but it really does. Better still, no one can tell what you have done, it is very subtle but very lifting for the eyes. Sheer genius in a stick!

It can be bought from Benefit counters and Benefit direct online in the UK, click on pictures to be taken to the Benefit UK site and see what goodies await you :o)

Benefit offer for January - freebies !!

I went into my local Debenhams, this is where I get most of my Benefit from....they are currently running an offer on the Benefit counter. If you book a make-up lesson and then buy a Benefit product afterwards, you will get a free Betty brush bag worth £19.50!! Not bad eh?

I got mine at the weekend and it's fab, the bag is nicely made and perfect for travelling. It contains four brushes (blusher, fluffy eye-shadow, talent eye brush and slanted eyeliner brush) and they are pretty decent quality, I am happy enough with it anyway, especially for free! I believe this offer only runs for January, it may also be restricted to Debenhams stores too, so hurry up. More details of offer can be seen by following this link DEBENHAMS BENEFIT OFFER

A New Year, a New Blog......

Hi Guys.......

Well, here I am, all bright, shiny and new! I am based in the UK and am your average, 'normal' woman. I don't have oodles of cash to spend on stuff, but when I do I want nice things, like every girl.

I have recently re-discovered make-up and nail polishes and love to read blogs with reviews on products and pictures of things I can try, so I thought I'd have a go myself !

I have always used Drugstore brands of make-up, from my teens to a few years back, but then stopped wearing it all together, unless I was going somewhere special. I got tired, lazy and it felt easy, know that feeling?

Well, my way back into the cosmetic arena was paved by watching a few tutorials on YouTube. A product got mentioned and I loved the packaging, yes, I am that shallow ;o).....anyway, I hunted it out and was shocked by the price, was make-up always this expensive?? !!! I was used to cheap stuff, but then, even the so called cheap brands seemed to have gotten mighty pricey......so I bit the bullet and bought it and then the cosmetic bug hit hard.
This first product that led me back into the world of make-up was Benefit's Dandelion powder! What a cute box, see, told you I was that shallow. But wow, all of Benefit's packaging was uber cute! So I soon found myself yearning after more and more of it.
A few months on and I now adore brands like Benefit and Urban Decay, haven't gotten on the Mac bandwagon yet, I have to restrict myself somehow !

Then about 8 weeks ago I bought a copy of Glamour magazine, only because it had a freebie on the front......it was a Nails Inc polish. I tried it, loved it then hunted down the other versions of the polish with the mag and bought all four of them. Hey, it was so much cheaper than buying the full priced ones, so why not? I was then hooked on nail polishes (seeing an addictive personality forming here?) ;o)
I browsed various blogs looking for reviews and swatches then I found Konad !

Now Konad is my passion at the moment. I'm not very good at it, I've only had it little over a month at this stage, but I am loving every minute of it!

For those that don't know, Konad is a nail art system. It uses metal plates with designs engraved into them, you need a special rubber stamp and polishes for it to work correctly, though some other thicker polishes can work as well. You just run the polish brush over the design you want in the metal plate, scrape away the excess, push the rubber stamp on the dsign then roll it on your nail! It is so simple and I think it looks great, and it is enourmous fun and incredibly addictive. If you haven't tried it yet, then hunt it down and give it a go.

Look what can be achieved with practice...


Here is the kit I started with, you can buy the other plates and polishes one at a time, or in sets, depending on how much you want to pay first time out. I recommend trying a cheaper set first, as some people don't find it so easy.


Anyway, I intend to post here with my Konad designs, just for fun, not because I'm an expert, because I am not, far from it! I just enjoy it. My nails are not great, I am a wife and mother, so my hands get lots of wear and tear. I had never looked after my hands, so they looked pretty bad and neglected. I am now trying to take more care, even wearing rubber gloves for washing up! Never bought a pair before Konad :o) Now I have turned into a saddo that cries when she breaks a nail!
I may also add my views on recent cosmetic hauls and products I love/hate etc.

Coming up over the next few days, catch-up! Chance to catch-up on recent purchases as they arrive in the post! Also I will be posting my existing Konad designs over the next couple of days. I have only been doing it since end November 2009 so there are only a few mani's to show you, but they will get posted in order, so you can see how it all progresses...

So, come and join in the fun!