Benefit cosmetics

[SmokeSignal16]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cupcake_x I love the YouRebel tinted moisturizer! Especially when used under Studio Fix. A MAC mua told me Badgal mascara is the same thing as Diorshow mascara, but cheaper because Benefit is owned by Dior. I don't know if this is true or not. -shrug-

Actually Benefit is owned by Louis Vuitton, I wouldn't have known that if the girls that worked at the counter hadn't told me.

 

[Pinupsundae]

I have tried a fair range of stuff from Benefit and on the whole have not really been super impressed. Packaging is cute, descriptions great, reality...not so much. I am really keen to try Dandelion and probably Hoola when I get a chance. Anyway, quick reviews for you, with stars for things I'd definitely recommend:

Benetint (Pocketpal): I was looking forward to using this as a blush but I found it clumsy/awkward to use because it dried too fast and looked splotchy. However, looks nice enough as a stain on my lips, not a big fan of the gloss though.

Lip Plump: Personally I don't wear lipstick all that often (sacreligious here, I know!) but I prefer my lips natural or with gloss, so this is pretty much useless to me. As stated it's definitely a base rather than a plumper, gives a nude look like you whacked some foundation over your lips. Not a fan.

Oh La Lift: In a word - useless.

**High Beam:** Probably my favourite Benefit product, nice dabbed on the cheekbones and blended, really subtle pretty shimmer that I like. Bottle will last for a very long time and you can use it blended in with a bit of liquid foundation for a nice glow. I also use a tiny dab on my cupids bow to make my lips really pop - looks great.

Some Kinda Gorgeous: Colour matching wasn't great for me, small amount of product, much better foundations out there for much cheaper.

**10:** Love this product and use it with a brush to do the separate colours, but also with their little included brush to do the contour/highlight and then blend out with another brush. Would repurchase.

Realness of Concealness Kit: I personally wouldn't invest in this as it's been sitting in my drawer and I pretty much haven't opened it since I got it and tried things. Boing didn't work for me (I'm a NC15 so pretty pale) and I have fullsize of the highbeam, which I prefer.

High Brow: Works fine as a highlight but could be done with pretty much any other soft eyeliner pencil in a similar shade. Not worth forking out for it.

Cupid's Bow Lip Shaper: Cute little idea and works quite nicely, but pricey and probably nice as a gift for someone new to the makeup world, but not so much for people who have brushes/lip liners themselves to do the look anyway.

**Get Even:** I really like this powder, works well for me even over bare skin just to even out my skintone. Might not repurchase because of price but definitely nice.

Bad Gal Mascara (Blue): Hate it, clumpy, poor colour, brush too large...just overall ugh!

Dr Feelgood: One of my mum's favourites, but I am really not a fan. I don't like the sponge applicator and it's ridiculous to think you could use it well OVER foundation like they suggest. Good for people with oiler skin.

That Gal (Primer): Beautiful scent, not much product and sort of an odd type of packaging...You twist the bottom and the cream smushes out of little holes in the top in a way reminiscent of playdough spaghetti. Past that does little for my skin but makes you feel nice using it. My mum loves it!

Rush Hour: I don't find myself using this very much. It does work fine for both lips and cheeks, but isn't a staple or anything fantastic. Nice enough colour.

Honey Snap Out of It: The fact it can double as a mask is nice and the scent is divine, but really for the price there are many other lovely smelling scrubs out there that will do the job. Nothing groundbreaking.

Galatic Shield Concealer: (Discontinued I think) I actually lost this on the first day I took it with me to meet a friend for lunch. I was heartbroken as I NEVER lose things and this was so damn expensive. Seemed to work nicely for my one application...*sniff*

 

[crshanburn]

Benefit Georgia was my first ever makeup purchase! oh the memories lol

 

[LASHionista]

um i love my benefit stuff.
peachy pink my bestest recommended coralista to me and i guess im in love. it works sooo good on me and i think it's pretty universal and most skin types can use it.
i also adore my badgal plum. the brush is huge

and the color is subtle.

 

[dolcedaniela]

Educated, Trained & Working Makeup Artist and former Benefit employee

I wouldn't use benefit cosmetics on my clients or myself.

It costs money to make a product and to package it too..
It's fair to say we do pay lots of money for packaging
I admit it, I love buying great products and packaging can totally draw me in.

But I'm a professional makeup artist, I steer away from products that are low quality with high quality packaging. I had to work with benefit cosmetics quite a bit... The line is just OKAY... not terrible, not remarkable. You won't be excited, you won't be disappointed. You'll find they have a product for everything because their price points are so important to them - they usually don't like you knowing how one product can be so versatile - rather they prefer you buy a bunch of products that look simliar but target different things.

Products don't work as well, don't offer much variety, the colours aren't as true, and products staying power is comparable to that of a drug store product (covergirl, rimmel)
Not worth the money, unless you're made of money and love being surrounded by super cute things - but I'd rather be super cute.
Lines with similar price points offer much better quality products, MAC, NARS, Make Up Forever, Stila etc

PS I really tried
I've tried Dallas, Throbb, Talk to the tan, Dr Feel good, Highbeam, Bad Gal Lash, bad gal liner, get even, some kind of gorgeous, eye brite, gilded, that gal, honey snap out of it, ooh la lift, smooch, Lyin eyes - the list goes on

These products are not that affordable and I wouldn't buy any one of them again. I can think of so many other products you could buy that would be more useful to have and more effective.

 

[tarnii]

I am not a big fan of this brand I really wanted to like Get Even because it promised everything I was looking for. I wanted to like it so much that I convinced myself it wasn't that bad however you can only delude yourself for so long and now it sits in the bottom of the makeup drawer. Despite this I still recently bought BluffDust which is destined to join the Get Even very soon. Damn Pretty Boxes.....

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Ok, so the only Benefit item I own is their Browsing in Dark. I recently got one of their creaseless cream eyeshadows in Strut and like it a lot. It's kinda like a MAC paint pot, but in a dark shimmering gray.

Anyone else has tried these?

 

[LMD84]

not sure if i have replied to this before but i'll post anyways

i have the valley of the stars palette box thing which has a gold and white shadow, mini gloss, mini high beam and mini moon beam.

now i've had it about 1.5 years and the shadows have got that weird crusty layer on top wo when i want to use them i have to scrape the tops - i always use clean brushes so not sure why this has happened

the mini gloss is ok as is moon beam. high beam is beautiful though. love it as a highlight on my face or even on my brow bone

i also have a full sized gloss which is nice - smells like sweets!

on teh whole though i do think it's all very over priced because some of the products seem very hit and miss

 

[AppleDiva]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadowy Lady Ok, so the only Benefit item I own is their Browsing in Dark. I recently got one of their creaseless cream eyeshadows in Strut and like it a lot. It's kinda like a MAC paint pot, but in a dark shimmering gray. Anyone else has tried these?

I have a couple of the creaseless cream shadows. They are cool, but they will never replace the paint pots.

 

[Cmhchic40]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aerials Seems like no one ever talks about Benefit on here and on MUA, the general consensus seems to be that Benefit is all fancy packaging and not high quality stuff. I own a couple of their products and I absolutely adore them. Right now, I'm lemming the Dr. Feelgood, High/Moon Beam, Weather Girl palette, and Realness of Concealness palette. Anyone have any opinions or rants/raves about those? And more importantly.. what are your favourites from Benefit?

I have several Show-offs that are very pretty and I liked Dandelion. I'm wanting to try Throb. But the yellow powder, the Eyecon, the pink eye pencil, the Bad Gal mascara were really just "OK."

It isn't just Benefit, though. Most major lines have many products that are just average, though far better than drugstore.

 

[RedRibbon]

If you're a WOC then be warned that the colour of the creaseless eye stuff in that pot are aimed more at women with lighter skin. When I tried on the darkest shade, it was quite rubbish and the natural shade was really pale on me.

 

[stv578]

I swear by the Fy eye primer, i've used it for years. the creaseless creme shadows are good, and i find the latest crop of lipsticks not too bad. Can't remember the one I have, but it's a mlbb shade, but with a gorgeous sheen, decent coverage and so moisturizing. I don't bother with all the "fix it" type products in the line though.

 

[liquidsirenhoney]

I have a lot of their products or so it seems, so of i ti really love some is whatever
I really like 10 and would recommend it, i also have that gal and i like it but i can see how many people wouldn't like or need it, you rebel which i thought i loved until i found the stila tinted moisturizer.
I have a lot of the glosses and they are just okay, i don't really care for the erase paste or the high brow.
sometimes i love the get even and other times not so much i guess it depends on my skin that day. Overall i like stuff from them but not like i do when it comes to MAC.

 

[Ggxox]

That was such an honest post Dolcedaniela. I used to be so in love with Benefit about 7 years ago or so, because of the packaging mostly! I used to get quite a bit but now I'm just meh about their stuff. I went to the branch the other day just off Covent Garden and was pestered into buying from the half price basket. Throb did look really nice but when I swatched it absolutely nothing came off! It is about £22 something originally, and although half price at £11 is good, it just wasn't worth it. BUT I REALLY liked their new fragrance I'm just a bit over the make up now.

xoxo

 

[vesperholly]

I have Benefit's creaseless cream shadow in Skinny Jeans and Tattle Tale. SJ is a fabulous gray-green metallic which looks really great on me. I wish it were a little stickier, though - if I go back over an area that I've already applied shadow to, it will wipe off if I'm not careful. TT ... meh. It was a gift so I'm not terribly disappointed about it. It's a little more sheer and more shimmery than I was expecting.

Years and years ago I used their Boo Boo Zap! and it was ... OK. Nothing miraculous. However, I have cystic acne, which very rarely responds to anything but systemic drugs.

 

[franken_stein]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dolcedaniela But I'm a professional makeup artist, I steer away from products that are low quality with high quality packaging. I had to work with benefit cosmetics quite a bit... The line is just OKAY... not terrible, not remarkable. You won't be excited, you won't be disappointed.

Yeah, this makes me a little sad because I really want to like Benefit, but for me this quote is true! I absolutely love their packaging, haha -- I'm totally a sucker for cute packaging, and theirs worked on me, I guess!

I have quite a few of their products so I'll try to do a quick review.

Color Plump in Yoo Hoo - I really like this, but I'm not sure why I bought it in the first place! It's so expensive for what it is, at $22. But it's been so long that I bought it that I don't remember how I justified the purchase. So basically: overpriced, but does the job and is pretty, and at least it lasted me a long time!

Ooh La Lift - this is the one that REALLY confuses me. I honestly cannot figure out why I bought this. Or why I keep using it. It does nothing but make me sad that I bought it.

Boo Boo Zap - seemed to work for me! I like it but after it's gone I'll look for a cheaper alternative. Any ideas from you guys?

Some Kinda Gorgeous - I think this is okay on me if I use a primer, and avoid the sponge that comes with it. I use a foundation brush and it looks way better than before, when I had no idea how beneficial good brushes are!

Same with the 10 (the boxed highlighter/bronzer combo). It looked awful when I first tried it. But a MUA at a Benefit counter showed me how to apply it with a fantail brush and it looked great! I liked it a lot after that. Now I also use the blunt brush that comes with the box but also blend more than when I first tried it.

Dallas - I love this color. Very pretty, but way too expensive! I have no idea when I'll run out - there is quite a lot of product, it seems. I do like it a lot but I don't think I'd buy it again just because of how pricey those boxed powders are. Oh, and this one has shimmer - I think I forgot just how shimmery it could get one day and I freaked out because I thought I'd look weird going into work like that... Hmm, then again, maybe I WOULD buy this again - since I'm so wary of using shimmery products, by the time this box is done, and I get another one... man, that would all last me a REALLY long time!

Honey Snap Out of It - Gahhhhhhhh! I was given a small sample of the stuff by a Benefit counter girl and I LOVED IT so much. I really really really want it. But it's so pricey for what it is! I am sure I want to get it, but... it just hasn't happened yet because $28 for a scrub is over the top, I think. Either way... I think I'll get it eventually. It's just so good, it works well and it smells amazing.

So, for me, that honey scrub and the boxed powders kind of even out - they're good for me, and they work, but not SO good that the price is justified.

 

[Ggxox]

Same! I've had at least 3 samples of the Honey scrub given to me over the years and despite absolutely loving it, I can never justify the price! Such a shame.

xoxo

 

[RedRibbon]

The honey scrub is nice, it irritated my friend and so she gave me it, I got through it so fast and would never buy it again. Molton Brown's shower gel was cheaper and it lasted a LOT longer.

I will rebuy Dr Feelgood though as it stops me from looking sweaty ALL day and a little goes a long way. I might forsake my Rimmel powder for it. I used some of their glosses recently and they were nothing great.

 

[madnicole]

I think generally Benefit products are very cutely packaged, exceptionally well marketed however mostly very mediocre in quality.
HATE:
Dr Feelgood - I was told to either use it under my foundation as a primer (it made my foundation sit badly and ball off) or pat it on top of my foundation - I liked that idea but it rubbed my foundation off and made it patchy & smeary. I have dry skin, so maybe it's ok for someone with oily skin?
Bo-ing - accentuated every line! ugh...

MEH:
Georgia - does go quite orange on my nc20 skin, either that, or you can't see it on at all...
Dandelion - ditto but in pink flavour...
Powderflage - still not sure about this....I was hoping for HG product, it is designed to set concealer under the eye area, and whilst it does the job and looks great initially, I don't think it has much staying power...and under my eye area ain't looking so great 6 hours later...
Benetint - dries to fast on the cheeks so you are left with smudgy bits, which if you keep rubbing or trying to blend will take off any other makeup you have on...

LOVE:
Creaseless Powder Cream Shadow - I have skinny jeans (pewter, browny, beige, silver - sort of like MAC smoke & diamonds). Love it as a base or liner. Gives a bit more 'play' time that Stila Smudge pots, and this colour is so unique there is nothing like it in a paint pot....
Erase Paste - although I was pretty dubious that the colour would be ok (there are as usual only 3 colours to choose from, and 'fair' is very pink), it actually seems to change colour on the skin, and the texture is perfect for anyone with dry skin under the eye area, although not suitable for oily skins.
High Beam - perfect mixed with foundation to luminize the skin

Hth's someone....

 

[RussianRedDani]

I have a few things by Benefit but I have to say a lot of their stuff I find a bit too... neutral?

Some Kind Of Gorgeous - I get really dry skin and find most foundations hard to blend. I have tried this in the "normal" shade and the darker one and I have to say it's a good all-rounder for me. Am currently in the process of replacing it with MAC Fix Pro, but good for a dewy look. Sucks in a hot climate though as it promptly melts off my face.

You Rebel- I use this day to day but sometimes find that it makes my skin tone go a bit... weirdly coloured? (I'm an NC40)

Dr Feelgood - I just can't get this to work. Either I don't put enough on or it ends up coming out in citrussy clumps on my face. It doesn't even anything, it doesn't make my foundation look any better. Why did I bother?

Benetint - Used to use this everyday but I find that it makes my lips look odd in photos. Collection 2000 in Boots/Superdrug do a fantastic dupe though

California Kissing - I REALLY like this. The blue tint makes my teeth whiter and the mintyness isn't too overbearing. However I just could not justify spending that much on a lipgloss.

Foundation brush - It's not amazing, I'm not particularly experienced with brushes but it certainly works better than the sponge when applying SKOG, but I usually end up using my fingers (Sacrilege I know!)

Boin-ing - Meh... I can take it or leave it.

High Beam- Again, this can be quite good but if you don't blend it in enough it looks a bit strange, if you blend it in totally you have no effect. Also aggravated blackheads of my nose.

Weather Girl Pallette- Yawnnnnn!

Bad Gal Eyeliner - I have the fat one (I LOVE THIS) and the skinny one (Snaps really easily and doesn't go on amazingly well)

Bad Gal Lash in blue - This was bought for me. Not a huge fan of blue mascara, though with my dark eyelashes it did actually show up blue which was a surprise for me.

Bathinas body shimmer tin- Smells gorgeous... doesn't make any difference to my skin. Use it more as a perfume when going out than anything else and the body puff annoys the hell out of me. I get black fluffy bits on me if I try and use it.

She-Laq - Can't fault this. Just try not to knock it over!!!

Dandelion - Use this everyday. Has lasted an absolute age. Added bonus it's my dad's nickname for me so he always buys it for Xmas etc (thus I have about 3 locked away somewhere)

Eye powders- Utterly useless, they don't stick very well unless you put on a decent primer and put on another colour and they just seem to be enveloped by it.

High Brow pencil - Love this though I use it less for my eyebrows and more as a chunky white eyeliner for bits of my waterline. Nice and soft too which makes it easier to apply.

Rush Hour- LOVED this stuff but it ran out way too quickly and melted a bit (and living in the UK that is quite a feat!)

I like Benefit as a concept and some of their products are nice but it's not really my favourite brand anymore. A lot of their stuff I find really easy to apply but they sincerely lack a lot of colour pay off and would be more of a neutral day-to-day look than anything else for me. Considering I only really wear make up when I go out at night etc I find a lot of the stuff I've used a bit..redundant.