Benefit

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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Try $22 Benefit Gimme Brow Brow-Volumizing Fiber Gel for Fuller-Looking Brows

September 26th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Benefit Gimme Brow in Light/Medium — Wearing Benefit’s Gimme Brow in Light/Medium in my brows

Gimme brows.

Gimme brows, I said!

That’s like a beauty lover’s battle cry… “Gimme brows, dagnabbit!” 🙂

Mine have grown out quite a bit since last spring, which is when I decided to leave them to their natural tendencies.

Well, mostly natural. I still tweeze a stray hair every now and then, just to keep myself from looking like a tiny Sasquatch, but for the most part, I let them go wild.

I want my brows so lush, full and bold that passersby do double-takes and say to themselves, “Damn! That girl’s got BROWS!”

Benefit’s new Gimme Brow Brow-Volumizing Fiber Gel ($22) got my attention because of that word, “Volumizing”

I actually don’t know if volumizing is a real word outside of haircare and mascara circles, but it sounds good, doesn’t it?

Vol-yume-eye-zing.

Cute little tube too, yeah? And that mini brush? It’s designed to be very precise.

The brush-on waterproof gel formula adheres to both hair and skin and comes in two build-able, natural-looking shades — Light/Medium and Medium/Deep — and you can apply them in multiple layers to strengthen the look.

With brow fillers, I typically go a few shades lighter than my natural brow color because I think that looks less stark and obvious. That’s why I thought Light/Medium would be better for my fuzzy little caterpillars…

Unfortunately, I think it turned out to be a tad too light for me, but I still found a lot to like.

Benefit Gimme Brow swatch in Light/Medium — Swatch of Light/Medium…

The gel formula is highly pigmented and really adheres to hair and skin with firm hold. In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could build a bold brow with just this alone, and it would last all day.

None of that funky crunchiness, either, that accompanies some brow gels. This formula holds firm but doesn’t get crunchy.

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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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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.

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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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