Benefit

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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Benefit Got Deep! The New Benefit Stay Don’t Stray Eye Primer in Medium/Deep

December 14th, 2012 by Karen 14 Comments

benefit don't stray in medium/deep — The new Benefit Stay Don’t Stray in Medium/Deep ($26)

“Sit. Stay. Don’t stray!”

Sounds like me trying to get Tabs to sit still for a picture. 🙂 It’s actually the idea behind Benefit’s $26 Stay Don’t Stray, the brand’s creamy eye primer for lids and under-eye areas.

It’s designed to boost the wear time of concealers and eyeshadows. Problem is, it’s only been available in a single shade…until now.

Yup, Benefit got deep! Come spring, a darker shade, Medium/Deep, joins the original, lighter Stay Don’t Stray.

Both shades will also get a new bottle with a doe-foot applicator instead of the old pump.

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The Six Sample-Sized Products in Benefit’s New Primping With the Stars Face Kit Should Make Working With or Without Celebrities Easier

December 3rd, 2012 by Karen 13 Comments

benefit primping with the stars — The new $32 Primping With the Stars kit from Benefit

Where am I…?

What is this strange place?

It’s as if, when I walked through that door, I came out in a different universe, a parallel dimension, a nexus, if you will, of time and space, where the impossible is possible.

Back in the universe where I came from, primping with the stars — at least the one particular plus-size feline celebrity I’m familiar with — often took hours, days and sometimes even weeks.

Based on my star-primping experience, which involved prepping a superstar kitty supermodel for all the major awards shows, it was always a chore, but Benefit designed this kit to change that.

They filled the $32 Primping With the Stars kit with six sample-sized products from their permanent line, hand selected to fake a flawless face in mere minutes. In the kit, you get Benefit’s Stay Don’t Stray Eye Primer, The POREfessional face primer, Girl Meets Pearl Highlighter, their Some Kind-A Gorgeous cream foundation in Medium, one Benetint lip and cheek stain, and a tube of They’re Real mascara.

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Benefit’s Betting That the Eye-Catching Neon Packaging of Their Latest Face Kit Will Prompt You to Do the Bright Thing

December 3rd, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

benefit do the bright thing swatches — Wearing the products in Benefit’s new kit, Do The Bright Thing ($32)

They say that necessity is the mother of invention… Well, after seeing Glen do that thing with the zombie’s arm in last night’s episode of The Walking Dead (HOLY SCHNIZZ!!), I believe it!

I don’t know where I was going with that…but I think it had something to do with Benefit’s new $32 Do the Bright Thing Face kit.

I was thinking about decorating the house for the holidays, how I wasn’t sure if I have enough decorations, and then I looked at this kit’s bright, eye-catching packaging and thought, “Gee, this’ll work as a Christmas decoration in a pinch.”

This little Sephora exclusive lives to make faces glow, and it comes with five-sample sized products from Benefit’s permanent line.

See that pretty girl in the mirror there? (What mirror, where?)

Sorry! — random music reference! 🙂

She turned up the dial on her outer glow by wearing Do The Bright Thing’s soft, shimmery pink That Gal primer under her foundation, and to give her cheeks some color, she swiped light pink Dandelion Blush on her cheeks. Then, she dabbed and blended a few dots of highlighting High Beam on the tops of her cheekbones.

To make her eyes look bigger and brighter, she smudged Jet black Bad Gal Waterproof Liner along her lash lines and applied They’re Real Mascara, which works like yoga for lashes, s t r e t c h i n g them out.

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