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benefit

Bay Area Beauty Love: Benefit They’re Real! Red On! Matte Lip Color

February 8th, 2019 by Karen 13 Comments

benefit theyre real red on
This warm matte red lipstick is a go.

Yay for the Bay! In this series, for the month of February 2019, I’ll be featuring products from and around my stomping grounds, the San Francisco Bay Area.

This new matte cream lipstick from Benefit (a brand headquartered in the SF Bay Area) is the real deal. I would say “Get red-y for it” if I were a fan of puns (ha ha!), but instead, I’ll just do my best to describe it. It’s a red-olent, red-onkulously easy-to-wear matte red lipstick called They’re Real! Red On! Matte Lip Color, and it’s $20 and comes with its own little lip brush, which sits in that divot that goes across the pan.

Super fun and perhaps borderline gimmicky? Check and check. But it’s actually really good, and reds are hard, man. Especially opaque matte reds lipsticks like this. Most fall into the trap of being so bold and pigmented that they leave you no room for error, and the moment your lip edge goes wonky, there’s no turning back. I know that, at least for me, this is a turnoff, and it keeps me from wearing red very often.

Because — hello! — LAZINESS.

benefit theyre real red on swatch
R U red-y for it?

But Red On makes matte red lips easy, and not simply because of the little lip brush it comes with. You can actually apply this matte cream with a lip brush OR your fingers, and either way, it looks on point.

Believe it or not, I just applied it with a finger in this picture here. I just kinda smooshed it around, and it turned out perfectly.

benefit theyre real red on swatch
(Cat) lady in red!

The formula feels almost like a cream-to-powder formula, and the powder-i-ness (?) enables you to fudge the edges a little if you need to. So, even if your lip lines aren’t super precise, they won’t look that way (the whole world doesn’t have to know it, amirite?).

Red On also feels light and nice on my lips, and it doesn’t dry out my kisser or creep beyond the edges.

What a delightful surprise, really. 🙂 I think it’s a hidden gem in the Benefit permanent line.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!!!!

There are 13 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Benefit, Lips, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: bay area beauty love, benefit

Bay Area Beauty Love: Benefit Punch Pop!

February 5th, 2019 by Karen 5 Comments

benefit punch pop
With love from THE BAY!!

Yay for the Bay! In this series, for the month of February 2019, I’ll be featuring products from and around my stomping grounds, the San Francisco Bay Area.

My idea of the perfect party punch involves strawberries, and if they aren’t in there in copious amounts (mashed or sliced, doesn’t matter to me), I’m out. There’s a Strawberry version in the new-ish Benefit Punch Pops, so YAY for me and my red berry addiction, which I blame on a childhood spent obsessing over Strawberry Shortcake (the doll, not the dessert…although I do love both).

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the boxes say “Liquid Lip Color,” when really, this new-ish line, which came out last fall, is made up of straight-up lipglosses.

*shrugs*

Slightly confusing marketing aside, the glosses are fun, functional and best of all, cute, which is what Benefit, a beauty brand based outta SF (my old stomping grounds!), does best.

benefit punch pop
Kisses…

This line of non-sticky, full-pigment glosses is supposed to be cheeky and fun and not meant to be taken too seriously. You stick one in your purse, wear it everyday for two weeks straight, and then after that, occasionally take it out whenever you do a deep dive into your bag (“Oh, so THAT’S where it went!”) and touch up with it before moving onto the next thing.

[Continue reading…]

There are 5 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Benefit, Lips, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: bay area beauty love, benefit

The Benefit Brow Contour Pro 4-in-1 Defining & Highlighting Brow Pencils Will Take You From “No” Brows to “WHOA!” Brows in Seconds

October 11th, 2018 by Karen 9 Comments

benefit brow contour in hand
CLICK!

I gotta say, I wasn’t sure what to do with these Benefit Brow Contour Pro 4-in-1 Defining & Highlighting Brow Pencils at first… Do I fill in my brows with them? Or do I furiously take organic chemistry notes? — because back in college those four-color click pens were all the rage in my science classes, and we used to joke that the faster you clicked your pen, the more desperate you were to get into med school, ha ha!

benefit brow contour
Wearing Brown-Black Light in my brows (the eyeshadow is Urban Decay Naked Cherry, BTB).

So, about these, I appreciate that Benefit calls them “Pro” because I feel like you gotta be a professional brow person to really appreciate them.

Why?

Because they’re 1) very pigmented and 2) very soft, which can be either a lethal or a pleasant combination, depending on your level of brow game. Like, if you don’t know what you’re doing, there’s a good chance you’ll end up with severe, blocky brows.

“Define & highlight your brows with this 4-in-1 contour pencil. Our multi-tasking brow pencil features a lighter brow shade, deeper brow shade, edge definer and arch highlighter to create clean, shaped brows with depth & dimension. Turn shapeless, flat brows into defined, contoured brows in an instant. Available in 5 shades for a wide range of hair colors and skin tones!”

  • Easy brow contouring
  • 4-in-1 brow pencil
  • Blendable formula
  • 24-hour longwear and waterproof
  • — benefitcosmetics.com

[Continue reading…]

There are 9 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Benefit, Eyes, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: benefit, benefit brow contour pro

Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation Has Potent Pore-Pleasing Power

June 19th, 2018 by Karen 6 Comments

benefit hello happy
SO KAWAII!

Things that make me happy:

  1. Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake
  2. Lifting heavy weights
  3. Cats (obvs)
  4. Sleeping in
  5. Hearing Connor say her name for the first time (“Cah-nah”)
  6. The happy heart eyes on these Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation bottles

Benefit Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation ($29, 12 shades)

I like this lightweight matte liquid foundation primarily for its pore-blurring prowess and SPF 15, and as long as I only blend the tiniest amount on my combo dry/oily skin — literally, just a few drops! If I use any more than two or three drops on each cheek, and yes, YOU KNOW I COUNTED THEM, it looks pretty obvious.

“Hello YOU! This lightweight foundation evens out skintone and blurs imperfections with soft-focus optical blurring spheres. With a natural-matte finish and light-to-medium coverage, it looks like skin and feels like nothing at all. Happy looks good on you!”

— benefitcosmetics.com

Use a few drops, a few gentle taps with your fingers or a damp beautyblender (don’t rub, lest it pill up), and poof! — homegirl be like WHAT PORES? Of course, my pores aren’t completely vanquished, because this is light-medium coverage makeup, not magic (although, one could make the case that makeup IS a form of magic, but that’s another discussion for another time), but still, the difference is significant enough to make me go DAYUM! — I see you Benefit. I see you. 😉

 benefit hello happy swatches
For reference, I’m a MAC NC42, and I wear shade 6 (I could probably also go with 7 as well).

[Continue reading…]

There are 6 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Benefit, Face, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: benefit

Prospecting Ain’t Easy: Benefit Gold Rush Blush Takes Work

March 28th, 2018 by Karen 24 Comments

benefit gold rush blush pacaging
The newest boxed blush by Benefit

Girl, I used to wear shoes like the pair on this box of Benefit Gold Rush Blush, and I’d be able to run in them, too!

Ah, memories of my former taller life… And by “taller,” I mean 5 feet 5 inches tall in 4-inch ? heels.

(In my mind, I’m a 5-foot-8-inch Glamazon, LOL!)

OK, enough rambling. 🙂 Benefit Gold Rush, their latest box o’ blush, just arrived on counters in two sizes, a full-size 0.17-oz. version for $29, and a smaller 0.08-oz. mini for $15. Both are peachy pink with big baddie gold flecks.

That top layer of golden shimmer is an overspray, but there’s also glitter within the peachy pink powder itself. So you won’t be hurtin’ for glitter with Gold Rush. That’s all I’m sayin’.

benefit gold rush blush pan
Yes, that’s an overspray, but there’s also glitter within!

You also won’t be hurtin’ if you’ve been looking your whole life for a HEAVILY scented blush that’s strong enough to pass for a perfume, because this one can.

All of Benefit’s boxes o’ blush are scented (I believe), but this is the strongest one. Definitely the strongest I can recall. I get strong sandalwood and sugar notes, and it’s also supposed to have citrus and vanilla, but I don’t detect those at all.

So, I actually like quite a few perfume-y powders, like Guerlain and Chanel bronzers, and I totes don’t mind smelling like a Nordstrom fragrance counter when I wear them, but Gold Rush is a tad too sweet for my taste. I think it’s cloying, like it belongs in a hot pink body spray with neon star-shaped glitter, but you know how it is with scented products. Just because I’m not a fan doesn’t mean you won’t love it.

benefit gold rush blush swatch
Look closely, because the swatch is there, man!

[Continue reading…]

There are 24 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Benefit, Face, Makeup, Product Reviews Keywords: benefit, blush

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Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog
Hi there! I’m Karen, your friendly neighborhood beauty addict, and I’m a Bay Area girl who hoards brown eyeshadow and covets coral lipstick. Every morning, I wake up and say, “I’m going to do something other than a smoky eye today.” Then…I end up doing a smoky eye anyway (most days). When I’m not putting on makeup, taking pictures of makeup or writing about makeup, which I’ve been doing daily since 2007 (!), you’ll find me hanging out with my hubby (“El Hub”), my four-year-old daughter (Connor Claire) and my torbie girl cat (Pretty Girl Rosie, a.k.a. PGR).

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