Review: Benefit Hello Flawless!

Benefit Hello Flawless!

From http://www.benefitcosmetics.com:
why we love it:

This silky powder cover-up glides on naturally sheer and layers beautifully for customized coverage with SPF protection. Complete with brush and sponge and dual application lesson.

what else you need to know:

Shades in order of fairest to deepest are:
“I love me” fair ivory
“never settle” fair petal
“me, vain?” neutral champagne
“I’m cute as a bunny!” natural honey
“all the world’s my stage” sunny beige
“what I crave” warm toasted beige
“it’s about me, me, me!” toasted toffee
“I’m haute for sure” golden amber
“why walk when you can strut?” rich hazelnut
“too fierce to beg” rich nutmeg

product details:

7.0g Net wt. 0.25 oz
Warning: Avoid contact with the eyes. For external use only. Keep out of reach of children. Discontinue use if signs of irritation or rash appear. Contains oxybenzone.

tips:
Apply powder cover-up over bare skin, moisturizer or ”that gal” to look naturally flawless!

Benefit Hello Flawless - "Me Vain" Champagne

My Skin Type:
Currently normal/combo. My t-zone can oil up after 5 hours…but it’s not bad when I use some kind of good oil control product.

Packaging:
Plastic compact with separate compartment to store the sponge and brush. The compact is kinda flimsy in some ways…didn’t feel that way at first but then it fell apart after a few months, even though I’ve never put it into my makeup bag nor did I travel with it.

Color Selection:
From the list above it’s pretty good but make sure you pick up the one that matches you well…or you’ll end up like me (see explanation and pic below).

Coverage:
Custom level of coverage, thinner coverage if you use a brush, medium coverage if you use a sponge.

Texture:
Pretty creamy. Doesn’t feel like an overly ‘dry’ powder.

Blendability:
Great, as long as you prime your skin correctly. Remember it’s a powder so overly moist/sticky/silicone-y base is not recommended. I love this most with RESIST Barrier Repair Moisturizer underneath.

Finish:
Matte, typical of powder. It doesn’t have any shimmer.

Oil Control:
In my book, this powder foundation doesn’t have great oil control. It doesn’t inhibit my oil production at all. Granted, it’s not emollient so it doesn’t make my skin oil up any faster.

My General Review:
Years ago, I was  really, really tempted by Muse’s review on this powder. I ran to my local Sephora and bought the lightest color available, that was “me vain, champagne”.  I don’t know if Benefit later added their color selection (because as far I remember, there “i love me, fair ivory” was not available then). It was much later when I read Beautypedia that I found out that Hello Flawless is more suitable for light to tan skin…not fair skin.

Anyway I seldom wear this powder. For one, my sunscreen typically is too sticky for powder foundation application. If I forsake my sunscreen, I’ll have to rely on the powder alone for SPF coverage. Don’t get me wrong, this powder provides broad spectrum coverage…but it doesn’t feel right to me to rely on powder makeup only for SPF.

Another important point is…it’s kinda yellow and dark for my skin, so I don’t feel bright when I wear this.

BTW you can use this powder to touch up your makeup and SPF…but either use a brush or carefully dab it with the sponge, because the coverage may lead to cakeyness after touch up.

FOTD 20111012 Benefit Hello Flawless

How to apply:
For spot cover-up, dab directly on blemishes or discoloration with sponge. For allover sheer finish, sweep on with brush. Use quick, light strokes to blend from the center of your face outward. To cover it all (& then some!), apply evenly over entire complexion with sponge.

Ingredients:
Active Ingredients:
Cctinoxate 5.94%, Titanium Dioxide 1.70%, Oxybenzone 2%.

Others:
Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Silica, Nylon-12, Phenyl Trimethicone, Polyethylene, Talc, Lauroyl Lysine, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Aluminum Dimyrisate, BHT, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Methicone, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Alumina. (+/- Bismuth Oxychloride, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Carmine, Iron Oxides.

Overall Rating:
4 out of 5.  Good choice if you want medium coverage powder foundation with SPF15. Just make sure it suits your skincare “lifestyle”, and you pick up the right shade for you.

Review: Benefit Dandelion

Benefit Dandelion Box-O-Powder

From http://www.benefitcosmetics.com:
pink perk-me-up face powder

why we love it:
This classic ballerina pink finishing powder takes your complexion from dull to radiant in an instant…a celeb fave!

what else you need to know:
To perk up throughout the day, dust on cheeks or all over complexion.

Complete with soft, natural-bristle brush.

My Skin Type:
Actually very oily, but surpressed with BHA exfoliator. Results in generally ranging from very dry to normal/combo skin. Generally dehydrated, very sensitive.

My Skin Tone:
Some said I have very fair, Casper-ish complexion. Frankly speaking, that’s what you see in my FOTDs, but I personally think I look (much) darker in person than in those photos. Still, yes, I’m quite fair.

Bottomline: my skintone range is lighter than MAC NC/NW15 to NC/NW20.

I have neutral cool undertone.

Packaging:
Pretty cardboard box; I know lots of people hate cardboard packaging since the durability will be questionable compared to a plastic or tin, but me myself is quite okay with cardboard since I don’t do makeup in my bathroom.

Travel, of course, will make the packaging battered. My Makeup Reviews said that her Dandelion stands travels well; but mine is a bit broken at the tips of the box (I bought used one from Anya).

Color:
Dandelion is a neutral light pink with golden shimmer. Slightly warm in the box, almost peachy pink even. But it’s looks a bit cool on me when applied! Weird!

Anyway, the pic above is not so accurate. In the box Dandelion looks warmer than that. Anya kindly took a picture of Dandelion; but I personally think IRL it’s lighter, less rosy.

Benefit Dandelion

Texture:
Sadly to say, it’s not the finest blush around. Less finely milled compared to other popular blushes such as NARS or Cargo or even MAC and Stila.

Pigmentation:
Many say it’s (terribly) sheer. On my pale skin, pigmentation is actually sheer/medium. I only need to load my brush with the powder, and it shows up quite easily on my cheek. As a blush of course.

Blendability:
Good! No hard edges whatsoever.

Finish:
Gold shimmer looks pronounced in the pan but it’s really subtle on your cheek. All you got is a light pink glow.

Lasting Power:
Impressive!

Usually, my blushes never stay long enough on my cheeks; especially because I touch up several times a day with SPF powder to replenish my UV protection. Dandelion manages to look quite fresh even after lunch hour. Even though it doesn’t look as perfect as in the morning, it officially beats NARS or Shu Uemura in terms of lasting power on me.

My General Review:
I can’t stop wearing this for a week since I received this item It’s that good!

I was actually worried prior to buying this; often heard that it’s way too sheer. I understand that it’s meant to be an all brightening over face powder, but I prefer to use this as blush if I can. Lucky me, being a pale-faced Asian, Dandelion shows up easily as a blush! I only need to load my brush with the product. One layer for glowing from within effect, two to three layers for a more blooming effect. Any more than that, useless Since really, you simply can’t overdo this. Thicker layers will looks cakey and….thick. Literally. The product build up will be easily taken away by finishing swipe of a brush or even fingers; leaving only natural looking cheeks. Totally suitable for blush n00b.

On me, this is a neutral light pink. Looks slightly boring in the box, but looks brightening once applied! Also, it has gold shimmers in the pan, but they’re nearly imperceptible on the cheeks, even though it’s not flat matte either.

BTW, I don’t know how to use this other than as a blush. I’ve tried it as an all over face powder, but it makes no difference

The only downside is the miling. It’s not very finely milled, compared to other popular, high end blushes such as NARS or Cargo or Shu or MAC or Stila.

Application:
Dandelion is quite tightly pressed, to I prefer to use natural haired brushes to pick up a good amount of powder. I swiped a couple of times to load my brush with the powder and directly pat it to my apple of cheeks.

The brush supplied is made from goat hair. It’s not the softest, and it’s not the best in blending out the product; result can be slightly cakey. But at least it’s convenient for travel.

At home, I tend to apply this using MAC #168.

Price:
USD28 for 10grams of powder. Not bad. This will last me a while.

Availability:
Benefit is not available in Indonesia It’s available in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia though!

And another good news is: www.benefitcosmetics.com does ship worldwide with quite a reasonable shipping rate!

Ingredients:
talc, mica, calcium aluminum borosicicate, polyethylene, titanium dioxide (CI 77891), magnesium myristate, pentaerythrityl, tetraethylhexanoate, C9-15 fluoroalcohol, phosphates, zinc stearate, octyldodecyl stearoyl stearate, phenoxyethanol, B15-diglyceryl polyacryladipate-2, squalane, carmine (CI 75470), lecithin, iron dioxide (CI 77491), methylparaben, tocopheryl acetate, fragrance (parfum), glycine soja (Ssoybean)oil, tocopheryl acetate, iron oxides (CI 77492), BHT, retinyl palmitate, butylparaben, ethylparaben, limonene, alumina, Isobutylparaben, propylparaben, linalool, hexyl Cinnamal, benzyl salicylate, citral Butylphenyl, Methylpropional, citronellol, eugenol.

Overall Rating:
4 out of 5. Color is perfection for me at the moment. Pigmentation, blendability, and lasting power all are satisfactory. I just wish the powder is more finely milled.

*This review will be cross posted in http://www.makeupalley.com under username Crescent_Shadow.