Benefit Cosmetics Wish List

Benefit was one of the first higher end brands that I brought makeup from, as I really do love their products but over the last few years I've just stopped buying from them! I need that to change because the gorgeous/quirky packaging coupled with the great products means they should be something I'm looking at all the time! 

So, to rekindle my love affair with the brand I'm bringing you a wishlist of all the things I desperately want to try. 

Erase Paste, £19.50, link

This is raved about left right and centre and it's something I've been meaning to pick up. I love a good concealer, and this sounds like it ticks all the boxes! 

Hervana Boxed Powder, £23.50, link

I've tried one boxed powder from benefit before and love it, so I really want to try more of the colours on offer. I love the look of Hervana and Coralista is a close second on the lust list. 

Ultra Plush Lip Gloss, £14.50, link

With summer supposedly approaching, I've been getting into lip glosses a lot more. I love a glossy and simple lip in the summer and these sound great! I'd love to give one a try, so one of these might be my next lip gloss investment.

Stay Flawless 15 Hour Primer, £24.50, link

Once again, with summer just around the corner I want to hide the powder! I love a dewy look in the summer, but without powder my foundation just doesn't stay put. I'd love to find a primer that really holds my foundation in place, and this sounds like it could do the trick. 

Fake Up Concealer , £18.50, link

I think this might be the latest offering from Benefit and every time I even go near a counter I hear the staff raving about it. I'm not normally one to fall for something being pushed on me, but this just sounds to good to be true! I think I'll try this, instead of repurchasing my trusty MAC pro-longwear concealer. 

Oh La Lift, £17.50, link

This embodies everything I love in a product. I know that sounds strange but the one things I really love about makeup is things that give my skin a glow. I love things like Hocus Focus from Soap and Glory, and I would love to try this to see if it can give the boosted more radiant effect. 

Creasless Cream Eyeshadows, £15.50 , link

My eyeshadows have been creasing like mad recently, so I've been looking into what kind of bases I could use to stop the dreaded effect. I've used the old creasless cream shadows and loved them, so I'd love to give the new range a go.

Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation, £25.50, link

I've seen a few people wearing this foundation and just loved how it looks on the skin. I'm not sure if it was just their fab skin or the foundation, but I'd love to try even just a sample of this to see if it could work for me.

Brow Zings, £23.50, link

Brows finish a look. I've only just recently learned this. I've started focusing on my brows as parts of my morning beauty routine and it's changed the way my makeup looks. I've tried a few products, but am still on the look out for my holy grail. This might just be it considering the things I've heard about it on the blogs I've read. 

Eyebrow Pencil, £15.00, link

 I've found pencils great for my brows if I don't have time to faff about with powder and gel. They allow you to create a nice shape, and most importantly, they allow you to do it quickly! Benefit are half known for their great brow products, so I think this might check the boxes of what I look for in a brow pencil! 

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Empties #2 | Hair Care, Body Care, Skin Care & Make Up

Empties | Soap and Glory No Blogs Allowed, Tea Tree Foam Face Wash, Simple Refreshing Face Wash, Clarisonic Nourishing Care Cleanser, Nivea Daily Essentials Day Cream, Lacura Concealer Pen, Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation, Stila Smudge Stick in Moray, Benefit They're Real,  Sleek Twist Up Eye Pencil in Noir,  St Ives Elements Microderm Abrasion Scrub, Lush Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub, Oh Lola Shower Gel, T Tree Foot Wash, Coconut & Sweet Almond Intensive Conditioner, Coconut & Sweet Almond Shampoo, Tresemme Split Remedy Conditioner, Lush Retread Conditioner, Live Colour XXL Luminance Hair Dye in L76 Ultra Violet, Nice & Easy Colour Protect Gloss Conditioner.

This post is proof that I need to do these more often. I collected far to many empties over the last few months, and this is the result of this. You might want to grab a drink and maybe a snack, because this going to be a longgggg post! Thanks, in advance, if you make it to the end.

Hair Empties | Coconut & Sweet Almond Intensive Conditioner, Coconut & Sweet Almond Shampoo, Tresemme Split Remedy Conditioner, Lush Retread Conditioner,  Live Colour XXL Luminance Hair Dye in L76 Ultra Violet, Nice & Easy Colour Protect Gloss Conditioner.

Superdrug Coconut & Sweet Almond Intensive Conditioner 
This is one of the best conditioners I've ever used, and I will repurcahse it until I can't any longer. It's super thick, so can work as a mask to. It smells great, and it really works. It makes my hair soft, and is really cheap. 
 
Superdrug Coconut & Sweet Almond Shampoo 
This is a great shampoo, and on about £1. It's not the best I've ever used, but it smells amazing and lathers up really well. It doesn't dry out my hair which I love, and it doesn't make my colored hair fade out quicker than normal like some other shampoos can. 

Schwarzkopf Colour Live XXL Luminance in L76 Ultra Violet 
This is the hair dye I'm using at the moment. It's okay. It makes my hair purple, which is what I'm looking for but it's not the best I've ever tried. It doesn't lighten my hair quite like it says it will, but it works well enough. I might try something else next time. 

Tresemme Split Remedy Conditioner 
I adore this range, it's one of the best drugstore ranges that I've used. It really makes my hair feel soft, and healthier. The conditioner, mask and serum are amazing, and I'll be repurchasing this soon. 

Lush Retread Conditioner
This was okay. It wasn't the best, and I wouldn't buy it again because 1) I didn't like the smell and 2) it's not worth the price in my opinion. It worked well enough for days when my hair wasn't as dry as normal, but not good enough for my dry hair to really get any benefits from. 
 
Nice & Easy Colour Seal Conditioner for Red Hair 
I always have a few of these lying around because the conditioner they give me in hair dye never feel like enough for my hair. They say they are meant to last a few used but I can't even get one full use out of the box dye ones, so I use this to  top it up. It works just as well and they are only 99p each. 
 

Body Care Empties | St Ives Elements Microderm Abrasion Scrub, Lush Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub, Oh Lola Shower Gel & T Tree Foot Wash

St Ives Elements Microderm Abrasion Face Scrub 
I only got this because it was on sale, and I don't think I wold get it again. I liked the texture to some extent but it just wasn't scrubby enough for me. It was a nice change from the normal apricot St Ives scrub, but I think I'll try something else next time. 
 

Lush Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub 
This is great, it really gives you a good scrub but I hate the smell. It's the only reason I wouldn't buy it again because I used it for everything. I used it before shaving, tanning and even in my hair. 

Oh Lola Shower Gel
There isn't much to say on this. It worked like any other shower gel would. The smell was nice when I was using this, but it didn't last any longer than any other shower gel. 
 
T Tree Foot Wash 
This was just a peppermint smelling wash. I used it on my feet, but it did no more than shower gel does when washing my feet. 

Makeup Empties | Lacura Concealer Pen, Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation, Stila Smudge Stick in Moray, Benefit They're Real & Sleek Twist Up Eye Pencil in Noir.

Lacura Beauty Concealer Pen 
I love this. It worked really well as an under eye concealer, and it was light enough for my skin tone. They have a pink tone or yellow tone to suit you, and it doesn't crease. It ran out quicker than some, but it's a lot cheaper than some though so it works out well either way. 
 
Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in True Ivory 
I love this, just like everyone else. It works well for my dry skin, lasts ages and blends really well. I will have to get a lighter shade next time, but I would pick it up again. 

Benefit They're Real Mascara 
I don't think I need to say much on this because everyone has something to say on it. I love it, but it's a little to expensive for me. I think I'll stick with my drugstore mascaras for now, but I would get this on sale if it were ever on offer. It curls, volumises and lengthens and doesn't move all day. It's actually a total bitch to get off. 
 
Sleek Twist Up Eye Pencil in Noir 
The fact that I've used this makes me want to cry a little. This is my all time favourite black liner, and it's discontinued. I like the new liners sleek came out with but this is better. You don't need a sharpner (I always loose mine) and it's really black. It lasts a decent amount of time on my water line and doesn't end up any where that I don't want it to. 
 
Stila Smudge Stick in Moray 
I got this is a beauty box, and love it. I think, when I have some money, I will pick up the black or brown in this. I love the formula, the lasting power and the fact it's a twist up pencil. It lasts ages on the lid, lower lash line and waterlines. It's nicely pigmented, and just the right amount of creamyness. 

Skincare Empties | Soap and Glory No Blogs Allowed, Tea Tree Foam Face Wash, Simple Refreshing Face Wash, Clarisonic Nourishing Care Cleanser & Nivea Daily Essentials Day Cream

Soap and Glory No Clogs Allowed Face Mask 
I love this mask, and have already got a back up. I love this more than I can say. It's the only mask that works for every aspect of my skin. It helps unclog my pores, draws out impurities and leaves my skin feeling lovely. It's brilliant, and I can say not more than that. Go try it. 
 
Tea Tree Foam Facial Wash 
I wasn't impressed with this, so just used it for the sake a using it. I didn't feel like it left my skin clean enough for my liking, and it stung like a bitch if it got on any sensitive areas or blemishes. I wouldn't use this again, but the other bits from this range are good. I love the moisturizer. 
  
Simple Refreshing Face Wash 
This is the best bog standard face wash. It has not frills or anything like that but it leaves the skin feeling nice and clean, and it's great for all skin types. If I ever need to go back to basics to sort my skin out, this is what I reach for. 
 
Clarisonic Nourishing Care Cleanser
I don't think there is anything special about this. I got in a beauty box and I'm glad I didn't pay for it. Maybe you need to use it with a clarisonic, but without one this just really doesn't do anything special. 
 
Nivea Daily Essentials Day Cream 
If you have dry skin, give this a go. It's a super thick, really moisturizing cream. It won't be good for people with oily/combo skin because it is so thick, but for my dry skin buddies this is great for dry patches that makeup can cling to, and it works as a great night cream too if you find it to intense for the day. 

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed.

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My Favourite Makeup Products at the Moment | Face, Lips and Eyes

Some of my favourite makeup products right now!

I really wanted to do a favourites post, and I thought about doing a 2012 favourites, but I think it's just too late to do that now.  I then thought I'd leave it until the end of January, but I'm too impatient to wait that long, so I just going a random favourites post.

MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush link, MeMeMe Beat the Blues in Sunbeam link, & Soap and Glory Hocus Focus link.

  I've been all about highlighting recently, and these have been my favorites at the moment. 


MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush - £14.50
The MAC cream colour base is something that I've owned for quite some time, use pretty regularly and it's still going strong. It's a nice pink toned shimmery highlight that looks great on pale skin. It blend really easily and it doesn't look cakey or make my foundation go cakey which is a total bonus.

MeMeMe Beat the Blues Highlighter in Sunbeam - £5.25
This is a really new find for me and I'm glad I gave it a try. I got this in a set of all the MeMeMe products like the Benefit products. If I'm ever going for a bronzed look, I will grab this because the golden undertones compliment those looks so well. It's just a nice change from the pink highlighters that usually suit my pale skin.

Soap and Glory Hocus Focus - £13.00 
This is possibly my favourite find of 2012, and now I will never be without a bottle. You can use this as a highlighter on your cheekbones and down your nose or you can mix a pump or two in with foundation/moisturizer to give a gorgeous all over glow! It's a white liquid, but blends out to almost no colour just a slight pink iridescence to give that 'glow' everyone craves.

 

MAC Lustre Glass in Sinnamon link, Revlon Colour Burst Lip Gloss in Peony link & MAC Lipstick in Lovelorn link

MAC Lustre Glass in Sinnamon - £13.50
 This is my go to lipgloss when I don't fancy wearing a lipstick, or I want something to go with a nice nude! I tend to always go for brown tone nudes so I don't look dead wearing them, and this goes amazingly well with most of them. It's beautifully pigmented, and the shimmer is viable but you don;t really feel it. I love that it's a smooth formula, because bits of glitter stress me out a little. 

Revlon Colour Burst Lipgloss in Peony - £7.99
This is my go to lip gloss if I'm wearing anything pink on my lips, and it works especially well with lovelorn. It's a gorgeous pink/coral colour with golden shimmer running through it. It's amazingly pigmented, and looks good alone or in combination with other products. I like to dab a little of this in the centre of my lips for the fuller looking lip look.


MAC Lipstick in Lovelorn - £14.00 
This is one of my favourite lipsticks from MAC, and it's something I'm 100% going to repurchase when it runs out. From the picture you can see that it's well loved. I think the pink would look great with any skin tone. It doesn't dry out my lips, and it's pretty long lasting for the finish it has.

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Pink Ice link, Benefit Ceaseless Cream Shadow in Foiled link & MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist link

Benefit Ceaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Foiled - £14.00
This is a gorgeous taupe colour that blend out beautifully. It can be used alone, or 'set' with a powder shadow, and I use it both ways. I often use it as a base for the Barry M Dazzle Dust, but if I want a nice cool toned eye look I'll  use this. It lasts all day without creasing or fading. 


MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist - £14.50
 I brought this because I was on a Paint Pot kick but this is just a bit to dark for everyday use as a paint pot. I have, however, been using this lovely colour as an eyeliner. It's dark enough that I feel I can leave my black off, and the chocolate brown colour with slight bronze shimmer makes my blue eyes pop a little more than black.

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Pink Ice - £4.59 
This is gorgeous! It's messy, but it lasts forever and brightens up your eyes so well. I use it all over the lid or a highlight and it looks great either way. It's quite cheap and the slightly pink tone to the white makes it a little less harsh that a plain shimmery white colour! 

Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 51 link, Bourjois Blush in 34 Rose d'Or link and New CID Pressed Powder in Extra Light link.

  Bourjois Bronzing Powder in 51 - £6.99
I put off getting this for a long time. I was a bit weirded out by something that was meant to smell of chocolate, because I generally hate the scent. I can't use anything like Palmer Coco Butter because the smell grosses me out but this doesn't smell to strong and when you use it, the scent if gone! I acutally didn't buy this for myself, but I got it in a blogger Secret Santa from the gorgeous Kym. 


Bourjois Blush in Rose d'Or - £7.49
This was also a present from Kym, and I love it. I'm just learning to love blushes with shimmer, and this is a great way to ease yourself into shimmer. It's hard to overdo the colour, and it's not too shimmery. It's a nice rosy pink colour, and the backed formula makes it pretty sturdy. I'm soo clumsy,and often drop my makeup and this baked formula doesn't smash like regular powder blushes do. 
 
New CID i-Powder compact in Extra Light - £21.50
This has been my go to powder for so long, and I still haven't hit pan. I got it in TK Maxx, and love that it's in Extra Light. It's the perfect match for my skin. It doesn't really offer all the much coverage, but it's not translucent either. It keep my makeup in place, and is a super handy light up mirror as well as the powder. IT's quite expensive, but keep your eyes out in TK Maxx because it was £7.99.  

Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer link, George Face Primer (not online) & YSL Touche Eclat Foundation link

 Bourjois Flower Perfection Primer - £9.99
This was also a present from Kym, and it's as good as the other products. I don't know why I haven't tried more Bourjois products because they seem really good. It's a brand I overlook quite a lot but after this little present exchange I will be looking at them more. This primer leaves my skin feeling silky smooth and my foundation applies really nice over the top of it. It doesn't mattify my skin to much because I love a dewy look, and it keep everything in place longer then bare skin would. 


George Face Primer - £5 (ish)
I got this so long a go, and have recently rediscovered it. It's a great primer for those with normal/dry skin. It leaves the skin silky smooth, and keep makeup on all day. It's a skin colour when you squeeze it out but it goes on translucent. It doesn't dry my skin out or make it oily, and it leaves a great base for foundation to go on to. 


YSL Touche Eclat Foundation in B10 - £28.00 
This is the best foundation I have ever used. It just does something for my skin that nothing else does. It lasts ages, give it a great glow and takes out the horrid redness that I get. It's not that great of coverage, but as I said before it just does something for my face that I adore! It's brilliant, and while a little expensive it's not as bad as some higher end brands are for pricing. The packaging is gorgeous too. Simply, elegant and classy. 

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I Heart Drugstore Makeup TAG

What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand?

This is a tough one for me because I really only use drugstore products, and every brand excels in one things like Revlon and their lip products or Maybelline and their mascaras. Overall, I think it would be either Maybelline because I love their mascara’s, some of their foundations and some lip products to or it would be MUA because even though some products aren’t amazing the value for money and quality of most products is amazing!

What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?

 

Is Soap and Glory a drugstore brand? I’m going to say they are and say my favourite face product is Hocus Focus. It’s a highlighting lotion that I mix in with either my moisutriser or foundation to give a nice glow to any foundation I put on.

Again, I have to ask, is Topshop considered drugstore? I mean they are reasonably cheap but you can’t get them in places like Boots or Superdurg. If it is considered drugstore my favourite cheek product would be their cream blushes. I rave and rave about them all the time because I think they are amazing. If not, then I would have to go with the Sleek blushes because they are reasonably priced and they are amazing quality. 

My favourite lip products are just too hard to choose. I love something in almost every brand but I do adore the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains at the moment. I think everyone in the blogger world has heard about these. They are essentially dupes for the Clinique chubby sticks, and the Chubby Stick Intense. They are jumbo pencil like products that have the staying power of a lipstick with the application quality of a balm. They only thing I’m not a fan of is the taste and smell. To me it’s like old tasting old chewing gum, like stale mint. I’m not sure why they have that mint taste because it’s not needed.

  Least favorite product?

This is a question I could go on and on about because while the drugstore has some amazing products there are many, many terrible products out there to. I think I would have to go with the Maybelline Dream Foam foundation though. This is something I own, or will ever own. I’ve tried it out once on my face and hated it. It didn’t offer any coverage and it felt horrid on my skin. I don’t like the packaging because you have very little control over how much comes out of the bottle. And lastly the fact that it doesn’t come off any surface worries me a lot. I work in a place that sells Maybelline products, and as soon as the testers were put out I knew it was a recipe for disaster. People testing them didn’t expect the explosion of mousse that comes out of the tube. They rub it off on the stand and when you go to clean that stand, nothing gets it off. I mean me and my colleagues have tried everything. Baby wipes, makeup remover, oil based products, nail varnish remover and even industrial strength cleaner and nothing works. If that’s what it does to the stand, can you imagine what it does to your face?  

What is the best makeup bargain?

 I would have to say it’s the £1 range that MUA offer. The lipsticks and eyeshadows are the stand out products for me and they are worth so much more than £1. I rate them over some of the more expensive brands like L’Oreal and the shadows can even beat out some of my MAC shadows.

What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

 This is a tough one because I’m very influenced by bloggers and most of the products I own are popular (and for a good reason). If I had to choose just one thing, it would probably be Miss Sporty mascaras. People see the brand Miss Sporty as something very cheap and it’s often over looked but they offer a wonderful range of mascaras that are super cheap and are great quality. My current favourite is the volume Studio Lash, but they have something for everyone.

A drugstore product that is overpriced?

L’Oreal products are very expensive in my opinion but I think anything from MeMeMe is overpriced. While I love their products, I often don’t head to that stand because it’s so expensive and I can get similar products for a cheaper price. The most overpriced thing for me would either be their foundations or their dew pots.

Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!

I could go on and on about this! I have a fair ol’ few. For lipsticks I would say the best ones are:

• 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Beehive. It’s a good dupe for MAC hue.
• L’Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Boreal. It’s almost an exact match for MAC Blankety.
• The Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss lipstick on 02 is a close match for Girl About Town by MAC.
• Iced Fudged Mono Eyeshadow from Maybelline is a close copy for Satin Taupe by MAC. It’s a little more chunky, with a bit more glitter but it’s still that gorgeous taupe colour with silver shimmer.
• The MUA Undressed Palette is a good dupe for the Urban Decay Naked Palette.
• A number of MeMeMe products are good dupes for Benefit products like the Fat Cat mascara and Bad Gal.
• The MUA Every Lash mascara is an amazing dupe for Benefit They’re Real. 

Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype? 

This is the hardest question for me because I really cannot think of something over hyped! It might have to be the Revlon Lip Butters. That’s not to say that I don’t adore them, because I do but they aren’t as amazing as they are made out to be. They don’t last all that long and when you apply them again over the top of the first coat they can get a weird texture. Also the darker colours like Macaroon and Lollipop can bleed and you to be careful when applying them because they can get very messy. Also, they don’t fade that evenly, so you can end up with just colour on the outside of your lips.