beauty | benefit fake up hydrating concealer

Benefit 'Fake-Up' Hydrating Concealer - £18.50

Concealer is the one crucial step for me when it comes to an everyday basis. I'd definitely rather add mascara, lipstick and blusher but honestly, if I'm in a rush it's always the one product that I reach for. Benefit has a new-ish (I'm a tad late with trying out this product) concealer out with its main focus being put on the under-eye area.

Fake-up is a soft, almost liquid-like concealer that is surround by the clear balm, aimed at hydrating the skin and stopping any creasing. It's quite the novelty when you think about it but it does actually provide the coverage needed under your eyes while being gentle and easy to apply. While this is definitely not my favourite concealer ever (I'm still keen to try something from Bobbi Brown), it does do what it says and provides reasonable coverage without any creasing. It is a little too greasy for my liking so I would not recommend this if the weather is hot as it may just slide right off your face, but as a handbag staple for touch-ups its great as it doesn't cake at all.

It comes in three shades, I bought medium, which once blended is perfect for my skin tone. So there you go, my thoughts on the new(ish) Benefit Fake-Up concealer, does this sound like a product you'd buy or avoid? 

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beauty | benefit eau de toilette 'see & be seen sasha'

Benefit Crescent Row Eau de Toilette 'See & Be Seen Sasha - £29.50

Let me start out by saying that my want for this perfume stemmed mainly from the packaging, I mean isn't it just so cute! I love the cocktail shaker-style bottle as well as the 'Crescent Row' boxes that each of the Benefit perfumes come in. I do also of course like the smell which is surprising to me as it's quite different to my usual scents and I would have thought I would have much favoured the ever-popular 'So Hooked on Carmella' (I do like this one too though) but no, this one really stood out to me and I was lucky enough to be gifted this on my birthday! 

See & Be Seen Sasha is a very wearable and everyday floral scent with notes of pink freesia, jasmine, musk and vanilla. I can't get enough of this perfume, I just wish it came in a larger size as I'm afraid it's going to run out so quickly. 

Have you tried See & Be Seen Sasha or any other Benefit perfumes? 

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beauty | benefit pro balm the porefessional

Benefit PRO Balm Porefessional - £24.50

I've only recently become a lot more interested in beauty products and having bought the YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat foundation last week, I thought it only best to buy a good primer to help keep it in place. I'd heard so much about the Benefit Porefessional PRO balm, that while browsing the counter in Debenhams I decided to bite the bullet and buy it, taking advantage of the VAT-free day! 

The idea of the Porefessional is to minimise the appearance of pores while helping to keep your make-up in place. This is technically not a primer as its main purpose is to lessen pores and to help combat minor redness, but for me, I don't tend to get oily skin anyway so this is all I really need rather than a full on, heavy duty primer. I'm mainly just looking to reduce the large pores I have on my nose area, so this product is perfect! 

I apply this all over the face before my foundation, starting from the centre of my face and moving outwards with the remaining product. It does appear as a dark nude colour at first but this adapts to your skin and leaves a semi-matte, translucent look. This product provides a great, smooth base for any make-up and considering you only need a tiny amount to do your whole face, I can see it lasting me a really long time.  

Have you tried Benefit Porefessional? Thoughts?

Benefit High Beam Highlighter

A couple of weeks ago whilst browsing round Debenhams, I spontaneously decided to buy High Beam. I've heard so many people rave about how great it is but I've never really been that interested in trying it myself so I'm not really sure what came over me but I just bit the bullet and got it and oh am I glad I did; it's amazing!

High Beam is described as a 'luminescent complexion highlighter' and that's exactly what it is. When applied it gives a real glow to the face, especially when in the sun and as you can see from the above photos, it has a slight shimmer to it but nothing really that noticeable, it's more of a glow than a disco ball shimmer. I apply four dots on the top of each cheek, then blend it in and use any excess down the bridge of my nose. For some reason I really didn't expect to like this product but having now used it for two weeks, I know it's going to be something I will definitely be using for a long long time, I just can't believe i've waited this long to buy it. 

High Beam is £19.50 and is available online at Benefit Cosmetics or at Debenhams and Selfridges counters. 

Emma xo

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Benefit They're Real Mascara | Worth the Hype?

I realise I'm rather late with this one but thanks to this months Elle magazine, I am well and truly on the Benefit 'They're Real' bandwagon; sort of! I say sort of because I'm not completely sold on this mascara; I feel it's way too over-hyped and there's nothing really that special about it in my opinion. Sorry to those die-hard fans out there! Any who, I received a mini version with Elle (retailing at £9 usually!), like I said, and having used it for a week now, I thought I'd share my thoughts...

Benefit claims that this mascara 'lengthens, curls, volumises, lifts & separates lashes' with its jet black result. Now I do agree partly with this, I found it did lengthen my lashes significantly and I suppose you could say they were separated and very black but that's where it stops for me. My lashes didn't appear lifted or volumised and if anything, they appeared straighter than they were without mascara! Also, this mascara has a plastic brush, which is not my preferred choice, which did little in the way of combing my lashes and instead gave them almost a spidery appearance - not a good look at all - and I know this probably sounds odd but it almost felt as though my eyelashes were about to crumble away wearing this mascara and I think it looked that way too! 

Now onto the good points as I hate to be too negative, but these are my opinions after all. I did like that the brush had smaller, fanned out bristles at the end, which made reaching the tricky inner and outer corners so much easier. I also liked that there was no fall out or smudging throughout the day and it stayed put and stayed black all day, which leads me onto another downside of this product (sorry). It's an absolute nuisance for removing, once it's on it certainly does stay put and requires some serious soaking in order to remove it which left me cautious to use it again as I felt like I was literally pulling out my eyelashes to remove it! But if you can look past that and its lack of volumising powers, then this may be the mascara for you; plus it has pretty packaging which is always a plus in my eyes! I don't hate this mascara by any means, it's definitely not the worst I've tried, it just isn't my favourite and I doubt I'll be using it again. 

Benefit's They're Real mascara is available online for £19.50 (full size) at Benefit Cosmetics, as well as all Benefit counters including Boots, Debenhams. 

Emma xo

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