Benefit PosieTint

I don't know how long this has been out, but Benefit Cosmetics Posietint has flown under my radar. I can't tell you how excited I am that Benefit has finally added another color to their original Benetint. Although some may think why would they need to add another color to this line when part of the appeal of Benetint is that it works with every skintone and that it gives you a perfect flush. Even so, having a choice of shades so that you can change up your color is an absolute bonus.

Right away you can see that PosieTint is much pinker than the original BeneTint. While original BeneTint looks very red in the bottle, the finished product gives off more of a dark mauve color. PosieTint looks like a kind of scarey pink in the bottle (anyone else thinking Pepto Bismo???), but the finished product is simply a beautiful kiss of pink. Apply a few swipes on your cheeks, blend it in, and you're good to go. The building power on this product is also fabulous. If you want a deeper color, just repeat the steps. The nice thing is that the make-up still looks natural after layering...not at all cakey or built up.

Using it as a lip color leaves with you beautiful kiss me pink lips. The only thing is that I am not one to match my lips and cheeks. I think that it kind of washes me out. I would definately use this as lip color when I'm not using it as cheek color, though.

Overall, this is another winner for Benefit. Another product that enhances your natural beauty. It's a product that will make people say, "You look good," as opposed to "Your make-up looks good." If you love the original BeneTint, you're going to love PosieTint. The only decision now is where you're going to purchase yours. Right now, when you spend $50 at BenefitCosmetics.com you can get a FREE Miini Some Kind of Gorgeous with coupon / promo code PACKLITE. This offer is good through June 6th. Of course, you can also get it at Sephora which is still offering FREE SHIPPING on orders of $50 without a coupon code.

Benefit Powder Pop!

While Tarte Cheekstains are my absolute favorite cheek colors, Benefit's blushes are absolutely a close second (especially Dallas). If you are a Benefit blush girl you have got to see Benefit's latest product, Powder Pop! This brand new, limited edition palette features three of Benefit's best blushes; Dallas, Dandelion, and Hoola. This is great for girls who like to use multiple shades of blush to create contures that give you fabulous looking cheeks. I will warn you, this palette offers smaller versions (.01 oz as opposed to .04 oz) of the blushes, so don't expect 3 full size pans of blush for roughly the price of one. Still a great deal and a great product.

New Goodies From Benefit

Benefit Cosmetics has released three new products. Many of you may recall my last post about Benefit's new relase, Rush Hour, and how I was not at all impressed since it was nothing new, nothing original. So I have to admit that the new lipstick, cream blush, and and cream eye shadow/liner are nothing new, but the shades and packaging are so great I am willing to overlook that. The only thing that does bother me is that these products (especially the lipstick and the eyeliner) seem to be rip-offs of Stila products. Take a look and you decide.

I am generally not a lipstick girl, but I absolutely love the new Silky-Finish Lipstick from Benefit. The color spectrum runs from light neutrals to deep plums. The color is sheer, but buildable. Slick on one coat for barely there color or add multiple coats to give your lips deeper color. This product also moisturizes lips like you wouldn't believe. When I put this lipstick on, it felt like the color and the lipstick was just melting into my lips. It also serves as a great base if you want to layer some gloss on top. I skipped the lipliner and just threw some Silky-Finish Lipstick on my lips topped off with a gloss and I loved what I saw. And I know that we're not supposed to judge products based on their packaging, but I love the packaging for this product. The black lipstick tube embellished with the trademark Benefit logo and loop is just too cute.

On to eyes! With Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner, Benefit has taken two of my favorite Stila products (Shadow Pots and Cream Liners) and combined them into one convenient product. Apply a light layer all over your eyelid, and then apply multiple layers to line and contour your eyes. The best thing is that if you choose to only use one color, your shadow and liner is going to be an absolute perfect match because technically they are the same color. Of course you're not limited to one color, mix and match to create a dramatic effect. There are tons of shades to choose from, but I'm hoping that they will release some more lighter shades. I'm thinking white, silver, violet, light blue...I love wearing lighter shades in warmer weather. The fact that these shadows/liners are cream makes them so blendable. You know what I'm thinking...SMOKEY EYES!!! And again, I love the packaging!

Lastly, the product I'm least impressed with, Benefit's Sheer Cream Blusher. Benefit claims, "Give cheeks a perky pinch of natural color and cheer up your cheeks with one of these beautifully natural shades." Three shades are available in coral, rose, and berry. Okay, so the product is not bad, but it still doesn't give me the natural flush that I get from my Tarte Cheek Stain. I have yet to find a product that comes close to the natural look of Tarte. The other thing is that I love Benefit's powder blushes (especially Dallas) for when I want more of a dramatic color look. So basically, the new Sheer Cream Blusher just isn't my cup of tea, but I'm sure that tons of you will love it. It's still a great product, just one that I don't need.

Tons Of Sephora News

I'm having a pretty crappy day, so I was really excited to see a new email from Sephora loaded with tons of goodies! First off, Benefit's Hopelessly Devoted To Pink is now available! Need I even say limited edition!!! Girls, do not miss out on this one. I already have mine and have to say that this is their best palette since "Curve Hugger." All of the pink hues put me in the mood for Valentine's Day. And I loooooooove the heart mirror. I'm going to give these as Valentine's Day gifts to my single girlfriends (that is if they can wait that long and don't end up running out and picking this up for themselves).

Next, ***SEPHORA COUPON / PROMO CODE ALERT*** It's been awhile since they've released a new code, so I knew one had to be coming out soon enough. Enter ADDICTED to get a free deluxe sample of LORAC's new Mocktini Lipgloss. These are the very same LORAC Mocktini glosses that I just recently posted about. It doesn't say what shade you get, but I'm thinking you probably get what is posted in the picture. There is no minimum purchase required, but you can't use the code if you're only buying gift cards. Not that any of you are going to have that problem anyways since I'm sure that most will want to pick up Benefit's Hopelessly Devoted To Pink!

Are you lucky enough to be a Beauty Insider??? (If not, click the link to join!) I am!!! Okay, to my fellow insiders, here is an unbelievable perk. While supplies last, you can score a Stila Lip Glaze in the very rare shade of raisin. What makes this shade so rare? It is usually only available in Japan. I was lucky enough to have a friend that was in Japan not too long ago who purchased this oh so gorgeous shade for me. Girls, trust me, this is a must have shade. This is a universally flattering berry shade, packed with shimmer, that has a raisin scent. I have been on a berry shade kick lately and have to say that this is one of my favorites. Insider perks tend to sell out quickly, so I wouldn't wait too long if you want to get one of these. Don't forget, Beauty Insiders also get deluxe samples with every $100 they spend (it's cumulative so you don't have to spend the $100 all at once).

One other little side note...as many of you know, I'm unlucky enough to be back in school. I am still getting into the swing of things this new semester, and as such my posts have not been as frequent as they should be. Rest assured, soon I will be back into the swing of things (or at the point where I just don't care if all of my reading is done) and will be posting more frequently again. Happy shopping!

Pink Eyes

Pink eye shadow is taking over the cosmetic world by storm. One of my friends was particularly taken with this look. She ran out and bought some new pink shadow to wear for a night out on the town. The results were not pretty. Instead of creating a soft and pure look, my friend created an Academy Award worthy looking eye disease. The pink shadow made her eyes look puffy and sickly. So, the question is, how do you pull off pink eye shadow without looking like your two steps away from death?

The problem that my friend had was that she used only one shade of shadow. By using only one color, she was unable to blend and create contours. Using multiple shades of pink is good, using pink with other colors is even better. The first time I was introduced to pink shadow was about three years ago when I tried Clinique's Strawberry Fudge. The duo included a shade of pink and a shade of brown. Now, I must admit, when the Clinique girl suggested the duo I thought she was nuts, but I quickly fell in love with the look. I used the pink shade to color my entire eyelid up to just above the crease. I never wear pink all the way up to the brow. If you are one of those girls who likes to wear shadow up to the brow at all times to highlight the area, for this look I suggest Bare Escentuals Nude Beach. It offers a neutral looking color with just the right amount of shimmer to catch and reflect the light. I then took the brown shade and used it almost as a liner, creating a thick line about my lashes that I then blended into the rest of my eye. The good thing is that many cosmetic companies realize the fantasticness of this pink and brown duo and have created palettes pairing the two together. And let's face it, it's so much easier to simply buy a palette that is made up of compatible colors.

My other suggestion with pink shadows is to not, I repeat NOT, use it under your eye. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't like using shadow under eyes to begin with, however, I believe that there are certain shades (silvers and whites) that really make your eyes pop when you do. Pink is not one of those shades. The reason being that by spreading the pink shadow out, both up to your brow and below your eye, you are creating the sickly look!

Oh, and another thing, when wearing pink eye shadow, particularly when you are using only various shades of pink, be aware of the shade of blush you are wearing. You do not want your shadow and your blush to be the same color because then your look will just blend right into each other, thus risking the sickly look again. My suggestion is to go with either a darker shade of pink, a shade of plum or a shade of peach on your cheeks. I recommend Benefit Georgia or Tarte Cheek Stain Blushing Bride.

New Products From Benefit

Benefit seems to be coming out with a lot of new products lately. I came across two of them at the Benefit counter at Macy's in Orland Square Mall this weekend. Yes, I made it out to the suburbs this weekend. I was in search of a new couch, which I did find, at Darvin Furniture. Anyways, back to the original idea of this post. I knew that Benefit had released 10, so I made my way over to the counter to try it out. Benefit 10 is "A duo of delectable pink and bronze powders;" basically a highlighter and bronzer in one compact. While this is a new product to Benefit, this is not a new product to the cosmetic world. I can name at least 20 other brands that offer a similar product. That being said, 10 is not a blow my mind type of product either. It does exactly what it claims...it highlights and bronzes. I am a fan of Benefit, and this product is just as good as anything else that they offer, but it is definately not a must have product. If you already have a favorite highlighter and bronzer, there is no reason to run out and get this product. If you don't and you love Benefit products, this is a good product. For me, it's not good enough to pull me away from my latest love, Laura Geller's Balance - N - Bronze.

10 is not the only new product from Benefit. They have also introduced Rush Hour, another new to Benefit but not to the cosmetic world product. Rush Hour is a "10 second fresh and lively touch-up for lips and cheeks." This is a 2-in-1 product for the cheeks and the lips. I was a little surprised that Benefit would try to introduct a product like this when the same concept is already present in their Benetint Pocketpal. However, unlike Benetint, which is a liquid stain, Rush Hour is a cream colored stick. I know some people complain that they have a problem evenly distributing Benetint before it drys, Rush Hour is perfect for them. The soft plum rose shade (the only shade this product is available in) is also an extremely universal shade. It looks great on any skintone. But again, it's not like there aren't a million of this type of product available. Women 70 years ago were using lipstick as "rouge" even before these multi-tasking products were around.

Overall, I liked both 10 and Rush Hour, but for me they are just not must haves. If I was to receive these as gifts, I would keep and use them, but I would most likely not go out and purchase these for myself. I wish Benefit would have introduced a new shade of blush or something like that as opposed to just littering the cosmetic world with products that just aren't necessary.