Yesterday I purchased a new foundation, Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow.
Benefit refer to this foundation as a "brightening make-up" and its key selling points are that it is oil-free and has broad-spectrum SPF 25.
As I am extremely fair skinned, I opted for the palest shade which is called "Ivory (Believe In Me)" - the assistant tested this on me before I bought it and it seemed like a good match.
I have tried 3 Benefit foundations in the past - Hello Flawless powder, Some Kinda Gorgeous, and Non-Fiction - I loved Non-Fiction but was really not a fan of the other two at all!
I usually always use MAC foundations - my first choice is always Studio Fix but last time I tried Studio Sculpt for a change.
However, as I couldn't be bothered lugging my pregnant behind all the way into the city centre to go to MAC I decided to just go to my local Boots and plump for Benefit instead.
I always consider Benefit to be my second favourite make-up brand, after MAC.
I tried the foundation for the first time today - unfortunately, I was disappointed.
I found the liquid to be quite a runny consistency, and the coverage was nowhere close to what I was hoping for.
Admittedly I do like a foundation to have heavy coverage, and as I am used to using MAC's studio fix range I suppose it's not surprising that I found this foundation lacking in the coverage department.
Benefit do state on their website that the product provides light to medium coverage - I would say the coverage is no more than just light, to me it almost felt more like a tinted moisturiser.
Wearing:
Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation
MAC studio finish concealer
Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder
HD Brows
Estee Lauder Magnascopic mascara
MAC powder blush in "Dame"
Collection 2000 lipstain in "Tease"
I was impressed by the colour - It matched my skin tone well and didn't leave me with any tidelines, which I admit is something I can have problems with when using MAC's heavy coverage foundations.
Unfortunately, my mind was made up on this product when I checked my make up after approximately 3 hours of wear (I hadn't been walking around in the elements or anything, I had simply been to an ante-natal appointment) and found that it looked as though I wasn't wearing anything at all!! But not in a good way - MAC foundations always last the day for me without needing re-applicating, but this is not the case for this foundation.
As with all Benefit products, the packaging was very cute - but I think that, at £24.50, it is extremely over priced for the quality of the product. In future I will be making the effort to drag myself to MAC!
Following on from this purchase, I found myself casting my mind back over all the different Benefit products that I've tried over the years and whether I liked or was disappointed in them.
Products I have liked enough to re-purchase: Boi-ing industrial strength concealer, They're Real mascara, Coralista blusher, Non-fiction foundation (No longer produced)
Products I was disappointed with: Erase Paste, The Pore-fessional, Bad Gal Lash, Silky finish lipstick, Hello Flawless powder, Some Kinda Gorgeous foundation, ....and now Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation.
So that's 4 products that I have liked and re-purchased, and SEVEN products that I found really disappointing and didn't even finish....this made me think that actually, I don't like Benefit as much as I think I do!
I love the brand image, I love the packaging, I love the product names and the idea of them - but I find the products themselves lack in quality more often than they deliver in my opinion, and are really over-priced when I compare them to MAC - especially considering I find the quality of MAC products to be far higher.
So - sadly, I think its time that Benefit and I parted ways.
I now need to find myself a replacement Back-Up Brand for occasions when I can't get myself to MAC - any suggestions?! Have you tried this product - if so, what did you think?
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)
