Monday, December 02, 2013

Rant, Swatch, Review: Benefit Box-o-Powders (10, BellaBamba, Coralista, Dandelion, Hervana, Hoola, Rockateur)

(L-R) 10, BellaBamba, Coralista, Dandelion, Hervana, Hoola, Rockateur
If you haven't heard of Benefit's boxed powders yet... you've been missing out. I am clearly obsessed with them.  I bought a lot of them... well over time obviously.  I figured I would do a rant, swatch, review on all of them at the same time! :)  I currently own 10, Bella Bamba, Coralista, Dandelion, Hervana, Hoola, and Rockateur.  I was just taking a peek at the website and it seems as if Benefit doesn't sell some of these any more... but I swear I saw them at Sephora and Shoppers.  Here is an old overview that benefit did before to compare their powders. (If you haven't seen my other review on Maybelline Colour Whispers check it out here, if you have... this is going to be in a slightly different format please bear with me!)



(L-R) 10, BellaBamba, Coralista, Dandelion, Hervana, Hoola, Rockateur

Each box comes packaged with a brush (decent quality) and a mirror.  It isn't necessarily the most compact but it does it job.  Depending on the colour of the powder and how I am using it, I may or may not use the brushes that come in the box.  Each of them, well most of them, similar to any other benefit cosmetic product smells amazing. Let's start the reviewing and swatching!! (left to right)




This is a bronzing and highlighting duo.  It comes with a frosty pink shade and a shimmery bronze.  It is meant to be super easy.  You can apply it on top of any of the other boxed powders as well.  I usually just sweep this on a couple of times without my blush if I am in a hurry and on the go.  To be honest, I haven't used this in a while now but from what I remember I liked it.  The one thing is that I find it to be a bit too shimmery for my liking.  I don't mind concealer being shimmery but I tend to like my bronzers ('cause I use it mainly for contouring) to be matte. I don't smell much when I open this one...  

Would I recommend this to a friend?
Not really.  Not because it's bad, mainly because I haven't found much use of it anymore.

Would I repurchase? 
Probably not.





This is honestly one of the most pigmented blushes I own, maybe I have a heavy hand but that is not good with this blush.  It is definitely a watermelon pink and has some shimmering gold in it as well.  It's interesting because this one is meant to be applied on the apples of your cheek and reflect so that it creates a sculpting effect.  Due to the brightness and vibrant-ness (<-- not really a word is it?) of this colour I have not found much use of it because I am so used to more natural looks.  I think that with a light hand this would be a nice wintery glow.  I believe that Benefit used this to create a 'blushing beauty' look which you might wanna check out here.  This one has a slight super artificial (almost sickening) scent of watermelon to it.  I honestly do not use this a lot, probably it's just hard for me to wear.  I am light-medium toned.  I should probably try this out more in the summer again. 

Would I recommend this to a friend?
Depending on what they wanted. If they want something vibrant and this tone of pink and depending on their needs I might. But not for everyday use.

Would I repurchase?
Very unlikely.




CORALista as the name implies is a shimmery coral blush.  Jen fromheadtotoe seems to love this and she raved about it once.  I don't know how I completely feel about this.  I did enjoy it and use it quite a bit in the summer.  I think it's also because coral tends to be a relatively universally flattering colour.  One thing I found about this is that it is also super pigmented and if you use too much it almost gives you that fake tan look even though it's not a bronzer.  I sometimes layer this on top of my cha cha tint.  But with a light hand it definitely enhances your complexion even if you are sick.  I think it smells almost peachy... I guess it could be a more pigmented recreation and more coral version of Georgina?

Would I recommend to a friend?  Yes.  I have some friends who love coral and this is my only coral blush that I have come to like.  

Would I repurchase?
Probably, depending if I have any use for more blush colours (who am I kidding... I always do) or unless I'm purging my makeup again.

Dandelion

OKAY.  THIS IS GOT TO BE ONE OF MY HOLY GRAIL PRODUCTS... if not that at least one that I've used for the longest time.  I bought my first box of this with Georgina (which is a peach smelling peachy colour that they no longer produce... sad face).  I think this may be my 3rd box?... No I did not hit pan but I tend to lose things so that's what happened.  Dandelion is a soft pink colour that I use as a blush but ALSO an all over powder.  This is the one colour I use whenever I am super tired to give a bit of a glow to my face.  Did I mention... it also smells HEAVENLY.  More of a powdery floral scent.  I probably love this a lot because it isn't very pigmented.  Depending on what I like I can layer on more for a more definitively pink look or less to just have some glow.  This probably works better on more fair skinned individuals.  

Would I recommend to a friend?
YES!  I would recommend this to almost anybody!

Would I repurchase?
... is that even a question?

Hervana
Hervana is a mixture of a shell, peach, rose, and berry combination.  I normally swirl my brush in all 4 and it comes out to be this beautiful pink colour.  This is also one of my favourites though I find myself not reaching for this as often anymore.  This smells pretty similar to dandelion and I probably love it almost as much.  It is a bit more pigmented compared to Dandelion but it brushes on beautifully.  I would not use this as an overall powder but only as a blush.  Blush this on the apples of your cheeks and bam... instant angel ;).

Would I recommend to a friend?
Absolutely.

Would I repurchase?
most likely. (but it is quite similar to Dandelion.. we'll see where my 20something budget takes me then)

Hoola

This is a very natural bronze colour.  I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of bronzing mainly because my culture has always pushed on us being super fair and how that is great.  But I also fall back into what I have learned in my environments that having some colour makes you look quite healthy.  That being said... this colour I have not tried as an all over bronzer.  BUT... THIS IS THE PERFECT CONTOURING COLOUR.  I have probably used to this to contour almost anybody I have done make up for and it always works.  It's another one of my HG products.  I normally grab a contouring brush dab it in around 5-10 times to pick up some colour, tap some off and contour away.  I find it to be pretty pigmented but the colour is natural enough to make it easy to use. This is one of the ones that doesn't really have a smell to it.

Would I recommend to a friend?
YES!

Would I repurchase?
Most definitely.




This is one of Benefit's newest colours... well at least the newest in my collection.  It smells a bit like dandelion.  It is a beautiful rose gold blush that is fantastic.  At first (due to my heavy hand again) it seemed to make me look a bit... 'dirty'.  Then I tried it with a stippling brush and BAM.  I use this almost every day.  I am in LOVE with this.  I shade from the outside in with this colour and it gives me a bit of a contour as well.  (I use the same technique with Tarte's Blush in Exposed)  Honestly is amazing!  The one problem I have is benefit keeps packaging smaller and smaller amounts of product in their boxes... so this one has less than the other ones.

Would I recommend to a friend?
YES YES YES

Would I repurchase?
hmmm.. that's tough.  I really do like this one but I also think it's similar to Tarte's Exposed... I will definitely have to do a comparison and decide then.  But if I had nothing that was similar DEFINITELY.

Swatches:
(L-R) 10, BellaBamba, Coralista, Dandelion, Hervana, Hoola, Rockateur
(L-R) 10, BellaBamba, Coralista, Dandelion, Hervana, Hoola, Rockateur with flash
(L-R) 10, BellaBamba, Coralista, Dandelion, Hervana, Hoola, Rockateur
Well... that's it.  I LOVE my Box o' Powders and I hope you do too! Please comment below to tell me what you think about them and how you wear your powders! Any recommendations or dupes? Let me know :)

Thoughtfully yours,
C.C.

3 comments:

  1. I know this blog is from a couple years ago, but I wanted to let you know it is still helpful. I also have several box o powders. Like you I also love the Dandelion and thought it seemed similar to Hervana. But then I wasn't for sure if I was just going crazy. This confirms we are either both crazy or they are indeed similar. :)

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    1. I removed bc for some reason it posted the same thing twice. sorry

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