Benefit Goodies......review

Ok it's been a while since the last blog post, the festive period is very time consuming but im back and I intend to put more effort into my blog this year.
As promised, Ill be doing a lot more product reviews and Id like to kick off the new year by reviewing some gorgeous testers I received  by Benefit. This one is actually quite long due to the amount I got sent and also lots of piccies to give you as much info as possible.
Ill do my best to give the products full names, colour/shade and RRP although I couldnt find the prices for all of them as they dont seem to be on the website :( I can only do my best.
As with any product range, some products I liked better than others and the opinions expressed here are just my own and the products may be different for someone else. I will be scoring the products out of 10 with 10 being the highest mark.

I received quite a lot and there may be more to review in the future. These are the products I received.

I started with clean dry skin and the product I applied first was Porefessional.  Price £23.50 which is sort of typical pricing for benefit. This product is a pore minimising primer and provides a translucent coverage.

 The smell isnt unpleasant, Ive got a thing about how products smell and this was passable. Texture wise its quite thick but very velvety and smooth and is one of the better primers Ive used. It definitely minimised the appearance of pores as you can see in the pictures below and I feel it generally evened out my skin tone and allowed for smooth application of foundation over the top ( I used MAC face and body foundation which Ill review separately at a later date).

I will definitely use it again. It only lost points because of the smell, like I said, not unpleasant but I would have liked a nicer smell. 9/10

I then applied Boi-ing industrial strength concealer in shade 01 which has a RRP of £16.50. It claims to camouflage dark circles, shadows and discolouration without creasing or fading.

Having worn this all day, its actually working very well, no creasing or fading but I dont have very dark circles or much discolouration so I cant say whether it truly is industrial strength but I do think it brightened up my eye area. The texture of this is smooth and creamy and a little goes a long way. I really didnt need to use much at all. I do think its a little over priced but it works for me and is one of the best concealers Ive used. I think ill try to make my tester last as long as possible as I cant see myself shelling out £16.50 for a concealer.

before

after

 For me its a great product but loses marks on the price. 9/10

I then applied the famous High Beam complexion enhancher with a RRP of £18.50. It's a liquid highlighter which claims to add a radiant glow. It is applied to my cheekbone and browbone and is actually fairly subtle.

I also get sent a tester of the lesser known Moon Beam which is a golden illuminator which adds a warm shimmer. I tried this one today and actually preferred its colour and texture. Same price. Here are the swatches straight from the pot.

Highbeam on the left, Moonbeam on the right.

 As you can see, 2 different colours, 2 different textures. Highbeam is a lot thicker and a lot more sparkly than Moonbeam which I found to be thinner and gave more of a warm glow to the skin which I preferred. Again, a little goes a long way. Overall, both products are great just to give the complexiona little lift and a bit of a glow. Still over priced in my opinion so unfortunately they both lose a mark. 9/10

One of my favourite products I got sent was Show Off! loose shimmer powder for eyes and face. I couldnt find a RRP but Ive been informed its around £12. Im not sure how many shades are available. I was sent Sunrise Blush and it looks like this in the pot.

Yeah ok, whats the fuss about? I hear you cry. Well this simple shimmer powder has a secret. When applied it looks like this.

dry on the left, wet on the right.

I applied the swatches dry and wet and theres hardly any difference. The powder has a pinky undertone and looks sooooooooooo lovely. I tried and failed to get a good picture of it on my eye. I applied it over black smudged eyeliner, it looked very pink but it doesnt show up well on my photos so it doesnt seem worth it. Sorry. Minimal fallout. Gorgeous colour. I will use this often. Very impressed. 10/10

Next I applied another well known product Bad Gal Lash mascara in Black with a retail price of £16.50. It is a black mascara boasting about how full and voluminous it will make your lashes.

Hmmm......sorry to disappoint ladies but I really wasnt impressed. For the price tag and the big claims I expected it to blow me away. The large comb felt awkward and it was so big I felt clumsy using it and almost made a mascara mess. I much prefer my cheap Natural Collection mascara at a fraction of the price.
Here are the disappointing results.

No Lash inserts used......unlike the lying adverts.

It gets a 4/10. Ive used a lot worse but I find my cheap one produces better results in terms of volume and length.

I then looked at my lips and thought URGH! what scabby lips, they need a good scrub. I needed to use some Dr. Feelgood lip buffing beads. No idea of the retail price, I think this may have been discontinued.

before

after

So this did a good job. But I didnt like it. It smells and tastes like soap and I think for something that is going on your lips and may possibly go into the mouth, it should at least taste nice. This was HORRIBLE! Granted it did do a good job but I much prefer my Lush sugar lip scrub......much better and much sweeter and you can lick it off when its done its job if you like. yum yum. I give Dr feelgood a 2/10. It did its job but it tasted yucky. no thanks.

After all that scrubbing my lips were dry so I definitely needed to follow up with Dr. Feelgood silky lip balm.

Dont know the price of this product, I think this has also been discontinued and its recommended for use after the lip buffing beads, but Ooh La La! it sure is silky. Lovely lip balm. Gorgeous, moisturised lips in seconds. From scabby to snoggable.

The only downside to this product again is the taste. This was nowhere near as bad as the scrub, but it didnt really taste of anything and since I lick my lips at a lot and end up eating most of the lipbalm, Id like it to at least taste nice. Apart from that, its a winning lip balm. I think this will probably be overpriced (if anyone knows the price please inform me) and there are so many other good lip balms on the market so this one scores 7/10 for me. love the texture but it tastes yack and its more than likely expensive and so not worth it. I am currently using this product and will continue to use it until it runs out but I wont be repurchasing.

Lipglosses are hit and miss. Some are sticky, some taste not so nice, some of them are so glossy they slide off your lips completely. Check out Her Glossiness.

The colour is My people, your people. Ill try to find out the price but as of yet I have no idea. Its a very sheer pink gloss with shimmer particles. I love the applicator, love the name, love the smell and the taste (only slightly flavoured). It goes on really well, I prefer a bit more colour to my lipgloss. Maybe Im just being fussy but I think for the price of the benefit items im allowed to be fussy.
Here is how it looks on.

The shimmer particles are very subtle, thank god because I hate too much shimmer. Its not sticky but it does feel slightly dry on my lips. Ive used a lot worse, but ive also found cheaper and better lipglosses. This isnt a bad product at all. I will definitely continue to use this product but again, due to the assumed high price tag which ive come to expect of benefit, I wont be repurchasing. 7/10

Im glad ive tried these products. Theres maybe only 1 or 2 I would consider repurchasing but I definitely think benefit cosmetics are overpriced (maybe its because I never have any money). I think there are products out there that are better quality for a cheaper price.

My top 3 products definitely have to be:
1. Moonbeam - by far my favourite product
2. Porefessional - a lovely smooth primer
3. Boi-ing - a lovely soft concealer that goes a long way

you might be able to see the slightly pinky shimmer powder on this one.

I hope youve enjoyed my review, remember these are just my opinions of the products.