Benefit Cosmetics Makeup Review

Having been using a No7 foundation for quite a while now and finding it didn't quite match my skin colour that well, last weekend I paid a visit to the Benefit beauty bar in John Lewis, Newcastle upon Tyne, to try out their foundation range and see if I could find a better match. After talking with the very helpful Benebabe and trying out a lot of the Benefit products on offer I came home with the Hello Flawless foundation and powder which I've been using daily since purchase.

I have a very pale skin tone so ending up with the lightest colours in Benefit's range didn't surprise me. The "I'm pure 4 sure" ivory foundation and "I love me" ivory powder are a great match to my natural skin colour, and surprised my Mum when I actually said I had makeup on it's such a great match.

The foundation gives a good coverage from a very small amount of liquid. It's very smooth and creamy to apply, and blends in well. When I first tried it, I did feel this foundation was slightly heavier than some others on the market I've tried, but it's not so heavy to make you aware of the fact you're wearing makeup. I've worn the foundation every day this week from 7am till 6pm ish with issues around the product wearing off, so I'd definitely say this is good for those who don't like to keep reapplying makeup whilst they're out and about.

Benefit also do a Stay Flawless 15 hour primer to extend the length of coverage and provide a little sample in their foundation bottles to try. Knowing I was going straight to my boyfriend's house after work I thought I'd give the sample a go yesterday morning. As soon as I applied the primer, my skin began to feel very dry and the coverage I'd been getting from the foundation prior to this just didn't seem to work with the primer.

By 11 o'clock yesterday I ended up with a huge patch across my nose/cheek where my makeup had just rubbed off, meaning I had to spend 10 mins in the toilets at work removing the rest of my makeup so I didn't spend the rest of the day looking patchy. Not ideal as I don't carry spare makeup around with me.

For the rest of the day I felt that my skin was very dry and for ages was very hot and red. I do have sensitive skin so whether this was a reaction to something in the primer or just a result of me scrubbing the makeup off at work, I'm not sure. So unfortunately this is one Benefit product I wasn't impressed with, but I'm glad I'd had the opportunity to try the tester before I ran out to buy it.

The powder also gives a good coverage from very little product and is very light on the skin. With previous powders I've found that if you touch your skin after applying powder you can feel it on your skin, with this you can't. It also doesn't seem to leave a residue of powder in the room you've been applying it, something I found with my previous powder which seemed to leave product all over my dressing table/floor/mirror no matter how careful I was with my power brush.

Overall, a good purchase in the foundation and powder. Good coverage, and good colour match. Perfect for every day use or for special occasions. I used to be a No7 girl through and through but I'm slowly find myself becoming more attracted to Benefit products. Next on my whishlist to try is their blusher, mascara and brow products.

Price: £25.50 for the foundation, £25.50 for the powder. (If you're a student Benefit's website offer 10%)

Purchase from: Benefit Cosmetics Online, Boots, John Lewis, Debenhams, Fenwicks

Rating: Foundation 8/10, Powder 8/10, Primer, 2/10