This is a little bit overdue, but I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to talk about one of my favorite beauty brands – Benefit. For the past two years, Mandi and I have been so lucky to have our holiday parties fall on the same evening in December. We’ve turned this into a little bit of a tradition by getting together in the afternoon, having our hair done at Dry Bar and then getting our makeup done. Last year, we went to Bare Minerals and this year, Benefit. Now, every makeup counter is different and while they all have similar products, the outcome can sometimes be hit or miss. I think Mandi ended up choosing Benefit because of convenience ie) close to our Dry Bar and also so that we could have our appointments done at almost the same time as each other.

The only product I’ve ever used from Benefit was the foundation in the center – Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow! liquid foundation and I’ve probably been on it for what feels like a year and a half or close to two years. The reason why I started using it was because before that I was using Chanel and that felt a bit expensive to me and a little too thick for my taste. This foundation, however, is exactly what it promises though – it’s light, hydrating, brightening, and lasts a very long time! And as if I couldn’t boast about it even more, it has SPF 25.

Since I bought this lipstick on the left, I have been obsessed. Every time I’m going out for a special occasion or for a night when I want to elevate my look a bit, I swipe this on. The packaging is adorable, but the color glides on well and lasts. I usually well do a quick glide of my vaseline and then 15 minutes later, put this lipstick on. I have this in Air Kiss – which is a sheer bubblegum.

The only downside about getting your makeup done at Benefit is that they make you buy three products. I’ve been to other makeup counters where you can choose to buy products if you like and I usually buy two out of courtesy, but three was a bit much for me because I really only needed two. I intended to buy the lipstick so I could re-apply the night of the holiday party and the foundation because it’s what I already use and I figured I would run low soon. So the product that I bought that I was the least excited about was the Hervana blush on the right. It was a great piece to complete my look, but it wasn’t something that I needed so I ended up giving this to my mom for Christmas. 🙂 The packaging for this is awesome though and it’s actually a great blush so I would still recommend it.

I would definitely consider going back to Benefit again to get my makeup done just because out of all the places I’ve ever had my makeup done, they did the best job. I don’t necessarily agree with the buy three products thing, but maybe that will change in the next year once I get more used to their products and use them more consistently.