Monday, July 26, 2010

Sephora Must-Have: Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic

I didn't want the first post showing up on my blog to be a negative and angry one, so I thought I'd post about a product that I've been loving lately. Since a Sephora just opened in my area, I'm going to start doing a series of posts called Sephora Must-Haves, showcasing great finds and good deals. I am really spoiled with indie makeup, where I mostly buy only $1 samples, and that's fine, because I have so many colors I have only to this day finished off two samples. I'm also a big believer in drugstore products, so If I am going to shell out extra cash from my paycheck to go to Sephora every two weeks, the stuff I'm paying for better be well worth it. I have been dying to try out Benefit products for quite a while, so naturally I gravitated toward their Confessions of a Concealaholic set, which has 5 different products in it. Blogger is pissing me off and won't stop rotating that photo no matter what I do. The set comes with a tube of That Gal brightening face primer, Erase Paste concealer in medium, 2 shades of Boi-ing concealer, Eye Bright, and Lemon-Aid. It also comes with a little booklet on how to use each product. I like using this stuff without any eyeshadow or anything, because it gives me that "no makeup" look. I often go out without makeup, but my problem is I have many sleep issues, as well as dark under-eye circles from genetics, so I look very tired all the time. This REALLY makes my face look better and more awake. Here's a before picture, me with no makeup on except some Bare Escentuals Buxom Gloss (I wanted the tingly feeling, haha) Try not to hide! Here is the after picture! Purely my opinion, but I think I look 10x more awake while still looking natural. Here are some more before and after pictures. Chin: Before Chin: After Eye: Before Eye: After Forehead: Before Forehead: After The only product I find really mediocre is the That Gal primer, and at $28 I don't ever see myself buying a full size of it. I do like the Erase Paste, but a full size of that would be $26, which I also think is too expensive. I like the Boi-ing concealers, and at $18, I might buy the lighter shade when I run out from this set. I am head over heels in love with Lemon-Aid and Eye Bright, and at $20 each for a full size they would be worth it to me for the difference I feel they make in my face. These are the superstars of the set, the things that REALLY change my appearance from tired to awake. Besides the primer, I like all the products, and it's really nice and convenient to have them all in a set like this, so I can do a super quick 5 minute makeup routine if I just want to run to the store or something. I love that I got to try all these out without spending a shit ton of money on the full sizes. Since I bought this I have used all of it every single day (except the That Gal primer). It was $36, and to me is very worth it. If you have dull, super tired looking eyes and skin like I do, you will absolutely love this. It was a great introduction to Benefit and I definitely want to try out more of their products now. Does anyone else have this set, or the full sizes of any of it's components? What do you think? ETA: Ok, I seriously just now noticed how bright and pretty my skin looks in the second picture... I am dumb, That Gal is awesome.