As you might have worked out by now, I love make-up… to the extent that certain parts of my flat now give the beauty counters at Lane Crawford a run for their money! Much as I love playing with multi-coloured eye shadows and hundreds of lipsticks, sometimes you just need a quick, easy and convenient go-to look… which is where these amazing Benefit Complexion and Lips & Cheek Kits come into their own!
The Benefit How To Look The Best At Everything Complexion Kits ($310) come in what might be the cutest packaging ever, designed to look like a book, and in three shades (light, medium and dark). Inside, you’ll find everything you need to create the perfect base for your face – a small bottle of Hello Flawless Foundation, the POREfessional primer, Lemon Aid and Bo-ing concealers and Hello Flawless Finishing Powder.
There’s even a foolproof ‘tips and tricks’ book showing you how to apply everything; Benefit believe in keeping things as fuss-free as possible so, in the words of the founder’s daughters, simply use your fingers to apply – after all, everyone has them (in fact, we have ten!) and we can’t lose them!
I’m sure I must have already waxed lyrical about how great the Hello Flawless Foundation is – it performs more like a tinted moisturiser, feeling supremely light and providing luminous medium silky-smooth coverage. The Lemon Aid/Bo-ing combo is great for hiding those under-eye bags, and you can also use Bo-ing to conceal any other general blemishes or imperfections too. Meanwhile, the POREfessional might just be my new obsession. It’s a lightweight mattify-ing paste, which somehow (through Benefit magic) blurs out the existence of pores but without clogging them up either. Genius.
Handily, the new Lip & Cheek Kits ($280) take care of the next stage of your fuss-free make-up look too! These come in three shades – Feeling Dandy (soft pink), TropiCORAL (no prizes for guessing that one) and Sugarlicious (pretty nudes with a hint of shimmer) – and include a blush, highlighter, lip and cheek tint, and a new Ultra Plush lip gloss.
These are AWESOME. Seriously. I tried Feeling Dandy, which takes its inspiration from Benefit’s iconic cheek powder Dandelion – a soft baby pink that I’d previously dismissed as too light for my liking. However, with the simple four-stage tips and tricks of the kit to take me through how to apply everything, I am now a total Dandelion convert; it made me look so fresh, bright and picture perfect that Feeling Dandy is easily now my go-to grab-me box most mornings when I just need that easy everyday look.
For those that might not be familiar with them, Posietint is a long-lasting tint you can use on lips and cheeks (as seen previously here) whilst High Beam is the ultimate highlighter (apply on the arch of your brows and cheekbones for a subtle radiance that somehow makes all the difference). Meanwhile, the mini matching lip gloss is uber-cute and gives a comfy natural look that many shiny sticky lip glosses lack, whilst the specially angled applicator makes it great to use on the go. The tint, blush and gloss colours differ for each kit, whilst High Beam is a staple for the lot (and will soon become one in your make-up bag too, trust me).
These little kits are SO convenient – they’re perfect for taking on holidays to save space, or simply for those mornings where you just want a flawless face without the fuss. They’re almost like back-to-school basics, but done in the easiest and most stylish way possible… so no beauty school dropouts guaranteed! And what’s not to love about that?!
The Complexion and Lip & Cheek Kits are available at all Benefit counters now; see all locations in Hong Kong here