“Oh my God, you look aMAZing today!” “What did you do differently?” “You look so nice today!” I spent all morning the other day listening to comments about how I looked GOOD, as opposed to my usual look. Based on the effusive descriptions of how amazing I looked that day, I can only assume that my look prior to that would best be defined as shit warmed over. I spent hours demurring and saying that I hadn’t done anything differently except maybe get less sleep than usual, and that couldn’t be it. I hadn’t even bothered to iron my shirt! Then one of my coworkers said, “Well, you’re wearing blush today.” But, I wear blush everyday! And then I realized that I actually had done something on my cheeks. This magical elixir that had me “positively glowing?” Benetint. For $29 at Sephora you can buy “the sexiest flush you can get from a bottle.” Sure, it’s approximately 15 times more expensive than the N.Y.C blush I had been using. But since apparently no one even knew that I was wearing blush, I may as well have been rubbing Crisco all over my face. Also, Benetint only requires three or four dots on your cheek that you blend in, so the .4 ounce bottle can conceivably last you for half a decade. Unless you don’t tighten the lid completely and it spills all over your purse and for the next week, every time you buy something with cash, you’re afraid it looks like your dollar bills should be evidence in a murder investigation. I’ve heard that can happen. Anyway, Benetint. Get it. I love it. It gives my cheeks a natural rosy glow that lasts for hours.
The other compliment I kept getting on this magical day, where for once I apparently looked good, was about my eyes. Again, I couldn’t think that I had done anything differently. I was still wearing the same eyeshadow that I stole out of my sister’s rejected makeup and I think was originally purchased in 1999. So it can’t have been that. My eyeliner pencil broke so it was all flat instead of pointy and my eyeliner was thicker than usual. But no, the eye miracle that had me smiling all day was Urban Decay eyeshadow primer. This is $19 at Sephora, and I am pleasantly surprised at the difference it makes in retaining my eyeshadow. I have oily skin, so it seems like most of my makeup is melting off halfway through the day, until I look like that scene in Death Becomes Her where their faces are melting off. The eyeshadow is even worse; I think it has usually melted off before I’ve even arrived at work. But with the eyeshadow primer, my eyeshadow was still visible when I came home from work. I’ve never used this before, so I don’t know how long a bottle lasts, but I’m hoping it’s worth it to keep my makeup on all day. The thing I have learned so far in using it is that you want to make sure it’s set before you put on your eyeshadow. Give it a couple minutes before you put on your eyeshadow. Also, I usually just put on my eyeshadow with my finger, but I found that it looked smudgy and blotchy when I did that. Actually using an eyeshadow brush made the difference in the shadow going on evenly.
So there it is. The two new makeups I used at one time that turned me from blah to blah-with-rosy-cheeks-and-long-lasting-eyeshadow. Have you started using any new makeup that have you impressing people wherever you go?
5 replies on “We Try It: Two New Makeups At Once!”
I don’t usually have allergies to make-up, but I tried both of these and had an allergic reaction with each one (different color in in the benetint) I was kind of annoyed because they did both look really pretty, until my face puffed up and broke out for a week.
At Sephora you can get three mini sizes of Benetint, Posietint (which is AMAZING) and High Beam for $15. The mini sizes last forever. I’m not the biggest fan of High Beam. I find it too artificial and frosty for my skin.
I was coming here to say the same thing! The tiny bottles do last forever. I use High Beam as highlighter on my cheekbones (or at least, to give the illusion of cheekbones), and just below my eyebrows when I’m doing serious eye makeup. I’ve always worried that the Benetint-as-blush is a bit much, but i love it as a lip stain.
I just switched, finally, from liquid foundation to the Bare Minerals stuff, and everyone from my dude to my coworkers have been complimenting me on the thing-they-can’t-put-their-finger-on. Since I didn’t change anything else and am still a limp-haired, dog-hair-covered mess everywhere else, I assume that it’s the makeup.
Bare Minerals is the best. I have pretty decent skin except for weird redness here and there. It smoothes everything out and I especially love their blushes. You don’t even need foundation with that stuff!