Benefit Dallas

== Benefit Dallas - A Review by Kimbahop! ==

Hi everyone!! I'm back from a long hiatus from ciao and all things reviews because unfortunately my mad student life leaves me with no time for it (and also no money to buy anything!) but I'm back now with a haul of new beauty products that I felt like I wanted to share my views on. Be warned though...since partying has become a more permanent fixture in my life, my passion for beauty products ...
...have not reviewed) which is Benefit Dallas. Benefit, as you may or may not know, are a quite high end beauty brand qho specialise in high quality makeup packaged and marketed in a fun way, targeted I feel mainly at younger girls, although their range includes a bit of something for everyone. Their products are very wearable, they mostly tend to avoid bright colours and glitter in the way that brands such as MAC, Urban Decay and others specialise ... more

Benefit Dallas - A Review by Kimbahop!

Hi everyone!! I'm back from a long hiatus from ciao and all things reviews because unfortunately my mad student life leaves me with no time for it (and also no money to buy anything!) but I'm back now with a haul of new beauty products that I felt like I wanted to share my views on. Be warned though...since partying has become a more permanent fixture in my life, my passion for beauty products has only grown and thus my ability to ramble on about them!!

The first of these reviews is going to be on a cheek bronzing product that I have used for over a year now (and cannot believe I have not reviewed) which is Benefit Dallas. Benefit, as you may or may not know, are a quite high end beauty brand qho specialise in high quality makeup packaged and marketed in a fun way, targeted I feel mainly at younger girls, although their range includes a bit of something for everyone. Their products are very wearable, they mostly tend to avoid bright colours and glitter in the way that brands such as MAC, Urban Decay and others specialise and instead their particular niche seems to be in, as I choose to describe it 'improving your natural face!' now this sounds odd, so let me explain. Instead of using a bright eyeshadow to add a pop of colour or a vampy lipstick to update your look, they focus more on products such as cheek contours, highlights, eye concealers, primers etc. Products that perhaps accentuate the cheekbones, lift and brighten the eyes, add a healthy flush or thicken the lashes. All of this comes packaged in fun, bright boxes which add a zing to any makeup collection but unfortunately do not come cheap.

SO...Moving onto Dallas

Dallas is a cheek product, I hesitate to call it a 'bronzer' because it is not exclusively marketed as such and is instead a 'sunset plum powder' (as it says on the packaging) that can be used to create a summery glow anywhere you so require. In reality, it is pretty much a bronzer and this is how I use it.

It is packaged, as are all Benefit cheek powders, in a small waxed cardboard box which the entire top comes off to reveal a clear plastic bed containing a brush, and then below this the powder itself. The box design really gets across the image that this product is trying to convey, with a silhouette of a woman on a rearing horse riding off into the sunset with giant gold 'Dallas' emblazoned across. Really kitsch packaging which I really love, although it has got absolutely wrecked from a year of carting it around with me everywhere I go (which may say something about my feelings towards this product!).

If you're interested in the technicalities, you get 12.0g of the bronzer in a pot, there is also a list of ingredients on the back as well as their advice 'sweep anywhere you want looks to linger' and advice to avoid the eye area when applying.

Ok, so firstly, the brush itself. I don't know if I would recommend using this brush. It's a very small rectangular brush with white bristles and a wooden handle, easy to get a grip on and direct the colour with but its bristles are quite stiff. I know this is odd, but it sort of reminds me of a brush from a horse's grooming kit. On application on the cheeks, which I will go through properly in a bit, I find it produces the wrong effect, almost a rectangular line of colour rather than a softly blended contour. It is slightly too big for use on the nose and tends to put way too much colour on making the nose look overly brown. It is a bit too small for the forehead which needs a large brush for a subtle swooooshing of colour. I would instead recommend buying a soft bristled angled bronzer blush to use this with.

Now, for the product itself. In the box I only vaguely see the 'plum' undertones that it claims on the blurb, however it is a quite unusual colour. Normally bronzers fall into three categories; the terracotta 'orange' bronzers which give a bit of a harsh colour especially if you're pale like me, the gold based peachier bronzers which give a lustrous sheen and can look beautiful and expensive, and the lighter pearly bronzers which can also double as highlight. This is none of those, although it probably falls most into the first category. It appears as quite a dark terracotta brown and there is no shimmer, which is odd in a 'glow' product. I did worry that it would be too dark for my skin and the tone suggested that it might come out quite muddy.

But there is only one way to find that out, and thats application!! Now how I apply is this, take the angled brush (NOT the one supplied, trust me) and give a LIGHT sweep through the powder. One problem with this product is that it is quite a thick powder and a little definitely goes a long way. If you pick up too much powder on the brush then it will leave a harsh and obvious streak of brown on your face. Attractive, I think not. A good indication is to not rub the brush into the block, gently sweep, if you see loose powder coming off the block you may have too much, so give the brush a tap tap tap. Dust lightly in circular motions into the contour of your cheeks (below the cheekbone, the sort of 'sunken line' and then down the sides of your nose and across your forehead. Basically anywhere that sticks out from your face would naturally catch the sun, and so this is where the glow will look the most natural. If you have any kind of double chin paranoia then you may have heard the trick about sweeping it under your jawline. I can say that this does NOT work with this product. The colour against the softer skin of your neck simply looks too unnatural.

What you should hopefully be left with is a subtle base glow that defines the bone structure of your face perfectly. I am quite lucky in having prominant cheekbones (although the downside...on a bad day I resemble Skeletor) and this really accentuates that. Also, I'm very pale and so this gives me a much needed boost of colour that stops me looking washed out and tired and perks my skin up. There was no need to worry about the colour, it looks great and not muddy at all. I think there is a definite advantage in using plum as opposed to gold in the formulation as it definitely looks more natural, like a real tan as opposed to a fake gold look (or the dreaded chavvy orange). Often I don't use anything else on my face apart from foundation and a dusting of Dallas and then I'm set. For someone with a makeup addiction like mine that is impressive, usually more is more! A little highlighter on the cheekbones looks amazing combined with this as well.

The Verdict

So all in all, would I say that this product is worth buying? Well...an interesting question. Well, when applied right (trust me when I say LESS IS MORE!) it gives a lovely outdoorsy glow. It doesn't look fake as long you sweep it in large strokes and avoid concentrating it in one place too much, otherwise you might just end up with two tone skin! As a student, I know living on a budget all too well and as this retails at about £20 I'm afraid. It's not cheap. This is lot of money when you can pick up bronzer for a fiver but this stuff really does the business. Also a little goes a long way so it's good value. Most ordinary bronzers fall apart after you swish a brush around in them and you lose a lot of powder, that doesn't happen with this! I've used it every day for over a year now months and I'm nowhere near the end yet. I've just about got to that bit where you get a hole in the bottom of the powder...if you have any idea what that means.

Availability

Benefit are a little exclusive in terms of trying to find where to buy. You will however find their counters in larger Boots stores, and department stores such as Debenhams and Selfridges. They have a website too, and I guess there is always ebay as well! Benefit counters tend to be really helpful and the staff there can give you loads of tips to do with makeup, although of course bear in mind that they are ultimately trying to push their products on you, and they can be very convincing, so don't be surprised if you come away with more than you planned!! This stuff can make a bit of a dent in the bank balance!

You've reached the end, well done, to summarise...

I will definitely be buying this again when my current tub has run out. Yes, it is an awful lot to spend on makeup but I honestly can say I've never used a bronzer like this. Like I said at the start, its almost more like a 'face improver' (in term of its effect on bone structure) than a standard 'caught the sun' bronzer. All my friends agree as well, they're always trying to steal it off me! It suits all skin tones and gives better results than any of the cheaper brands. I really think it's worth it.

 

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