BeneFit Dr. Feelgood

.../> I first stumbled across Benefit a few years ago, tried a few products and was absolutely hooked. Unfortunately my bank account hasn't allowed for me to be an active Benefit addict, so after the first few Benefit products, I've somewhat admired from the sidelines, reading reviews, dreaming about what products I'd like to get next.

My boyfriend got his works Christmas bonus in Boots vouchers this year, to the sum of £150. The deal ...
...and fit's in with the Benefit brand style very well. I do think it could perhaps be better, perhaps a design like that of Benefit Bathina range would have been nicer to look at and still very kooky. That said, I definitely prefer it to you're regular boring packaging that most cosmetics come in.

The first time I tried Dr Feel Good I was wearing make up so I dabbed it over it. The instructions on the back of the tin state "Pat ... more

I've read numerous reviews on Dr Feelgood, and almost wondered if it was worth me adding my thoughts, due to their being so many reviews. What I've found is this, people either absolutely love it, to an almost cult status, or at the other end of the scale people feel almost sort of ambivalent towards it, maybe a little disappointed because they felt it didn't live up to the hype.

I first stumbled across Benefit a few years ago, tried a few products and was absolutely hooked. Unfortunately my bank account hasn't allowed for me to be an active Benefit addict, so after the first few Benefit products, I've somewhat admired from the sidelines, reading reviews, dreaming about what products I'd like to get next.

My boyfriend got his works Christmas bonus in Boots vouchers this year, to the sum of £150. The deal was this, let's get everyone's Christmas presents from Boots, and you can spend whatever is left on yourself as part of your Christmas present. Buying for about 8 people, I figured I'd maybe have about £50 to spend and was very excited. Clever shopper that I am and making the most of the 3 for 2 offers and got everyone sorted for a mere £55 I managed to bag a whole £95 for me. You can imagine my excitement. In real life I would never ever go and spend £95 in Boots (much as I'd like to) but when it's vouchers, well...you feel slightly less guilty about such a splurge.

Anyway, I went completely crazy, there's many more product reviews to come from this particular shopping trip. One of the things I bought was a little pink box containing Dr Feelgood, Benetint and BADgal Lash.

I'd read the rave reviews of Dr Feelgood (and also the not so rave ones but my hopes were still quite high), and had been wanting Benetint for about as long as I can remember, probably before I could even walk. The set was £40 so I thought I may as well go for it.

So, enough of the back story, I got home and excitedly plucked Dr Feel Good out of the pink gift box. It came in its only little box and inside that was the tin. I'm sure you've read about the packaging before but I'll give a brief description. It's a sliver tin, a bit bigger than a Vaseline tine, but very much still handbag size.

On the lid of the tin is a picture of a woman with some seriously dodgy hair and a man sort of kissing, they are both in sepia and have some retro 'wallpaper' behind them and the words Dr Feelgood in scrolling neon pink. I quite like the tin, it's quite kitsch and fit's in with the Benefit brand style very well. I do think it could perhaps be better, perhaps a design like that of Benefit Bathina range would have been nicer to look at and still very kooky. That said, I definitely prefer it to you're regular boring packaging that most cosmetics come in.

The first time I tried Dr Feel Good I was wearing make up so I dabbed it over it. The instructions on the back of the tin state "Pat and smooth over makeup with its accompanying song. Or simply wear it alone". From those instructions it sounds to me like the main use of it is supposed to be over make up.

My first comment would be never, ever 'smooth' this over make up, as it's simply going to take your make up off and make it patchy. I went for the 'pat' method and although my make up looked not too badly disturbed, the sponge came away looking like I'd just applied foundation with it. With that much foundation transferring to the sponge it is obviously taking it off your face even if you do dab it, which is definitely not a good thing, unless perhaps you've overdone the make up and want to tone it down a little.

The first thing I noticed upon applying it was the scent. The best way of describing it I think, is a light floral lemon scent, if there is such a thing as a floral lemon! It does smell really nice, perhaps a little like lemon sherbet and although it isn't a heavy smell it isn't one you have to be trying to smell to get a whiff of. I asked the boyfriend to smell my face, he smelt it and made a sort of grunt, but don't worry, that's his response to most things. I think it meant; "oh right great yeah your face smells a little bit" or something along those lines. It wasn't a "wow you smell gorgeous" grunt, but it wasn't a "eurgh what's that disgusting smell" grunt either. I'm getting quite good at interpreting them.

Next I felt my face and it really did feel very velvety soft. It felt matt and smooth and just, well just so soft. First impressions were very good. I decided, due to the make up transference that I probably wouldn't use this when wearing make up but opt for the latter "simply wear it alone" option.

Looking in the mirror, the final test, showed me very little at all. I was glad my make up wasn't completely ruined, but I definitely didn't see any positive effects. I really tried. I kept looking, examining, are my pores smaller, is my skin more refined, does it look like it's been miraculously transformed? The answer to all was no. It hadn't, visually at least, done anything. I'm not sure entirely what change I'd been expecting to see, but I was of the belief that this is a life changing product that would make my life complete in a way nothing else ever could - that's what the reviews mostly implied right?

Not to be too put off, I kept sniffing, and touching my face and reminding myself of the positives. I also dreamt of the world of good it was surely doing my skin. The tin boasts that this "invisible refiner" (top marks for the description invisible at least), is blended with Vitamin C. Well that sounds like it must be very healthy for the skin doesn't it, so what can I expect that to do for me? Well, a little research would tell you that it is one of the very few topical agents that is backed by a "fair amount" of scientific evidence in it's effectiveness against fine lines and wrinkles. Well that's all well and good, I won't say no to a bit of that. I am however, not going to hold my breath, as I learnt long ago when I was studying Biochemistry/Anatomy etc that the molecules of such things are larger than size of the pores on your skin - hence there is no way you are getting Vitamin C, or Collagen, or any other wonder product into your skin via your skin. The only way they're going to get in there and help is through your diet. So don't go expecting miracles. There is also the fact that when exposed to air not only can Vitamin C actually become ineffective but it can be potentially harmful (potential to increase the formation of free radicals).

My hopes weren't exactly hanging on the Vitamin C as you can tell, but as my skin felt so soft I felt for sure that it would be doing good to my skin in some ways. I have to say that Dr Feelgood, as far as I can tell does sweet diddly for your skin. I'm not exactly sure where Dr Feelgood goes, as it certainly doesn't seem to sink in, but within an hour of wearing the scent will have gone and the 'soft' feel along with it. It essentially sits on the skin and 'fakes' soft. It's very good at faking soft, but it's a very short term solution, not a fix it but a fake it.

Since my first try of Dr Feelgood I've been using it daily, sometimes several times a day. I imagine you're wondering why, since I've hardly given it a glowing review. The truth of the matter is, I want to like it. I really do. I want to be one of the Dr Feelgood cult that doesn't know how they ever lived without this product because it does so many amazing things for them. I've been idolising from afar for the past few years, and I can't quite accept that it was all over, essentially, nothing.

I have, since the first episode, only ever used this on bare skin since. Again and again I have studied my face, looking for some sign of improvement or difference after applying it. Again and again I failed to spot any. I had one, very small success, in that after reading some reviews stating how the Benefit ladies apply this to just half the face when trying to get people to buy this, I decided to do this little test on myself. I figured, it must do something, or people wouldn't buy it after they'd had this half face test done, as they'd see no difference. So apply to half my face I did. I did this on a hangover day, when I was looking pretty grim, and I have to say, the half of my face that I applied Dr Feelgood to, did look marginally better to the side that I didn't apply it to. I mean seriously, I could tell with the half and half method, but once I applied to the second half I was back to staring at my face wondering what exactly was different about it.

I do find it hard to believe that people will comment how healthy you are looking etc from wearing this; I simply can't see it, however perhaps it has different effects on different skin. I have officially 'mature' skin (yes ladies, from 21 up you're skin is getting old) but that said, it is still quite young, 22 years of age to be exact and apart from a few lines around the eyes (I need to start limiting how often I smile I think) I'm fairing quite well. I get the occasional spot around my chin area but generally have quite clear skin. It's neither dry nor oily. I suppose perhaps this product may be of more use to people with oily skin due to the matt effect it provides.

I've read comments of people applying this under make up, I haven't done this, mainly because it didn't say to on the tin! When I first read it I thought, that sounds like an odd idea, I can't imagine this being a good base whatsoever, obviously people disagree, but then I've not exactly agreed with anything else they've claimed about this product. I did think about trying this, in the name of research, but on my spree I bought myself some Ruby and Millie pre base that is just fantastic so I can't see me swapping to using something that isn't essentially a base.

I've been using this product now for about two weeks, and there is a definite dip in the wax in the tin, that said, I think this would last a fair few months. Despite only applying after make up once, the sponge is grubby as is the top of the wax, it looks almost a bit dirty, gathering bits of fluff and stuff from I don't know where because I don't generally have a fluffy face!

I will continue to use this until it runs out. I do like the scent, and I do like to touch my soft face! I also find when applying after cleansing, toning and moisturising, it can be good to apply to mattify your face after moisturiser. Another point to mention would be that it's made no change whatsoever long term to my skin - it's not oilier/dryer, spottier/less spotty, softer/rougher - it basically just does absolutely nothing either way, no positives or negatives. I like to think that perhaps it forms some sort of barrier to the cold weather, when wearing no make up and having to do the school run, although it doesn't claim to do this, nor does it contain any SPF as far a I'm aware. I simply feel this as it sits on the skin, so surely is forming some sort of a barrier.

The tin currently retails at £19.50 I wouldn't recommend anyone paying this amount for this product, it simply doesn't do enough to warrant it. It probably is long lasting for the money but you are essentially buying a big old pot of nothing. I don't feel too dismayed at my purchase of Dr Feelgood, which is perhaps why I am not as disappointed as people who've gone in and splashed out almost £20 on this with high hopes have. This is simply because I got mine in the gift set that I did. Benetint is normally £22.50 and worth every single penny and BADgal Lash is usually £14.50 and is an excellent mascara. I would have been more than happy buying both these items at full price so that means I essentially only shelled out an extra £3 to try Dr Feelgood. If you are still tempted to try this product, as I know some of you will be, I was myself as I really wanted to believe the hype, then I would really suggest doing so by trying it when it's within a gift set so that it is better value and you won't be too disappointed if it doesn't have the effect you were dreaming of.

To sum it up, I guess I fall into that latter category of ambivalence and mild disappointment towards this product, what else can you feel when there is nothing to hate or love about it?

Please note this review is also posted on Dooyoo where I write under the same name 

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