A few months ago, I think October, I purchased Hello Flawless from Boots. I hadn't intended to, I was on the lookout for a loose powder so to come home with a pressed, expensive powder was a bit of deviation from plan but I had high hopes as A) I have always loved Benefit and 2) I had seen a few good reviews about it. So, does it meet those expectations? All will be revealed...
These pictures were taken when I first got it and it was all pretty and new.
I love the packaging, its very similar to Topshop Cosmetics packaging though with the white background and black polka dots. It comes with a handy instruction leaflet which gives you a brief 'how to' depending on the method of application and type of coverage required.
The compact itself contains 7g of product and has an SPF 15, I'm not sure how well it photographs with regards to flashback as it contains SPF so that is something to be wary of. It has a nifty little compartment in which resides a wee brush and a wee sponge. They are cute but as with the benefit blushes, the brush is a bit meh.
And this is it in it's untouched state, I got this in shade 'Ivory - gee I'm swell' which annoyingly isn't the shade I wanted as it is darker than 'Ivory - I love me' and yellower than 'Champagne - Me, Vain?'. I wasn't informed by the Customer Advisor that there were two shades of Ivory! Grrr! for £25.50, I want this to be the right one for me.
It's not this little fella's fault though, although what happens next is not for the faint hearted and if you don't like cosmetic abuse, please look away now...
I broked it! *sobs* the works night out where I lost like half my stash? this happened. I lost the brush before I had even used it, miraculously saved the sponge, cracked the powder so that I left half of it in my work chums hubby's car and the powder now comes out completely! Whoops!
This is the sponge, it's spongey... recommended for use if you want a fuller coverage and so you just pat it on the areas where you need a bit more coverage.
This is my hand with Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum on in shade '51 Light Vanilla'
And this is my hand with Hello Flawless over the top. It may just be me that is hyper critical but how yellow does that look?!? The skin on my hand is relatively similar to that of my face, it is my neck that is really pale and man alive this is waaaay too dark and too yellow!
And again, at a slightly different angle to show it in a different light, it's still yellow folks.
This is it after I have taken my RealTechniques powder brush over the top and unforuantely, it's still yellow.
And look at how much is left on the sponge, that is the one and only time I have used the sponge and look how grotty it is, there is so much product left on there.
There is a fair bit of fall out too when used with a powder brush, so if you are wanting to do some 'finishing touches' once you have put on your LBD then I strongly advise some sort of bib device.
So, onto the actual finish, is it worth it? No. I really wanted to say yes, I have a lifelong affinity to Benefit products and used to have quite a stash of them but this has me thrown which is why it's taken me so long to review it.
The shade range is not exceptional, I really wish brands would start making their light shades lighter, they need to spend some time in Scotland and see what no sun does to a complexion! Apart from being too yellow and too dark, I found that when this was applied with the sponge is was a wee bit too cakey for me, but again I think that was more due to the shade rather than the formulation. I would say I have normal/combination skin although on some of my spotty bits there was some dryness and I definitely feel that was accentuated rather than masked by this powder. I felt that it oxidised during the day too, which means it got darker and more yellow! it does last fairly well on the skin, albeit clinging to said dry bits and can lean towards patchy on me as the rest of my makeup where I have lightly powdered this has disappeared and I'm left with a slightly yellow, flaky muzzle - schexy, no?!
As I say, I wanted to love this but as it turns out, I can't wait until it's finished. I think I might try Soap & Glory's 'One Heck Of A Blot™' next or if I'm feeling flush, I quite fancy trying out Illamasqua's loose powder,I have never tried any of their products but have always heard good things (the nail polish 'Facet' and the lipstick 'Shard' are both high on my 'if I ever put an order in' list, oh and so is Perseid, Raindrops and Pink Raindrops - uh oh!).
Have you got a 'Holy Grail' face powder for me to try?
Do you find it easy to find shades to suit you?
Hugs,
Jodi
xxx
