Benefit Juicy Details and The Sexiest Nudes Ever

Benefit are one of those brands that put out fantastic products, but that I never seem to stop and look at when I'm visiting makeup counters.  I think that because I worked on a Benefit counter it feels like I already know the products.  Sometimes I need to remind myself that I haven't worked there for about 4 years, and their product line has changed a lot.

I picked up The Sexiest Nudes Ever palette as it contains four eyeshadows, and two (mini) pots of their creaseless cream shadows.  

 Their shadows have been reformulated in recent years (or not so recent, it's been a while since I checked them out!), but even before that their formula was spot on.  I still have, and use, some of my older Benefit shadows.  Soft, pigmented, and a dream to work with, the only thing that stopped me going back for more was their oh-so-neutral shade range.  Back then I was all about bright colours!  The Sexiest Nudes Ever isn't exactly what I'd call a nude palette, with white, pink, silver and purple eyeshadow, but that's why I chose it.  I have more than enough neutrals these days!  The silver is particularly impressive, and is probably the best silver I've ever owned.  The purple is on the sheerer side, but it is buildable.

Top: creaseless cream shadows in Bikinni-tini and Holy Smokes!

Bottom: powder shadows in Milk It!, Pause For Applause, Blingo!, and Raincheck?, 

then Milk It! and Pause For Applause on top of Bikini-tini, and Blingo! and Raincheck? on top of Holy Smokes!

The creaseless cream shadows have always been popular.  They're a lot creamier than Maybelline's Colour Tattoos, and therefore take longer to dry down.  This could be a blessing or a curse, depending on how long you take to blend out your shadows.  I've yet to try them on my now super oily lids.  I'm hoping they won't crease!  I will say however, that the cream shadow pots are tiny!  Below, you can see a photo of them next to a MAC eyeshadow (standard unit of measurement in the beauty blogging world).  I can see myself going through them pretty quickly, but I guess that's what would get you to purchase the full sizes!

I also had to pick up one of their lipsticks (I can't help it, I'm a lipstick addict!).  Their shade range is a lot smaller than it used to be, but they've still managed to find the right balance between sheerer pops of colour, nudes, and bolder brighter shades.  I opted for Juicey Details, a nude pink (cos I obviously need more pink lipsticks).  It's a medium pink that's on the sheerer side.  It adds a healthy dose of colour to my lips whilst still showing some of my natural lip colour, so it's a nice subtle pink that I'll be able to wear with loads of looks.  It's got a healthy amount of slip, and it's moisturising.  Staying power isn't amazing, but with a formula like this I wouldn't expect a long wear time.

Ignore the slight pink line around my lips, that's from the lip stain I was wearing before!

Oh, and the cardboard tube it comes in is completely adorable.  It makes me want to keep it out on my makeup desk, looking pretty.  And the actual lipstick tube reminds me of cake, which is awesome, because if there's one thing I love more than lipstick, it's cake....