My Benefit makeover and impressions on the Hello Flawless Foundation

To coincide with the release of Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow,  Benefit's very first liquid foundation, I booked myself a  free consultation/makeover at my local Boots to a  professional skin match and a seven-day trial pot to take  away with me.

They say:

Our brightening makeup gives a naturally  luminous complexion you can believe in. The oil-free  formula with SPF25 PA +++ builds from light to medium  coverage whilst feeling barely there. And with the power  of our Oxygen Wow Hydrating Complex, it helps boost  cellular respiration and prevent the signs of aging.

The lovely Benefit girl explained to me the reason why  it's called 'oxygen' something to do with the pump, she  said, but that was at the end of March and I can't  remember anything she said. We settled that Champagne  would be my shade and she then proceeded meticulously to  prep my crocodile dry skin before application of the  foundation.

What she used:






First she applied droplets of the Moisture Prep (1) on my  skin. I loved the way she applied this, it felt like a  mini pampering session already. The idea of Moisture Prep,  from what I understood, was to give some energy back into  the skin and prepare it for the moisturiser, but despite  the little energetic taps, it was so relaxing, I could  have already fallen asleep. She made me try the  moisturiser (2) on my hand (you'll see why this is  important later) so  that I can have a feel for it and  then applied it on my face. Then she applied a equal  amount mixture of That Gal (3) and Porefessional (4) on my  face. It felt so lovely! I was then ready for application  of the Hello Flawless Foundation. I absolutely loved the  effect. The foundation felt immaculate on my skin, perfect  coverage and no cakiness. She then finished me off with a  hint of powder (5) across the t zone, bronzer to contour  the cheeks slightly (6) and some highlighter (7).

Do you want to see some pictures? Please remember that my  camera is very flattering, and has got the beauty setting  on, which makes my skin look like much better than it  really is.





I was very good. Even after being wowed by the foundation,  I resisted the temptation to buy the foundation and left the shop, with a sheet full of notes and my 7-day trial mini pot.

And boy, it's a good job I did!
 
Let's not beat around the bush here. I have never been  able to apply the foundation like she has and this  foundation, I am afraid is not for me. When I apply it  myself, (even though I make sure to apply a primer) it  seems to emphasise my dry patches, and never seems to give  me enough coverage, no matter how much I try to build it.  Another thing I have discovered is that the coverage that  I get doesn't seem to last for the whole day either and  when I see myself in the 2pm bright sunshine, all I can  see it is almost orangey flakes and it makes me feel  really poo about myself, in search for a better word.


Why  don't you exfoliate beforehand, I hear you ask? Well I  have a dry skin and I don't like to exfoliate more than  once a week and I would expect my foundation to cope with  my skin even it's not freshly exfoliated. I don't want a  foundation where I need to have practised for a month to  be able to apply it either. What I want from a foundation  is something which I can plop it on, even after a glass of  wine, and paf, I am out of the door. On retrospect, I did  all the steps she did but one: I prepped with serum, then  moisturised, then primed, then I applied foundation but I  didn't powder afterwards.


Oh and I need to tell you about something which happened  after my makeover. Around 2 hours afterwards, I started to  develop a big headache. This was definitely not due to the  foundation but I am pretty sure it was the floral scented  (is that jasmine?) moisturiser. With the amount of  products on my face, I don't think it would have been  caused by the actual moisturiser which was applied on my  face, but the girl made me try it on my hand and all  afternoon I had been walking around with a strong floral  scent and I really don't do floral scents. I am more of a  fruity type, you see ;)


All in all, I have had a very good experience from my  Benefit makeover. Despite the headache, I felt like a  million dollars and it was absolutely lovely to have my  base and foundation professionally applied. However  Benefit Wow Flawless is definitely not for me. I really  wanted to like it, I was even invited to the Manchester  event and everything (I couldn't make it) but I need to  realise that it is not suitable for my skin type. I have  also learnt, once and for all that, when companies say  that the coverage is 'light to medium', that you need to  totally forget about the second half and remember that the  coverage is actually light.


When money is not so tight, I would definitely be tempted  to purchase the moisture prep, the that gal primer and the  benefit blush brush but for now, the hunt for my perfect foundation  takes priority and continues.


p.s I’ve been put off a little bit by Benefit skincare. I’ve got a tiny travel size sample of some Benefit moisturisers which I am now never going to use. One is called It’s potent eyecream and the other one is called ‘Triple Performing Facial Emulsion’ which is different from the stinky floral one. Comment on this post, about anything you like (maybe not what you had for breakfast, though )  and one of you can have the samples xx






Have you tried Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation? Have you been wowed by it?
Any of you has the ‘Moisture Prep’: is it really good or is it the same a serum?