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?
