Review

Hi Divas!

 When I first heard the name of Benefit's newly released mascara I was hooked! 'Bad Gal Bang' sounds completely sexy, rebellious and explosive. Benefit Cosmetics are known for their high-quality mascaras. They have cult favourites that most beauty fanatics love. I was very intrigued that they released a new one with such a bad ass name and extraordinary claims, as 36 hour full blast volume. Who wears a mascara for 36 hours? She must be a bad girl, damn. I bought this mascara at a Sephora in Qatar but it is available at Benefit counters in South Africa. While shopping around in Sephora, one of the assistants tried the mascara on my co-worker and it looked absolutely amazing on her. I definitely wanted to try it out for myself. This mascara has been very hyped up across the beauty community but each person has different needs when it comes to finding their perfect mascara. I will be reviewing this product according to what I like as finding the ideal mascara that works for your eye shape and eyelashes are subjective.


The mascara comes in a black, pink and silver trendy design. It is packaged in a matte black plastic tube that has a chic rubber feel to it. I love the edgy designs on the cap as it gives the product a futuristic feel. The actual wand is longer than most standard mascaras and feels a lot more flexible. The brush is plastic and has a sleek and quite tapered design with 300 bristles on it. You kind of wonder if this brush will actually do anything significant for the lashes. Of cause the secret is in the bristle layout and the mascara formula. This mascara contains Pro Vitamin B5 which nourishes the lashes. It makes them stronger and helps them to grow thicker. One of the biggest ingredients that make this product stand way out from the rest is the Aero Particles derived from space technology. I know, your brain probably froze just a a little bit to take that all in, LOL. Apparently, these aero particles are used in space missions and now they are in your mascara. They are one of the lightest materials that aim to defy gravity thus keeping your lashes lifted and not weighed down for a longer period of time. That point when makeup and physics meet.


Bad Gal Bang promises to give massive volume to the lashes without weighing it down. The brush is designed to reach each and every lash across the eye giving it a vava voom effect. It is smudge proof and water resistant too. This mascara has a thick consistency. I find that I can only apply two full coats before it starts getting seriously clumpy. As mentioned above the wand is flexible therefore it can be tricky in controlling precise application. The actual bristles are amazing and definitely reaches each and every lash. The brush lifts the lashes giving it amazing volume and length. I really love the way this mascara performs on my lashes. Every time I wear it I look like I have false lashes on. It truly gives big dramatic eye lashes. The colour is a true black and looks striking on the eyes. As I mentioned the formula is thick and you have to work slowly when coating your lashes. This is not a quick coat and run out the door mascara. You have to take your time when applying it to make sure your lashes are well coated and precisely brushed through. This will give the best effect out of the product. If you work too fast you can end up with clumpy lashes and smudges on your eye lids.


 I have natural long thick lashes therefore I feel this mascara works great on me. It enhances what I already have and gives a false lash effect. It performs really well throughout the day for me. It does not smudge, droop down or run when I exercise. As I mentioned above you have to work slowly and precisely for this mascara to give amazing results. If you have short or sparse lashes, this mascara might not work as well for you. It may give dramatic length but not volume as the formula is thick and it may make your lashes look spidery. This is a good mascara if you know how to work with it and you have a good set of natural lashes to begin with. I personally really like it and enjoy using it on a daily basis.


I hope you found this review helpful.
Divalicious Kisses
Xxxx

Hi Divas

Since Benefit will be reaching South African shores again soon, I thought I would do a foundation review from the range. I bought this foundation at Sephora in Qatar earlier this year. I usually do not buy foundations as I prefer BB creams and tinted moisturisers for a light coverage. What attracted me most about this particular foundation is that it is described as a light to medium coverage that brightens your complexion creating a ''your skin but better look''. The foundation is meant to give a luminous glow and has vitamin C and E derivatives to brighten the skin and give a youthful appearance. The box states that it is oil free and has an SPF 25 as well. The foundation comes in 9 shades ranging from Ivory to Nutmeg. I do have to say that I find the naming of the shades a little confusing. I usually buy sand or honey in a foundation shade. With this product the shade beige is much darker than the honey shade, which is very weird because beige is always known to be lighter than honey in the conventional shade range. Anyway there are two types of beige shades in the range and I picked up the lightest of the two which is Beige,''I'm all the rage''.

The foundation comes in a sturdy 30ml plastic bottle with a pump. I actually like the packaging of this product as it is travel friendly and won't break easily if it falls on hard floors. Plus who doesn't love a pump with their foundation? Pump bottles are much more convenient and hygienic. I also love that the bottle is see-through so I can see exactly how much product is left. I usually use two pumps of the foundation to cover my entire face. The foundation is quite runny so I prefer to use my fingers when blending it onto my skin. I then go in with my makeup sponge afterwards to blend the foundation around the edges of my face like my forehead, chin and nose area. The formula of the foundation is very light. It blends easily and looks natural on the skin. If you are wearing your exact shade you won't be able to tell that you are wearing foundation. Your skin will definitely look luminous, glowing and your complexion will be evened out.


Pros: 
-I love that the foundation is very hydrating and breathable. You won't feel like you are wearing makeup when you layer this on. It looks very natural on the skin and not cakey at all.
- The bottle is travel friendly and easy to use

Cons:

-Unfortunately this foundation does oxidize later on in the day. Plus my shade Beige is a little too orange/golden toned for me.I definitely need a lighter shade in this foundation.

- This works best for dry to combination skin tones. If you are oily it will leave your face looking shiny throughout the day.

To solve my shade problem I have been mixing this foundation with a lighter shade foundation from Essence. I will do a review of my Essence foundation soon. I feel that this combination gives a pretty result on my face. I really hope you found this review helpful.
Thank you so much for reading!



Divalicious Kisses.
Xxxx

Hi Divas!

This week I bring to you a mascara review from Benefit called They're Real. I am not too familiar with the brand. This is my first Benefit product I have bought and used. I picked this up along with a foundation (review coming soon) at Sephora in Doha. Benefit has really cute and fun packaging. This of cause drew me to the counter in the first place as I love anything pretty and girly. The sales lady was super persistent that I should try this mascara so I gave it a go. The mascara comes in a gun metal tapered tube with a plastic wand. I generally prefer bristle brush wands to plastic ones as I feel they are much more gentle on the eyes. This wand is quite sturdy and the spikes on the head are really small so I am less likely to poke myself in the eye with it, thank goodness! At the tip of the wand the plastic bristles are a little longer and fan out so that you can be more precise in application when reaching the little inner corner lashes.

On my first application I found the formula of the mascara to be thick and creamy. In one coat the lashes are visibly coated in the blackest of black mascara. My lashes lengthened and lifted with just one coat. On my second application, my lashes became much longer and more volumized. This mascara definitely lifts and lengthens lashes. After two coats my lashes looked longer and much more dramatic. The formula is quite thick and creamy, so I found that I could only do two coats on my lashes before they start getting clumpy and stick together. This mascara reminds me so much of the Miss Manga mascara by L'oreal. They both give dramatic doll like lashes but only two coats can be applied before it starts looking like a hot mess.


As you can see in the picture above my lashes look thick and long after applying two coats. The mascara lasts all day long without smudging or flaking. I did long distance walking in the sun and some exercises wearing this mascara and it did not budge on my lashes. They kept their length and volume throughout the day. I actually like this plastic wand as it brushed each and every lash and lifted it giving my lashes a glam effect. I do have to warn you though that this mascara formula, I feel works best on those who already have thick lashes. The mascara is very thick, so it would make lashes that are sparse look really clumpy and heavy and stick together. If you have thick lashes this mascara would be great for a dramatic look without using false lashes.I have been enjoying this mascara this past month. If you like the L'oreal Miss Manga Mascara then you should definitely give this one a try.


Thank you so much for reading beauties. I hope you found this review helpful.
 P.s. Apparently Benefit is going to be sold in South Africa again. Hello!!! Hip hip hooray! ;-)

Have a fantastic week Divas!
Xxxxx