Benefit Hervana Boxed Powder

I finally got around to picking up Benefit's Hervana boxed powder blush. It actually launched in January, but I totally forgot about it until I was at Shoppers Drug Mart a couple days ago. Hervana marks the ninth addition to Benefit's boxed powder collection (though Georgia was discontinued a while ago), and is apart of their permanent line-up. Hervana is available at all Benefit retailers, including Sephora, Murale, and Shoppers Drug Mart's Beauty Boutiques. This powder, like all of Benefit's boxed powders, now comes in a flip-top cardboard container with a little mirror on the inside. Each powder comes with a small angled face brush with a purple wooden handle, contains 8 grams of product, and retails for $36.

Hervana

Hervana features a pinwheel design of four different shades: a soft pale beige with a satin shimmer, a medium apricot-peach with subtle golden shimmer, a medium peachy rose with a satin sheen, and a medium-dark cool-toned pinky plum with a satin sheen. When mixed together, they create a medium soft peachy pink with a satin shimmer-sheen. This powder is by no means frosty or shimmery, though; it has just enough shimmer-sheen to make skin look glowy. The powder is soft and finely milled, so it goes on very smoothly and evenly. It has medium pigmentation, and semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It's a bit cooler than MAC Dainty Mineralize Blush, but more pink than MAC Warm Soul Mineralize Blush. Compared to other Benefit boxed powders, it is much lighter and more peach than Bella Bamba, lighter and much less peach/coral than Coralista, and much more pink than Sugarbomb.

I know I don't need another blush, but guys, this is just gorgeous. I love that it's buildable in colour, 'cause you can get a really pretty soft sheen or a more intense flush without looking too harsh. The powder is so soft and smooth and easily blendable, and it leaves such a nice glow on the skin without emphasizing your pores. Plus, it'll suit every undertone; those with cooler undertones will pull more pink and those with warmer undertones will pull more peach. This will work well on those with fair to medium-dark skintones, but might not show up very well on dark and deep dark skintones (though it will add a lovely sheen!). Hervana is the type of colour that will look good with every make-up look — it's a super-wearable, every day kind of colour, and is just so perfect for Spring and Summer.

Benefit B.Right! Cleansers

Benefit released a new skincare line this month called B.Right!, which features eight products that focus on making skin more radiant. I never tried Benefit's old skincare products, but having read a few pre-release reviews, I was intrigued. It's currently available at Sephora and Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada, but the Shoppers location I went to only had four of the eight items in stock, so I just bought the Foamingly Clean Facial Wash and the Refined Finish Facial Polish. One thing I do have to say about this line is that the packaging is absolutely adorable. The boxes are fun and colourful, with a pattern of waves and bubbles in various shades of green, blue, and peach. The bottles themselves are a clean pale blue with faux cork screw caps, which I thought was a nice touch. Chic apothecary-style labels are on both the boxes and the bottles, clearly stating the name and function of the product. They both have a fresh floral and cucumber scent that isn't strong or overwhelming. Both of these products contain 127.5 grams or 4.5 oz. of product, and retail for $24 and $26, respectively.

The Foamingly Clean Facial Wash is a "one-step gentle face wash" that "effectively cleanses the skin and removes make-up and impurities with a soft, gentle lather." It's a cream cleanser that foams up well, but isn't overly frothy, and a nickel-sized amount of product should be sufficient for a nice lather. It does take off make-up quite well, but because it doesn't state that it's opthamologist-tested, it's only meant to take off face make-up. I did, however, test this cleanser with a waterproof eyeliner on my hand, and it did take it off quite effectively, so I will attest that it removes waterproof make-up. It states on the box that the cleanser is for all skin types, but I'd recommend this more for normal to combination-oily skin, only because I can see the foaming aspect a little more drying on dry skin types. I have combination skin (oilier T-zone), and my face didn't feel tight after using it. Overall, I'd have to say that this cleanser lives up to its claims, and I would definitely re-buy it.

The Refined Finish Facial Polish is being touted as the "smoothest surface facial exfoliator" that "brightens the complexion, gently exfoliating to purify the skin, and help minimize the appearance of pores to reveal skin's natural radiance" with natural clay and seaweed extract. This is a cream-based face scrub, as opposed to a gel, and contains smooth and round polyethelene beads, so it's more gentle than some other scrubs which contain more jagged grains. When I used this scrub, I found that it made my skin soft and smooth without drying it out, but I think that more fragile, sensitive skin types will find this scrub a bit too harsh for regular use. I personally didn't find this scrub overly gritty, though I think every day use would be a little excessive (2 to 3 times a week is enough). I did notice that my face was more "glowy" after using it. I actually really like this scrub, and can see myself replacing my old stand-by with it. Overall, I'm very pleased with the cleansing products from Benefit's B.Right! line. I'm definitely interested in trying some of the other products from this collection.

Benefit Bella Bamba

While I was at Shoppers last night, I finally picked up Bella Bamba, which is the latest addition to Benefit's Boxed Powders collection. It's a brightened watermelon pink with pale gold shimmer. I'd say this is one of the more pigmented shades of Benefit's boxed powders, if not the most pigmented. It has a soft and fine texture for easy blending, but it can be used more heavily as an intense blusher and it should show up quite nicely on almost all skintones. Bella Bamba is most definitely a pink shade, not a peachy-pink shade, like Coralista or Nars Orgasm. The closest shade that I have to this would be Nars Angelika – Bella Bamba seems to have a cooler base, but the golden sheen neutralizes it. When worn, this will make anyone look fresher, brighter, and younger. It's an instant pick-me-up.

In terms of packaging, Bella Bamba differs from Benefit's other boxed powders – this one has a flip top, while the other powders have removable lids. Moreover, Bella Bamba comes with less product than the other powders (0.28 oz. vs. 0.35 - 0.42 oz.), but comes with a built-in mirror, which the other powders don't have. I also found the mini brush included with Bella Bamba to have softer bristles than the brushes that come with the other powders – though it must be noted that I've never actually used the included brushes in execution, so I'm not sure how well they work. All in all, I'd have to say that this is definitely my new favourite Benefit boxed powder.

Hello Kitty for Sephora

Shawn and I went to Yorkdale, so I decided to check out the new Hello Kitty collection at Sephora while I was there. Overall, very nice packaging – sleek and streamlined in metal tubes, not cheap and tacky. I like the packaging more than the Hello Kitty for MAC collection, which was super cute, but not as adult-friendly. I only picked up three items because most of the lip products were sold out, and I wasn't interested in the rest (perfume, eyeshadows, cream blush, etc.).

The Apple Balm is a pinky-coral lip balm in an apple-shaped jar. The consistency is fairly creamy and moisturizing, but a bit tacky, and slightly sticky when worn. On lips, it looks like a sheer peachy-pink, similar to MAC's Gentle Coral Lip Conditioner. But the point of this product is not really for the colour, it's for the cute packaging. If you want colour pay-off, this isn't the product for it. It's really just a tinted lip balm. And though it's in an apple-shaped jar and the product is called Apple Balm, it doesn't actually smell like apples at all. The smell kind of reminds me of Strawberry Lip Smackers, but perhaps with a mix of something else that's fruity. Not apples, though. The biggest con to this product, though, is the lid. Yes, the packaging is cute, but the lid doesn't stay on properly. It's a lid that you twist on and off, but I find that if you twist to close, it's super hard to re-open (I swear, I'm not even twisting it tightly), and if you don't twist hard enough, the lid will just fall off. It's definitely not a product to keep in your purse, it's more for your home, looking cute on your vanity.

I also picked up two shades of Sweet Gloss in Charmmy and Grape Frosting. On the lips, it feels very much like MAC Lip Conditioner – smooth, moisturized lips with no stickiness or tackiness. But it's far less messy than the Apple Balm, since they're in lipstick tube applicators. They also have the same fruit scent as the Apple Balm. Charmmy will add a nice sheer brown-rosy shade to the lips; it's very much a my-lips-but-better shade. Grape Frosting is a gorgeous plum shade when applied to lips, so don't be scared of what it looks like in the tube (it reminds me of Clinique's Black Honey lipstick). They're definitely targeted for younger girls who want to start wearing make-up or are just starting to wear make-up. That being said, though, they are super-cute and are great if you're looking for a tinted lip balm. I like these quite a bit more than the Apple Balm in terms of feel and consistency. I want to go back to Sephora to check out Apple, Pinkie, and Sweet Berry.

While I was in Sephora, I redeemed 500 Beauty Insider points for their "Benefaves" gift, which includes a full-size box of Benefit's Coralista powder blush and a mini tube of their Bad Gal Lash mascara. Coralista is probably my favourite boxed powder by Benefit (aside from Hoola, which is a fantastic matte brown bronzer). It gives a gorgeous coral pink sheen, sort of like a more subdued version of Nars' Orgasm blush. Seriously, this is probably one of their best Beauty Insider gifts to date, since they rarely give out full-size products. That blush alone retails for $36. If you have the points, go redeem them!