The Holiday Collection: Benefit Cosmetics The Big 10

Have you ever wanted to dab your fingers in a little bit of everything from a makeup brand?  I know I have and thankfully Benefit Cosmetics has solved our problem!

I have always admired Benefit in the past because I love their witty packaging and fun names, but I have always found the brand to be a bit on the pricey side. I used to use their Bad Gal Lash mascara religiously (one of my holy grail makeup products) but other than that I haven’t really tried anything else from the iconic brand.   They have a variety of different cult products, like for instance their Benetint liquid blush.  Now if you were always freaked out by the fact that this blush is literally a liquid (like me) now you can try it (risk free!) along with nine other of their bestselling face products. This fantastic set is comprised of 10 samplers to let you basically try out (and love) the Benefit brand.  Honestly, every brand should do this because it let’s people try out different products under their brand umbrella.

The set includes minis of some of their most popular products:

  • Erase Paste – Brightening camouflage for eyes and face (concealer)
  • Stay Don’t Stray – Stay-put primer for concealers and eyeshadows
  • Benetint – Rose-tinted lip and cheek stain
  • Posietint – Poppy-pink tinted lip and cheek stain
  • High Beam – Luminescent complexion enhancer
  • “That Gal” – Brightening face primer
  • Bella Bamba – a 3-D brightening pink face powder
  • The POREfessional – PRO balm to minimize the appearance of pores
  • Dandelion – a brightening face powder
  • Oh La Lift – Instant under-eye brightening boost
I myself am new to all these products so I was extremely excited to try them out.  Their Benetint product is a cult favourite (expect a Cult Collection post coming soon!), as well as Erase Paste.  There are also products that other brands make similar things of such as Stay Don’t Stray and “That Gal”.
All the samples are a generous size and I honestly think will last a while if you don’t use them religiously everyday.  Once you are done the set, just buy the products you loved.
I did try out some of the products (there are so many of them!) and thought I would quickly go over some of my thoughts.

Erase Paste is on the left eye, right eye without

The first product I used was Erase Paste, which is a jar concealer.  The product had a soft whipped consistency to it and blended in very nicely.  I have read on other blogs that this stuff is too thick for some people, I didn’t find that all at.  I applied this over my foundation so I didn’t really have any dark circles but I did notice my eyes looked brighter after I applied it.

Benetint Applied

Posietint Applied
Next product I tried was their iconic (and very first product) Benetint which is a liquid blush.  This rose-tinted blush is surprisingly easy to work with and all it took was a few swipes on my cheeks and some blending and voila! Perfect flushed cheeks.  I actually really liked this product and the rose smell was delish.  Look for an in-depth post coming soon!
Aside from Benetint they also have Posietint, which is the same product but more of a baby pink.  I really liked this product as well, but if I had to choose between the two tints I would choose the original.

Dandelion blush

Dandelion applied

Bella Bamba applied

Aside from the tints, the set also includes two blushes, Bella Bamba (a coral pink) and Dandelion (a blush pink).  These blushes are very generous sized, as I believe that they will last you a while, you get quite a lot in the pan.  Also, I have a million other blushes, so these won’t be gone anytime soon.

Bella Bamba reminds me of NARS Orgasm because of the shade and the fact that I think it could be universal for any skin type.  This colour to me is very weekday, I would wear this to the office or a special event.  Dandelion is a lot softer, it’s a great lazy Sunday shade, like if I wanted to just relax and have a basic face.  These are the first Benefit blushes I have tried and I am very impressed with them, the colour payoff is great.  Especially for Bella Bamba, a little goes a long way.

High Beam

Next product I loved was High Beam, which is a liquid highlighter.  I applied it to my cheekbones and there was some noticeable shine present.  The product, once blended, gives off a nice illumination wherever it’s placed.  Aside from your cheekbones you can also use it on the bridge of your nose and on your brow bone.

Stay Don't Stray primer. Makeup applied at 8:15 a.m.

Eye makeup at 4:30 p.m.

As for their primer, Stay Don’t Stray, which is to be applied underneath eyeshadows and concealers, the product seemed to work fine enough but my makeup definitely wasn’t as fresh as when I first put it on.  I did apply too much initially, all you really need is a dab.  My favourite primer is Urban Decay’s Primer Potion which retails for a little less than the Benefit version ($23 versus $30 CDN) so I don’t think I would purchase the full size of this product (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it).

So why is this a good present?  Well, it let’s you get your feet wet in the brand!  Benefit is a pricey brand, so to get samples of 10 products is a good deal.  Have you ever bought an expensive product and didn’t really like it?  It happens to all of us, so why not save someone the trouble and let them test out a generous sample beforehand.  I would love a gift like this because Benefit makes awesome products and to have the chance to sample a handful of them would be awesome.  Also, because these are face products, they are basically the foundation behind the rest of your makeup. Foundation primers I find are kind of pricey, but in this set you essentially get two of them plus a concealer, a highlighter, four blushes, and a few other essential goodies.

Currently The Big 10 is a Sephora exclusive which unfortunately is out of stock online but check your local store, they may have some left.  It retails for $32 USD.
Have you tried Benefit Cosmetic’s The Big 10?  Is it on your list?

Please note: I did receive this product for review, however, it did not affect my opinions on it.  All opinions are my honest own :).