I’ve been a bad beauty blogger. I’ve been using a new product on an almost daily basis for the last month and haven’t written up anything about it. What was I thinking? I did a major beauty haul a month ago thanks to the Sephora Insider 15% off sales, and I’m still working through everything I picked up in terms of trying out and reviewing. I honestly have no idea why it is taking me so long to do this. Okay, I do. I’ve made a major lifestyle change in terms of fitness and working out, and so time spent in front of the mirror playing with new toys has been cut back as I have instead been sweating my ass literally off at Physique 57 and bikram yoga. Review posts to come on this whole exercise malarkey. 

Anyway, it means that products have been tried and tested and I haven’t been sharing! One major new purchase was my Benefit Hoola powder ($28). Hoola is a mid-tone matte bronzer. I’m an NW20, and I love the color on my. It definitely adds a warmed up glow to my skin. There are two factors for me that make it a great bronzer – it is very buildable, meaning that I don’t instantly end up looking like an oompa loompa, and it is matte. This is a major issue I have with summer products – why do companies believe that every summer product must have shimmer? I get it looks gorgeous in the sun, but it is too much for the office, and sometimes I don’t want to glow, I just want to look a little darker. Although it is buildable, it does require a light touch. Too much too soon leaves me looking a muddy and patchy.

 

Benefit Hoola is now part of my regular morning make up routine. As my final step I use a big bronzer brush on my forehead, temples, nose, chin, and neck. Since I’ve started using it I’ve had plenty of compliments about looking more tan, and whether I’ve had some sun. I love the generous size of the Benefit powders – although they are $28, you do get a lot of product. Normally I don’t get too worried about the cost per oz for my make up because I so very rarely finish a product, but the simple gorgeousness of Hoola means that I know it’s going to be part of my daily routine for quite some time, so getting a good amount makes a difference to me. I know that I’ll be picking up a couple more bronzers in the upcoming MAC To The Beach collection, but all of them have shimmer, so won’t be replacing Hoola in my office appropriate every day look. 

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Elf's High Definition Powder - Not For The Big Screen

Elf’s Studio High Definition Powder is a product that receives a lot of hype in the blogosphere. It is regularly compared to Make Up For Ever’s HD Powder and MAC’s Prep & Prime Powder. Unfortunately, I have not tried either powder, but I have been playing around with the Elf powder for the last couple of days and putting it through its paces.

The powder comes in a solid black box about 2 inches square. It has a sifter lid and a powder puff inside. The powder itself appears to be a bright white although it goes on translucent. It promises to mask fine lines and imperfections by using a light diffusion, and work particularly well in photographs. I have to admit, I would rather that my make up looked amazing in real life than in photographs, because I’m just not being photographed every day, apart from the blog things. But something that could do both would be worth taking a look at, for sure.

Although it come with a powder puff, there is no way I could apply it with it. I just couldn’t imagine applying anything with a puff for fear of ending up looking cakey and overdone. The puff is really there, for me anyway, to make sure that too much powder does not come through the spiller top, and for that it is useful. I use an Elf Fan brush or a standard powder brush to lightly apply this to my skin. It definitely make skin look matte and has good staying power. In terms of masking imperfections, in real life, I have not yet seen any real improvement. I do notice that I have to make very sure that I’ve blended it all in otherwise I’m left with the odd random white / gray patch, which does not look at all good. I’ve been using it for about a week, and I haven’t had any problems with breakouts, or irritation which is encouraging.

Do I think that this is a great product? Um. I think it’s a good enough, matte powder. I haven’t noticed it doing any of the things that it promises to do, but then again the price point is very nice (to check). I got it during a 50% sale on the website which made it even sweeter on the wallet. However, despite the low price point, I do not think that I’ll be purchasing again as I have not noticed any significant improvements. Instead, I’ll either spring for the MAC or MUFE powders, or look for something else entirely, ignoring this whole HD powder phenomenon.