While I'm mostly obsessed with nail lacquers, I'm starting to venture more into makeup, thanks to Nic Nic. I love her subtle makeup which only enhances her natural beauty.
Now I've heard of Benefit Dandelion for a long time, and of complains of how sheer it is with little or no colour payoff, and also fake benefit dandelion circulating on the internet. As my campus is far far away from the city center, and I mean really far, I really don't have the time to visit the physical store to check them out. So I decided to get them online.
I was lucky I got them genuine. The seller even included the Benefit website official receipt for my reassurance.
The little cardboard box was so so cute, and they look so different from the conventional sleek packaging for make ups, me likes!
But note that it is made from cardboard though, so the corners will have tears and wears pretty soon. See the lower left corner, there's a little wear and tear there already. I don't expect my stuff to look forever new anyway even though I'm quite careful with them.
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| The back of a authentic Benefit Dandelion blush. |
I think the most qualms ladies have about buying stuff online is its authenticity. I'm all against counterfeited goods too, especially beauty products. It's quite scary as you do not know what they used to manufacture them, and it's so frustrating especially if you've paid close to the original product price only to get counterfeited goods. And Benefit, Mac and Bobbi Brown are some of the most counterfeited products around the internet, especially on Ebay, be extra careful when you shop there.
As there are quite a lot of helpful articles online on detecting a fake benefit dandelion, I won't elaborate more on it. Mostly they explained about the back label which can be tear off, but I realised that there is another way of determining from the front cover too. It's especially useful when the seller only provide pictures of the front box, and you can't possibly ask the seller to tear off the back label right?
You can see that the old version, and I mean the really really old version many years back have the 'Benefit' word in front with a straight f. They are the ones that have the weight printed as 10g.
Counterfeiters counterfeit the new version of Benefit Dandelion with curvy f.
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| Benefit Old Version with Straight f. |
Well, the new version has a curvy f like mine in the first picture.
Fake benefit dandelion will have a curvy f like the new version, but the weight will be written as 10g.
Fake benefit dandelion will have a curvy f like the new version, but the weight will be written as 10g.
Authentic Benefit Dandelion with curvy f has the weight written as 10.0g. See the picture below for explanation.
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| Authentic Benefit Dandelion with curvy f has 10.0g |
So this is one of the ways of detecting that most people did not realise. It's very easy as it's from the front cover. So if you don't see the .0 and it has a curvy f from the new version, you're most likely looking at a fake Benefit Dandelion.
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| Benefit Dandelion in the pan |
Once you open the box, you'll catch a whiff of a nice floral scent which isn't very strong but not entirely subtle. It's a very nice comforting smell, it's quite hard to describe.
Dandelion blush, or face powder as Benefit calls it, is a dusty light pink with small subtle gold flecks in the pan, but once it applies on your face, it's a delightful soft soft natural pink with a slight gold sheen from the gold shimmers.
The closeup from the next picture shows the gold shimmers better.
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| See the gold flecks of shimmers in Benefit Dandelion |
Most people say they don't notice the scent once applied on the skin, but I beg to differ. I can still detect the nice floral scent when I smell my arm, it's like the smell of a nice subtle soap after bath.
I swatched them on my arm for better comparison, which has the same color as my face.
Swatch on the left is one light swatch, and the one on the right is one light swatch blended out.
It's really very very subtle, I would hardly call it a blush really. I could see why many people are having trouble getting a good colour payoff.
The picture below is two swatches, but it is really another very light swatch on top.(maybe the surface of half the pan) I was in a hurry to take the pictures that I swatched the second layer with too little powder. :(
I like the fact that it brightens up my face quite naturally, and a second layer of Benefit Dandelion will give me a nice natural flush on my cheeks. Me likes and approve!
Ass you can see from most reviews, it was said to be so so subtle that it just doesn't show up. I think yes, that's the case if you are of a darker skintone. I think it functions better on lighter skintones as a blush, or as a overall brightening face powder.
The gold shimmer you see in the pan will translate to a nice very subtle golden sheen on my face. It's really very subtle, so unless you are looking for the shimmers and you're like 5cm close to my face, you'd most likely not notice it, so don't be afraid of looking like a giant disco ball.
On another note, I've just bought myself a nice pair of white gladiator sandals. I love the studs on the shoes. The design might be too complicated for some, but what can I say? I'm only young once. I'd love to pull off what I can when I can still do it. :D
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| My new white gladiator sandals |
Till then, and I shall see you next time. :)
p.s. And oh, that's OPI Mrs O'Leary BBQ on my toes.
