A joint review of Benefit’s ‘Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW! Foundation from Francene and Gemma. Keep reading to find out more!
Francene -
Gemma and I attended the launch of Benefit’s first ever liquid foundation. It is called ‘Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow’. In this post we are both going to review it. We have different skin tones and thoughts on it therefore, this post should be helpful in deciding whether or not you want to spend your money on this product. It is quite pricey at £24.50 in the UK for 300ml/1.0 fl oz and $34.00 in the U.S. for the same ammount.
According to Benefit, this is a light coverage foundation which can build to medium coverage. It is oil free, has SPF 25 and is said to have a natural finish, hydrating benefits and light diffusing properties.
There are nine different shades to choose from with the idea that there are three shades for light skin, three for medium skin and three for darker skin. Each colour corresponds to Benefit’s Hello Flawless powder which I think is a really good idea. I have never tried the Hello Flawless powder but I would really like to and I am considering buying it in the near future.
Everyone who attended the launch was colour matched, my match is ‘Cheers to me Champagne’ which is the third lightest shade overall and the lighter two of the medium tones. Therefore the Hello Flawless powder to match this would be ‘Me Vein, Champagne’.
Let’s start with the packaging. The product is in a plastic container with a pump dispenser. It looks really small but it is the same amount of product that you get when you purchase L’Oreal’s newest foundation Lumi Magique which I reviewed last week and you can check it out here . As I said in the Lumi Magique review a pump dispenser is the best way to get the product out in my opinion. It’s hygienic and it prevents the foundation from getting everywhere.
Inside the box you will find a sample of Benefit’s The POREfessional. There is only enough for one application but it’s a nice to get to try it out underneath this foundation. The POREfessional has a lovely mousse like consistnecy and feels really nice to apply. I personally don’t think it made much of a difference to the appearance of my skin and pores is not something I have a problem with therefore I wouldn’t go out and buy this.
Here is the foundation on the back of my hand.
As you can see, this shade of the foundation has yellow undertones. Luckily for me this suits my skin tone perfectly as I do have yellow tones in my skin. I would agree with Benefit that this is a light coverage which can be built up to medium coverage. Although it is said to have light diffusing properties, I do not find it has any kind of shine from it. This is ideal for me as I have an oily t-zone and foundations with shine to them make it look worse.
Finally, here is a photo of me with the foundation on. I have not concealed or used powder in order to best show the foundation’s performance.
Overall I really like this foundation. It evens out my skin tone and gives me a really nice base for the rest of the make-up I like to use on my face. The only down side for me is the price. I tend to pay around £10 0r £11 for my foundation and so perhaps this will be a product which I treat myself to now and again rather than using it as my ‘everyday’ foundation.
Gemma will now give you her thoughts on the product.
Francene
Gemma -
I have to say I am a little bit gutted. I was wrongly matched by one of the Benefit makeup artists to ‘Ivory – Pure 4 Sure’. Unfortunately it is far too yellow for my skin tone and, having done a lot of research, think I would have been better suited to the shade ‘Ivory – Believe in Me’. I will let the poor makeup artist off though, as the launch was in the champagne bar in House of Fraser in Glasgow and the lighting wasn’t exceptional!
Other than that, this foundation is gorgeous. I can see why it took so long to develop it! Firstly, I adore the packaging:
Benefit always has superb packaging and this is no exception. It looks expensive, cute and would make an amazing gift – for yourself or someone else!
What it says on the back:
The foundation on the back of my hand:
As you can see it has quite a ‘runny’ consistency which I find most light- medium coverage foundations have. It very similar in consistency to MAC’s Face and Body, which I love.
Brace yourselves, here comes the before shot:
As you can see I have dark circles, acne scars, a blemish on my chin and a very red nose as I’m feeling a little unwell at the moment. So really, Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW has a lot of work to do….
The after photograph:
Like Francene I did not add any concealer or powder, this is simply the effect on my skin from the foundation. As you can see, even with the camera flash, the colour is a little off for me (mega difference in face and neck!). My poor boyfriend actually thought I looked properly ill and he rarely notices much to do with my foundation!
However, despite the bad colour match, it is a gorgeous foundation. As you can see it covers my dark circles and acne scars well (I did build up the coverage a little more in these areas) and my red nose has all but disappeared (which is quite amazing – I hate my Rudolph nose!). The only area I would need more coverage is on my blemish, but concealer can easily fix that!
The foundation has no obvious smell, which I love (see my Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation review here) and it is the nicest foundation to apply! It genuinely feels like you have already applied a primer (which I didn’t, despite getting the lovely free sample).
I will say that it takes a little while to settle into the skin, but not as long as MAC’s Face and Body which takes an age on me. Some dewy finish foundations don’t settle at all on my skin so I’m loving that this does!
It gives an amazingly natural finish (aside from slight yellowness!), perfect for everyday and easy to build up for a medium coverage at night.
Just gutted I wasn’t matched correctly! I may have to test it in another shade as I love this foundation!
Available in the UK from 31st of March or online now (I think!).
I hope this has been useful! Thanks for reading!
Gemma
Awesome review, ladies! I’ve never tried any of Benefit’s foundations, only their primers and cheek products so I might give this one a go. I don’t know if it’s a problem on my end, but I get your feed in my Google Reader and none of Francene’s photos loaded (but Gemma’s did).