Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Review

 

Hello again!
This review is long overdue. I bought this foundation from feelunique.com (who offer free delivery worldwide!) back in April, as i'd heard great things about it and it really is worthy of all of the complimentary reviews, because it is fantastic. Other than their Eye Bright brightening pencil and a free sample of the They're Real mascara I got free with an Elle magazine, this is the only Benefit product i've ever tried and I was extremely impressed with the quality of it.

Price: It retails at £25.50, which I don't think is too bad for a high-end foundation, however the plastic packaging is a little disappointing given the price-tag.

Colour: This foundation is available in 9 different shades, which is a surprisingly inadequate range for a high-end make-up brand. As is the case with a lot of foundations, the darkest shade, "Nutmeg (gotta know me)" isn't actually that dark, so i'd be interested to know how women with darker skin get on with it. In spite of this, Benefit have a shadefinder on their website which is quite useful for deciding which colour to go for if you aren't able to be colour-matched instore. I ordered mine online and decided on the colour "Ivory (I'm pure 4 sure)", which fortunately matches my skintone perfectly. Another fabulous site i've used for a while now is findation.com, where you can type in what shade you are in any foundation from a wide range of make-up brands and you can find out other brand's equivalents of that colour, to get a perfect match.

Application: I apply this foundation with my Real Techniques buffing brush from their core collection, which blends it into my skin really easily. The formula itself is quite thin, almost runny, but this makes the application effortless, as it glides smoothly into the skin, evening out any redness and giving a really lovely, glowy finish. Also, a little goes a long way with this product. I've used it constantly for about five months and as you can see from the photos, I have only just got halfway through the bottle.

Coverage: In terms of coverage, Benefit claim that this foundation "builds from light to medium coverage for a natural complexion you can believe in" and I completely agree with this. This foundation provides me with a light enough coverage to wear on a day-to-day basis without feeling like i'm wearing too much, yet by building up the coverage ever so slightly, I would feel confident enough to wear this on a night out, as it has the ability to build up to provide a truly "flawless" finish.

SPF: A great selling point of this product is that it has SPF 25 PA*** protection. Like most of you I assume, I had no idea what the "PA***" stood for, but it actually stands for the level of UVA sun protection and the 3*s means that this product has the highest protection level. This is great, as it means you don't have to worry about applying any additional sun protection to your face on a daily basis, as this product provides you with sufficient protection. However, SPF foundations do not always work well with flash photography and can make your face look unusually pale in photographs, so that is something to bear in mind if you are going to a special event. However, using a matte powder to set this foundation should help to cancel that out.

Additional Benefits: Though this foundation gives a bright, dewy look, thanks to light-diffusing particles, unlike a lot of foundations this formula is oil-free, so should still be fine for those of you with oily or combination skintypes. Their website suggests using the POREfessional primer in conjunction with this foundation in order to boost its staying power, so if you have a problem with the longevity of your foundation, that might be something worth looking in to. Benefit also argue that this foundation has "hydrating benefits" and as someone who suffers occasionally with dry skin in the winter, I am truly thankful for any foundation that doesn't cling to any dry patches and make them look any worse.

Overall, I love this product as an everyday foundation and would definitely repurchase it. Have you tried this foundation? I'd love to know what you think of it!