Benefit Sweeten Up, Buttercup set

Where I got it

I picked this cute little box set up from Benefit for $69.00. Not sure if this is part of their Christmas gift sets or they are here permanently, but it seems like a great set if you are looking to stock up on a few favourite products and try a bit of new items at a good price. This set contains 3 full sized best-sellers which is their Porefessional primer, Badgal Bang mascara and the Gimme Brow Brow Gel. Also a mini size Hoola Bronzer.

What I got

This is the Sweeten Up, Buttercup set by Benefit. Extra slice of sexy please! Makeup is a cakewalk with this kit for brows face & lashes! Get bold volumized lashes full & fluffy brows practically poreless-looking skin and a believable bronze with this Benefit bestsellers set. It even comes all wrapped and ready-to-give in a collectible makeup bag!

How I find it

First of all, I love the packaging! It is ready to be gifted even without wrapping and it comes with a velvet-touch makeup pouch with the Benefit logo and a gold-toned zipper. Inside, there is a leaflet about the products with instructions.

First up is the Hoola Bronzer. Believe it or not, I have not tried to Benefit classic that is also one of their best sellers. I’m sure if you are interested in makeup, you would have heard about this bronzer before, it is an absolute favourite for most people for the longest time. To me, it just looked way to dark so I wasn’t very interested in it. It’s quite handy to have a mini size in this set so I can try it out. It also comes with a small little brush too!

The shade is a little on the dark size and very warm as well. I would use this sparingly around my face near the hairline and under my jaw area to warm up my skin. I like how it is not shimmery, so you don’t have to worry about getting too glowy or emphasis on skin texture. The small pan is a bit of a problem to get my bronzer brush in, but I’ll manage.

Next one is the Gimme Brow+ volumising eyebrow gel in shade 3. This was one of the products I wanted to try as well. I have heard much about this product from other influencers/bloggers. Gimme Brow is a brow gel with a bit of fibres to volumize the look of brow hairs. Normally, I use the Foolproof Brow Powder to draw in my brows, then I will go over my brows with this brow gel. It builds a bit of volume but nothing too crazy. The tiny little wand is just so easy to use and no mess to work with.

I usually brush my brow hair against the grow to evenly coat the hairs, then I gently brush them along the growth the tidy it up. This works great for the ends of my brow because I don’t have much hair at the tail. It leaves my brow colours in place and is slightly hard similar to a soft mascara.

Bad gal Bang! Mascara. First of all, this is not a tubing mascara or a waterproof mascara so immediately I have my doubts. However, with all the hype around this product when it first launched, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try it and I can always give it away.

First of all, the tube is rather longer and large. The wand is long but thin, the silicon bristles are one of my favourites and the formula seems pretty good on application. My lashes are long, separated and volumized. It stayed curled as well, but it was after about 3-4 hours of wear, it began to fade down to my under eye area. Even my mother in law was telling me that my mascara is running like crazy! I have tried other ways of using this mascara – with a primer, without a primer, without concealer (because sometimes that would make my mascara run) and even really heavy baking under the eye area (this would help, but as the baking wears out, my mascara will run).

So I am refraining from using this and I might give it to my sisters if they are interested before it goes bad. Sad, because the formula is quite nice, just not suitable for my eye-shape or oily lids.

Moving on, the last one is The Porefessional Pore Primer. I have bought this myself way back when and it took me forever to finish a tube. I wasn’t blown away with it because it had that heavy, slippery silicone feel which I like on its own, but when I put on foundation over it, I can’t seem to get it right. It either balls up or my foundation bunches up.  I wonder if it is because of the skincare product I use under the primer?

Anyway, the lightly tinted primer feels silky soft on the skin and it blurs the pores by kind of filling it out. If you don’t have a big pore problem, I suggest applying it where you have enlarged pores, but not all over the face. A little goes a long way and if it doesn’t ball up or bunch up your foundation, it does blend out the look of pores nicely.

Overall

Despite the disappointment with the mascara, all other products in this set is quite good. I particularly like the Gimme Brow brow gel, I have been reaching for it nearly everyday rotating with my RevitaLash brow gel. The mini bronzer is nice, it’s great for travelling and comes with a little brush. The shade however is a little too dark and warm for my usual makeup look though.

In terms of value, the value of all the full priced items in here is $59 (Porefessional) + $46 + (Gimme Brow) + $46 (Bad gal Bang) = $151. You save $82! OMG!