Benefit Swansea's Boutique Launch

Warning; photo heavy post!

I was a very lucky girl to receive an invite to the Swansea Benefit Boutique launch and was super excited to go and see the boutique in action. I was completely blown away by how amazing the Benefit stand looked and was whisked away down a corridor into Beauty School.

Bronze Betty, Beauty School, Smooth Sally

The Beauty School room, which can be booked for parties, held cute pink table and chairs and the wall was decorated with the story of the Benefit founders. At the back of the room, the range of Benefit products were displayed and begging to be tested. We were also tempted by a cake stand full of pink glittery Welsh cakes.

Straight away, we were allowed to dive in and try out the new products. 

 I was drawn straight away to the 'Creaseless Cream Shadow', which I got swatching straight away:

L2R:Holy Smokes, My Two Cents, Always A Bridesmaid, No Pressure, Bikini Toni, Birthday Suit.

As you can see, the shades of the ceaseless eyeshadow are absolutely beautiful and have the cutest names. My favourite shade is 'Holy Smokes' (the black colour), which creates a fantastic smokey eye look just by applying and blending with your finger across the lid. 

 

L2R: Holy Smokes, My Two Cents, Always A Bridesmaid, No Pressure, Bikini Toni, Birthday Suit.

 There are four colours that I didn't manage to swatch; Blue My Mind (a shimmery blue), Skinny Jeans (pewter), Bronze Have More Fun (a dark bronze) and R.S.V.P (a shimmery champagne). 

Seriously ladies, get out and try these shadows- you will fall in love. 

With my arm plastered in cream shadow, I set my sights on the longwear powder shadow:

 L2R: Blingo!, Raincheck? Pinky Swear, It's Complicated, Call My Bluff.

L2R: Quick Look Busy, Kiss Me I'm Tipsy, Nude Swings, Thanks A Latte, Pause For Applause, Milk It!

Unfortunately, in all the excitement I missed out 'Glit-Y Pleasure', a golden sand sort of colour. These power shadows have a great pigment and can be mixed together to create lush combinations (give me Blingo and Pause For Applause any day!). 

Next up, and my personal favourite, is the Ultra Plush Lip Gloss. 

(Swatched on the lovely Alyson)
Left to Right: Ice Breaker, Poutrageous, A-Lister, Lollibop, Fauxmance, Kiss You.

 Again, how cute are the names of the colours?

You might have seen me on instagram with A-Lister applied. The lip gloss mixture is so smooth and creamy and smells absolutely devine.  We built up the colour slowly and worked it into my lips for maximum effect. The end result was a beautiful soft pink. I actually really regret not buying this now and is on my wishlist!

 I also managed to try out Fake Up, as I missed the launch and hadn't managed to check it out for myself. 

 

Fake Up in Light, Medium and Dark.

As I'd missed the launch of fake up, I managed to get some time to check it out for myself. The lovely Alyson applied the lightest shade to my eyes, nose and lips and I was blown away by how wonderful it worked to hide problem areas and worked great in defining my Cupid's bow. I was sold and bought one right after.

 Finally, we were shown around the tanning and waxing rooms. Benefit Boutiques offers Fake Bake tanning for that glowing tan and a whole range of body waxes. 

The waxing service was especially impressive as Benefit offer hot wax as well as strip wax. Julie, the wax expert at Swansea explained that if you've ever had anything waxed, you probably had strip wax, a honey coloured wax which is smoothed and taken off with paper or muslin cloth.

Benefit however, offers hot wax. The hot wax is, as the name suggests, hotter and blue in colour. It's spread onto the area and left to dry. When dry, the ends of the wax are picked and the whole thing is lifted and taken off, taking all excess hair with it.  I would definitely recommend having the hot wax as it is a lot quicker, less messy and hurt less (great for more intimate areas).  

Strip wax, The Wax station, Hot wax

At the end of a being pampered and made over, we were given amazing goodie bags! I was so shocked to receive something as we'd be spoilt enough. Inside the bags were a full sizes Porefessional, They're Real and Porefessional. I was blown away by these gifts (two are top sellers) and  I'd run out of my Porefessional. Check for reviews on my goodies soon ;)

I had an amazing day and couldn't stop smiling all the way home.

Thank you to Alyson, Joanne, Lindsay, Julie, Daniella, and the rest of the team at Benefit Swansea!

xxxx






P.S. I'd be honored if you nominated me for the Cosmopolition Blog Awards for New Beauty Blog.