Ben Nye

This is now my favourite loose powder! I have shade Cameo and it is a perfect colour match for my NW10-15 skin tone, as it leans slightly pinkish. However, it's very subtle and suits neutral undertones as well as cool. Its finish is matte, no shimmer or sparkle. The powder itself is finely milled, and easy to apply with a brush. It blends out beautifully and actually is pigmented enough that it imparts sheer coverage when worn - particularly useful when out & about and I need to touch up my base make-up. It isn't cakey or heavy on either. While I can't fault the powder itself, its containers are awful and drive me up the wall at times. The 42g and 85g sizes are plastic bottle shaped with a sifter built into the opening, beneath the screw-on cap. If I am not careful powder goes EVERYWHERE - the sifter's holes are too wide and let lots of it stay on the underside of the cap, if not opened upright it all spills out. I'd recommend decanting the powder into a more suitable container.

I have had this for half a year at least. It is a colour in between MAC Gleeful blush and Desert Rose blush. I would say it is warm medium-deep pink, not cool pink. I found this blogger took a very good picture of the colour here which shows you, too, that it is not dusty/powdery, but it is finely milled, applies smoothly - http://green-gummy-bear.blogspot.com/2012/10/ben-nye-blush-swatches.html Lasting power is average, neither bad nor extraordinary- just about morning till a bit before sunset, which is more than enough for me. This lifts my whole face and matches so well with my skintone (warm NC40ish). It lasts well, pigmentation is neither too much nor too little (I use a make up for ever blush brush as it picks up the best amount of pigment for this). I like it with Tarte Paaa(how many a's?)rty blush right on apples of cheeks, and this buffing it out. I also like it on its own. This brand impresses me with the clarity of colour. No muddiness or odd greenish tinge to the colour, that one gets from similarly priced Drugstore blushes. Nor does the colour oxidize. If you like inexpensive makeup, and shades like Cover Girl Plumberry, this is a better version of it.

I used this today and I realized I must review it. I got it because of MaquillageObscura.blogspot.com, where she recommended it for medium skintones. (Check out her post on Fab Four Ben Nye eyeshadows to see what I mean). It is a beautiful shade, it can serve as a liner, or lid, or contour (lid) for a darker look (eg eggplant on lid, this for crease blended out). It blends very well (but not blending away the colour). This does need a good brush (like most actual pro shadows)--it is just so pigmented that any poor quality brush or application can leave smudgy unevenness. However, unlike bad quality but pigmented stuff (Viseart original matte palette) it doesn't become muddy/lose actual colour from blending. With less pigmented stuff you don't have to worry about blending as much (e.g, Chanel can go on with sponge tips, being so ultra-sheer). Yet you do need to build the less pigmented shadows up a billion times, so often the 'effect' is lost for all the building up. This is more efficient, it can make makeup application faster and smoother. It did take me some time to learn how to work with these shades, as I was used to easier things like MAC (which never gave me the exact depth and effect I wanted) and Dior. Once I learned, I realized these shadows lay on more smoothly since you're not bothering about building up many times over, so they last better. If you know the little tricks to work with very pigmented shades, this will work for you. Here are some examples of 'tricks' : neutral shadow or translucent powder for a base lid shade prior to colours added. Dabbing and blending in circular motions. This is better quality than Viseart, in my opinion.