Benefit, For Fair Skinned Girls Only?

While shopping at Sephora this past week I was looking at Benefit cosmetics when a consultant approached me and let me know that the brand, "Wouldn't have anything that would fit my skin tone."

Not sure who asked her, but I want to set the record straight. While Benefit Cosmetics is most often geared toward fairer skinned women (like most make up brands, what else is new?) it does not mean that it will not fit Olive skin tones. I can attest to this by saying that I have been using Benefit make up for some time now and while all of it is not flattering to more Olive complexions there are still some amazing finds in this line. So, I'm going to let you in on the secrets.

Let's start from the beginning. You want your skin to be moisturized and healthy before you put on any make up. The best thing I've found for my skin is Benefit's "That Gal" it's pink and ever so slightly shimmery, it also smells delicious! You think this primer may not fit your skin tone, but really, it does. It may be pink but it's not opaque and it adds that little bit of a healthy rosy glow to your skin. You can wear it alone or under make up.

For foundation and concealers they actually have some pretty good options for us cafe au lait ladies. As a lady with some dark under eye circles I can honestly say that the combo of "Boi-ing" (this one goes first) and "Erase Paste" is pretty magical for my "darkness" as I like to call it. I use the shade "medium" for both of them, but they also have a "light" and a "dark" option.
"Erase Paste" is a little hard to get the hang of at first, but after learning it is so worth it! "Boi-ing" is also a little hard to use at first, but just understand that you need a light finger (ring finger) patting of this product and then pat it in, don't blend it.

Next, when it comes to foundations I've found that Benefit may not have many different types but the two that I have tried have been great. I like nice, even and light coverage when it comes to my foundation, so this brand is fabulous for that kind of thing! I started out using "Hello Flawless!" in the summer, it's a powder foundation, is light and keeps me matte. I use the color "All The World's My Stage" it's a great beige shade that blends in nicely with my skin color. When the colder season rolled around I needed something a bit more moisturizing I switched to "Some Kind- A Gorgeous" and also loved it. It comes in light, medium and dark shades as well and I like to use the medium shade. Once again, this was a nice, light (but build-able) foundation that evened out my skin tone and looked natural. It's nice and creamy to begin with, which is nice for dry winter skin but then turns into powder, which is also nice for oily skin.

My favorite of their blushes for us more medium skinned girls is called "Sugar Bomb" because it's so versatile. If you look at the picture on the left you'll see that it comes with four shades. I like to swish my brush around in a circle to get all four colors and then put it on, it's a wonderful shade and smells amazing.

Another option the brand has for blush is a stain called "Benetint" from looking at it in the bottle you wouldn't think it'd look good on Olive skin but believe me, I have tried it and it is universally flattering and the best part is that it can also be worn on lips!


If you're going out for a night of dancing (or just feel like your skin needs a little extra oomph) I like to use their highlighter called "High Beam" it's also a universally flattering color that really does give you nice healthy "glow." The great thing is that it's not "BAM! glitter," it's more like "Ooooh shiny!" I really like using it on the apples of cheeks, on the bridge of my nose and under my brows. I look instantly healthy.

On to the eyes! I can rave on and on about their eye primer called "Stay! Don't Stray" it is truly amazing for keeping your under eye concealer and eyeshadow on all day without creasing. The shade it comes in works well for my medium skin tone, though if you're a little darker than that this shade may not work for you. In any case, using the primer under their concealer and "Creaseless (Really!) cream eye shadows"(my favorites are "R.S.V.P" and "Get Figgy") really does the job, your make up wont crease or go anywhere all day.

When it comes to mascara I have to say that "Bad Gal" is amazing but only in the waterproof version, otherwise you end up with raccoon eyes (trust me, I did it). Their "Bad Gal" eyeliner, which is waterproof, is also great. Be warned though that you have to sharpen it, nonetheless it's great for smudgy looks.

My go to for eyebrows is "Brow Zings," I haven't found anything that works better than this. I use it in the color "dark" and it's perfect for my skin tone/hair color. I really recommend it.

That about does it for my recommendations. I use a lot more of their products, but I can personally recommend these for a wide range of medium skin tones.