Benefit At-A-Glance
Strengths: One of the few cosmetic lines that tries to bring fun back to skin care, but succeeds more with their makeup; a good BHA product; Lipscription deserves an audition if you’re prone to chapped lips; all of the foundations are good; two of the concealers are exceptional; well-deserved reputation for liquid blush and bronzer; Dallas, Hoola, Dandelion, and Georgia are all great; good brow-enhancing options; several good lip glosses; excellent shimmer products.
Weaknesses: No sunscreens in the skin-care lineup; mostly irritating anti-acne products; clever names and product descriptions are much more interesting than product contents; mostly unimpressive eyeshadows; the chunky pencils; lip-plumping products disappoint; mostly average mascaras.
Benefit was developed by twins Jean Danielson and Jane Blackford, whose initial claim to fame was a stint as the Calgon twins back in 1960s television commercials. They opened their first cosmetics store, The Face Place, in San Francisco circa 1976, and then, perhaps recognizing the need for a name with more impact, The Face Place became Benefit in 1990. From there the line took off and expanded its presence beyond the Bay Area to include national department stores and, eventually, Sephora boutiques. Sephora’s parent company, LVMH, purchased Benefit in late 1999, and, for the most part, has allowed the brand to stay true to the zany irreverence that put it on the map.
Fortunately the change hasn’t eroded Benefit’s makeup philosophy, which is outrageously fun, or its product arsenal centered on impossibly cute names and a lexicon that aims to make beauty enjoyable. Benefit single-handedly started the trend of selling makeup and skin-care products with ultra-cute appellations for less than ultra-fancy prices. It seems that in recent years, LVMH’s influence may have trickled down to Benefit’s marketing department, because most of the cute, attitude-based product descriptions have been tempered to more clearly communicate the products’... you guessed it, benefit. But that’s a smart move given the number of products Benefit competes with in department stores and at Sephora.
Yet even with the more straightforward claims, most of these products simply can’t do what they say they can. In almost every instance, the showcased ingredients are either present in itsy-bitsy amounts or the claims attributed to them are not even remotely true. For example, soy won’t heal skin, orange fruit extract doesn’t alleviate dark circles, and marshmallow root is absolutely not “a one-a-day vitamin” for your skin. Despite this, if you’re in the mood for a fun experience and can manage to choose products wisely while enjoying the whimsy, Benefit deserves a look.
Benefit Makeup
It’s refreshing to see a cosmetics line espouse fun and frivolity, but if product quality and performance aren’t there to sustain the philosophy there’s not much to discuss. Luckily, that’s not the case with most of Benefit’s makeup. As with most lines, there are enough missteps and problem products to shop carefully, but Benefit shines in several categories, including foundation, concealer, bronzing powder, blush, and shimmer products.
You’ll find the Benefit salespeople to be more than eager to show you how their products work. They’re quite energetic and most are fond of what Benefit terms their “Fake-Its,” which include all manner of concealing and highlighting products, each with its own cute story about how it functions and how to get the results promised. Whether your concern is laugh lines, a sagging brow area, thin lips, dark circles, or some other flaw, a Fake-It product exists to make such issues a thing of the past. It sounds great until the experimentation begins and you realize that either the product doesn’t work as claimed or is a poor substitute for makeup standbys such as foundation and neutral-toned concealer. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Fake-It products didn’t fare as well in my reviews. Despite these drawbacks, testers are easily accessible, and the salespeople have a pleasant “go ahead and play” attitude.