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Welcome to my second “Real Girl Beauty” post! I started this last month (feat. Chanel) where I chat with my friends (or readers) who are non-beauty bloggers about their beauty routines. It could be that the girl enjoys a particular brand of makeup (like in today’s post with Benefit Cosmetics), or just has sworn by certain products for years! Something about getting a peek into what the every day woman is using is interesting to me, so today we’re talking Real Girl Beauty with my friend Katie, who, for the last year now, has been telling me about how much she’s loved her new beauty routine with Benefit makeup favorites.
For added fun, I wanted the girls to take photos of their products themselves… non beauty blogger style. This means I expected that the products didn’t look pristine and many of the pics would be taken simply on an iPhone (not some fancy DSLR)… because let’s be honest. Before I take pictures of my makeup for posts with my ginormous camera, don’t think that there isn’t a plethora of Clorox wipes and rubbing alcohol involved to make sure everything looks as perfect as possible 😉 Let’s take a look at what Benefit makeup Katie is swearing by!
Katie and I first met exactly five years ago this upcoming weekend (aw!). Our husbands (my boyfriend at the time) both served in the US Navy as dentists for a few years stationed in Camp Lejeune, NC. Katie and her husband relocated from the Columbus, OH area and were just married. We are both girlie-girls who love shopping and since there wasn’t very much to do in a military town, we spent endless hours walking the aisles of Ulta together (can you believe the nearest Sephora was 2.5 hours away in Raleigh!?). Katie and her husband, Cliff, also were our marriage witnesses and will always be so special to us. I’m not sure I would have survived the ups and downs of military life without her <3! Katie and her husband now live back in the Columbus area with their little girl and two adorable rescue pups. If you or your family are looking for a new dentist in the area, definitely check out her husband’s practice here!
Back then, Katie loved bareMinerals through and through, but after she had her first baby going-on-two-years-ago, her beauty-needs and routine changed. Once she got through the first few months of being a new mom and was able to take maybe three minutes for herself, she started getting back into her girlie-girl game! “I was searching for a new brow artist and decided to try Benefit Brow Bar at my local ULTA. Makenzie, who became my brow miracle maker, made me fall in love with the products,” Katie said.
After her first brow appointment, I remember Katie sending me a pic of how awesome not just her brows looked, but Makenzie glammed her up so nicely! It was super pretty on her and I asked what she decided to take home with her. “[I currently have their] Hello Flawless liquid and powder foundation, They’re Real mascara primer, They’re Real Mascara, Roller Lash Mascara, Stay Don’t Stray concealer/eyeshadow primer, Dallas blush, Dew the Hoola bronzer, Gimme Brow, Ready Set Brow, Stay Flawless primer, The Porefessional primer, Goof Proof brow pencil, Bad Gal liner and a couple of eye shadows,” she told me. Her collection is impressive! If you’re going to get advice about Benefit products, clearly Katie is your girl, people 😉
Of course, out of a collection that large from one brand, I had to know what are her Holy Grails/must-repurchase items:
Stay Don’t Stray concealer/eyeshadow primer. As I’ve gotten older (sigh), my eyelids look dull and the bags under my eyes have gotten scary. I always apply some on my lids and under my eyes every morning after I finish my skin care…even if I don’t wear anything else all day! I also love Benetint because it stains your lips and you don’t have to reapply often. I’m horrible with reapplying lip color!
Katie also shared some super helpful tips in how she likes to apply a couple of her Benefit cosmetics favorites:
[When using the Stay Don’t Stray product,] I do three dots on my eye lids and under my eyes. Just pat it into place with your fingers. I’ve tried a brush and it doesn’t blend as well.
If you want intense lashes without them feeling heavy, I normally apply one coat of the They’re Real primer, one coat of Roller Lash [for curl] and one final coat of They’re Real mascara [for volume and length].
For the Hello Flawless foundation, the liquid is buildable but still tends to be sheer upon initial application. If I’m trying to cover a little more, I’ll do the liquid foundation and then use the powder foundation in one shade darker (liquid and powder shades run a bit different, so be sure to get color matched) and just dust it on top.
What have you tried from Benefit? Any other “Holy Grails” Katie should add to her list? Let us know in the comments! Special thanks to Katie for sharing so much info on her awesome Benefit makeup favorites 🙂
If you’re interested in being featured in an upcoming “Real Girl Beauty” (drugstore or high-end brands welcome), shoot me an email at brighterdarling@gmail.com with “Real Girl Beauty: [INSERT BRAND NAME]” as the subject.
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Happy Ulta-hauling,
-Steffanie
