REVIEW: Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Brightening Makeup

Do you have oily skin, but still looking for that foundation that's going to give you a dewy finish without looking like a disco ball? Are you sick of your matte foundations that end up looking flat and makes your skin look dull? Are you in need of decent coverage without the heavy and cakey feel?

Look no further, because today's product on review might just work for you. I'm talking about the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Brightening Makeup (Php 1,900). This foundation's label is a mouthful! And amazeballs!

I got mine in the shade Petal. While I was looking at swatches online, Champagne seemed a better shade match for me. Fortunately, I decided to actually buy this from a Benefit store and was able to compare Petal and Champagne. If I had neutral skin tone, Champagne would have matched me to a T. But, I have warm undertones, so I went with Petal. I thought it was going to look horrendously light on me. But it didn't, it actually worked quite well.

It comes in a plastic smoked bottle. (Is that how you call it? Like smoked glass because it's not clear? Whatever, you see the picture, lol.) It doesn't feel cheap at all and it's actually good, because if you drop the bottle at least you know it won't break. It has a pump, so plus points for that!

This foundation has a light to medium coverage, leaning more on light. If you have clear skin, this would work fantastic on you. It's buildable, but, come on, in this humid Philippine climate, it's not advisable to go beyond two layers. It'll just melt right off. By the way, I apply this foundation with a brush, because the texture is runny and I don't want to use a damp sponge as that will be a waste of product (this one ain't cheap! Lol). 

Since I've mentioned before that I have a new skin care routine that works very efficiently for me, I've been enjoying this foundation recently because of that. It gives you this natural, dewy finish that looks like skin, only better. I'm very conscious about my oily skin though, so I do blot. The formula is oil free and non comedogenic, so this shouldn't break y'all out with acne prone skin.

Longevity wise, this foundation wears really well throughout the day. It felt so lightweight, even after wearing it for a good nine hours. You know how some foundations feel heavy and sticky after being worn for a very long time? You're not going to get that icky feeling with this one.

And did I mention this one has SPF 25 PA+++?! That's a mighty boast of high level UVA protection! If this thing wasn't too heavy on the pockets, I would totally wear it everyday! (Well, yeah, I actually just interchange it with my BB cream depending on where I'm going hehe.)

And so:

1. Price point: 5/10. Why, oh why, do US brand cosmetics have to be so fucking expensive here in the Philippines?! If I bought this in its US price, it would be totally justifiable, but here, it's just expensive.
2. Packaging: 10/10. Gotta give it a ten. It has a pump. The bottle is basically unbreakable. It doesn't gather dust. In spite of its plastic packaging, it still looks like a high end product, as it should.
3. Formula: 9/10. I get it, generally oily skinned gals aren't fans of a dewy finish. But sometimes, I get tired of my matte and satin formula foundations. I want to be able to sport that luminous glow without looking like a grease ball and this product was able to give me just that. I need to blot, but you really need to do that if you have a temperamental two year old toddler who sometimes throws fits if you don't carry her around.
4. Longevity: 9/10. It didn't feel like it was clogging my pores after being worn for hours at a time, not like most foundations wherein you feel like you're going to break out at the end of the day lol. I did notice it breaking down at the sides of my nose. It wasn't very noticeable, really, unless you looked closely into the mirror. 

VERDICT:

8.5

If you have money to spend, I do recommend this product. And this is a foundation, so it's worth investing in. You could have a dozen cheap lipsticks, but when it comes to foundations (and concealers), go ahead and splurge for the quality.

REVIEW: Daiso Makeup Blending Sponge

So, if you follow my blog or any of my social media, you'd know my favorite makeup tool is the blending sponge. It's just quicker and requires less effort than using a brush or my fingers. I also like that when my base is applied by a blending sponge, it's not so heavy and doesn't look cakey.

I've bought two of the Daiso Makeup Blending Sponges a month and a half ago. Each costs Php 88 only so I thought that even if they were terrible, I wouldn't feel so bad since they're so cheap. I did test them before taking them to the counter. Be careful because some of them are not as soft as the others. Afterwards, when I came home, I put them in my storage box, and completely forgot about them (I do that a lot lol).

Fast forward to the past three days and I had to break them out because my Beauty Blender grew molds! The horror! I'm not sure why or how it happened since I make sure it gets dried out in the open, sometimes, if I can watch it, I even put it out in the sun. No way was I gonna let that thing touch my face again.

Now I started using the blending sponge from Daiso. First thing I noticed about it is that it holds more water than the original Beauty Blender under the faucet. It squeezes out pretty easily though, since it's so much softer. And a hell of a lot bouncier. Just like the Beauty Blender, it doubles in size once wet.

Daiso Makeup Blending Sponge dry and wet

I can squeeze all the way through it, unlike the Beauty Blender, which is more dense. It's a little bigger too so it covers a lot more areas on my face. You can see in the photo the tip is also pointy so it's great for those little corners of the face like the sides of the nose and the under eye area.

Excuse my toddler's hand. She wanted to get into the squeezing action too lol.

One thing that I don't like about it is that it soaks up more product than the original Beauty Blender. I like a light coverage but this one tends to sheer it all out. I have to use double the product with this one. 

All in all, I think this is not a bad makeup tool. At Php 88, this is actually great.  I just find it so wasteful to buy another Beauty Blender, really, that thing is so expensive and it's just going to grow molds. I don't think it's not inevitable since the climate here in the PH is humid. I wouldn't recommend this one though if you're on a budget, because even if it's cheap, the fact that it uses more product, you'd actually be spending more. However, if you need an alternate blending sponge, this one is fabulous!