Benefit+Birchbox Event!

I'm really trying to take advantage of living in LA now, and this was the perfect opportunity! Birchbox and Benefit Cosmetics got together for an event on Tuesday, March 18 all around the country, mine was at the Montana Ave Boutique in Santa Monica. Basically, you bought a ticket and for a "free" brow wax or tint, a "free" Birchbox, and $35 of Benefit product credit. You also got a makeover to try their products, Sprinkles cupcakes, and champagne! What's not to love?

I wasn't sure if I could make it to the event, since it was 7-9pm and I work all kinds of crazy hours. When I found out I could leave at 6 on Tuesday, I was a little torn. Do I go spend $45 on a ticket, when I'll be all alone, and I don't even know if they'll still let me go since I didn't buy a ticket in advance, but it's not that far away (3 miles from my office actually)... But finally I decided to go and it was totally worth it!

Cute gift bag from the event

And my "free" (=included in ticket price) Birchbox

Great makeover. I never use liquid eyeliner and I love the winged edges!

I'm going to try do this on my own some time so I had to take pictures!

Here are the items I decided to buy. A little expensive, but the $35 credit helped a lot.

Benefit Erase Paste: ($26) Still deciding on this one. I have super dark circles under my eyes and I asked someone there about this. When she put it on, it looked great, just like when I put it on in the morning. I've started noticing, however that later in the afternoon, it almost looks cakey. I put powder on it, of course, but maybe that's the problem? I also haven't used my Stay Don't Stray sample I got (see below) on my under-eye area yet to see if that helps. I also noticed today that my cheeks are naturally pinker and this is very yellow, so there's a definite line where I put this stuff. But I'm still experimenting. I do love the coverage though! It's really thick, but also creamy and it came with that little "spatula" for scooping product out. I don't think it's necessary. The pot looks small, because it is, but when I say you don't need that much product, believe me! I just touch my finger to the top and what comes with on my finger is what I use. I've also been layering this product on, instead of starting with a lot of product first.

Benefit Fine One One: ($30) This was one product I was so happy to be able to try. I swear I had it in my Birchbox cart 3 different times but never bought it because I had never used cream blush before. My biggest question was how it would look with the powder I use everyday. Most reviews said you can't put powder on top of it because it will diminish the color, and I wasn't sure how a cream would work on top of a powder, so I asked someone at the Benefit Boutique and she said "Oh of course you can put it on top of powder!" So I finally bought it. And I love it!!! This product has 3 shades: The top champagne color (the whitish one on the right), a watermelon color in the middle, and a coral color on the 'bottom' when you apply. Then you blend together to have the highlight on the top and the darker coral in the hollow of your cheeks. You can also use it on your lips for some color and shine (this didn't work well for me the first time I tried it, since my lips were a bit dry, but I will try again). Again, I love this product! So smooth and great color. I put about 2 swipes on, then blend, then swipe a couple more times on the apples of my cheeks and blend some more. Great at layering color.

Benefit Gimme Brow: ($22) The price is a bit ridiculous for such a tiny thing, but I imagine it will last a long time. I had never really paid attention to my eyebrows before last Tuesday, save for tweezing. One woman suggested I get a brow tint when I was trying to decide between a tint and a wax. My first thought was that they'd lighten them to match my hair a little more - nope. Darker, but just a tiny. Basically evened the color out. Then when I was getting my makeup done, the woman used this product. She said it basically fills in brows just like you'd do with a pencil, plus it is like a gel so your brows stay in place all day. I have to admit, it does help. Having my brows "filled" and "gelled" just makes them frame my face better. I don't know why such a small thing impressed me so much. And this product is super easy. It's like mascara for your eyebrows. The wand/brush part is less than half the size of a mascara brush tip so it's easy to turn whatever way you need. This is now a staple in my makeup bag.

You might have noticed that all of those products above have little instruction booklets with them. I think that's awesome. It gives you tips on how to use the product and all the ingredients. Every full-size Benefit product I've bought has this and I think it's a nice little addition.

Now for my "free" box. It was Benefit products! Yay time to try more things!

Benefit BADgal Mascara: (deluxe sample $8, full size $19) This tiny sample has a HUGE brush on it, and I'm not sure how I like that. The formula was really smooth and went on really well. I didn't notice much volumizing or lengthening, but they looked natural. They were also very soft. But throughout the day when I would grab at my eyelashes because my eye itched, I noticed that the mascara would just come right off in my fingers. Not like I was pulling that hard, but it seemed like it never fully dried. So there's that.

Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eye Primer: (deluxe sample $8, full size $26) Used this under the eyeshadow sample, which says it doesn't crease anyway, but the two together worked very nicely. Next I will try this under my eyes under the Erase Paste to see if that helps.

Benefit It's Potent! Eye Cream: (deluxe sample $8, full size $34) I love this. The website says it's a "brightening cream to fade dark circles" and help smooth lines. Very soft, thick, moisturizing. The teeny tiny jar is really cute and sadly, I may have to spend the money on this as well. We'll see after a while if it really does fade my dark circles. The jar will be perfect for traveling too.

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in 'No Pressure': (deluxe sample $8, full size $20) I think that's the name of the color... I'll have to look again. I used the 'Stay Don't Stray' sample under this and it really did last all day with no creasing! I have never seen a cream shadow do that. Even some of my powder shadows crease after a long day. Could be the primer? Could be that this shadow is awesome? I like the color too. I was a little sad it wasn't more of a color, but I like gold and bronzes for my green eyes. I used a brush to apply this the first time, but I'm going to try this without a brush, and without the primer, maybe on separate occasions just to see how well it lasts.

twistband Hair Tie: ($10-$24 on birchbox.com depending on size of pack and design) Unfortunately, I won't be able to use this. If it was a headband I could, but since it's just a hair tie, nope. Not enough hair to tie up. I did notice that the knot could come undone very easily when I was pulling the sides apart. But it feels soft and I'm sure is great for some people.

This is the picture I shared on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #BenefitXBirchbox to try win $500 in Benefit products. I wish I would've taken more pictures at the event. They even had a "selfie booth" but I was leaving right when someone brought it up.