The Bronze of Champions : Product Review

The Bronze of the Champions : Benefit

I got an email from Sephora a few weeks ago about new sets from Benefit ranging from eye kits to primer sets. My love affair with Benefit is long and wonderful, so I decided that I absolutely needed a new kit from them. I scanned through all of them and decided on The Bronze of Champions... even though I'm extremely pale. And that's ok, because this kit works for those of us who are melanin deficient. 

The back of the outer box

Front and Back of inner packaging

On the back of the outer packaging, there is a photo showing everything that comes in the set. All of the items are sample/travel size, but that doesn't mean that you are getting too little of any one item. I personally love these kits for that exact reason; you get a sample/travel size and get to test a product before you commit to purchasing a full size item. This kit retailed for $32 and comes with six products and a brush. The six products included in The Bronze of Champions are: Watts Up! highlighter, They're Real mascara, creaseless cream shadow in Bikini-Tini, longwear powder shadow in Thanks A Latte, ultra plush gloss in Hoola, and Hoola bronzer (with brush). 

The actual product box is actually more of a keepsake item and you can remove all products from the interior, but you might not want to. Only four of the products have their own packaging; the Hoola bronzer and Thanks A Latte shadow are just in pans, so you would need something in which to store them. There is a also a little "Tips and Tricks" pamphlet attached to the interior mirror, something which I only glanced at.

Watts Up : Highlighter

I've been getting into highlighters more as I'm getting older since my skin isn't as luminous as it once was. Watts Up is a cream highlighter that goes on very smoothly, sheers out nicely, and has a golden touch to it, which you can see in the swatch below. You can sheer this out with a stippling brush or your fingers; I prefer my fingers since it gives me greater control. It does what a good highlighter should do; it doesn't make you appear oily and it doesn't contain glitter. Watts Up is my favorite item from the entire set and has made me seriously consider buying a full size. (Watts Up is also in the Sephora birthday gift this year if you want to try it out and don't want to buy this set)

They're Real : Mascara

I haven't used They're Real yet... but it is one of the most highly blogged about mascaras on the net. In case you aren't familiar, They're Real has a fairly unique brush that has plastic bristles along the body of the brush and then a spiky tip to help reach small lashes. This is slightly smaller than the sample size that you can buy for $10 at Sephora.

Bikini-tini : Creaseless Cream Shadow

This is one of the products that I was most excited for in the set, but unfortunately, I'm too pale for this to work on me. Bikini-tini is a very light, nude colored cream shadow with a hint of gold. When I say that this is too light for my pale skin, I mean that it matches my skin tone perfectly and you can't see it. It doesn't even work as a highlighter, that's how well it matches my skin. I've included a swatch even though it's hard to see the color. I have taken to using this as a base for the powder shadow and it does work well. After roughly nine hours, I only saw a tiny amount of creasing.

Thanks-A-Latte : Longwear Powder Shadow

Since I don't want to remove this item from the box yet, I have just included the swatches of the shadow. Thanks-A-Latte is, again, a very light shade, but light in the sense that it looks very natural and pretty. On it's own (swatch on the Right), it looks like a very light brown with golden shimmer, but if you layer it over Bikini-Tini, it takes on even more of a golden hue (swatch on the Left). I don't think I would really call this color bronze, but it is a warm toned light brown. I never wear eye shadow on it's own, I always use a primer, so I can't speak to the longwear power on its own, but on top of primer or Bikini-tini, it lasts all day.

Hoola : Ultra Plush Lipgloss

I want to preface this with one statement; I am extremely picky when it comes to lipgloss and I have no qualms about throwing them away if I don't like them. That being said, I will not be throwing this one away and have actually fallen in love with the texture. Like everything else that I've talked about from this box, this gloss is very sheer and very natural looking, so don't be put off by the fact that it looks dark tan in the tube. What is so amazing about this gloss though, it how it feels on the lips; it slides on, is not sticky, feels moisturizing and has no grit even those it has some glitter in it. It is a universally flattering shade since it's probably just a hint darker than most people's lips. If you have naturally darker lips, it will probably blend right in with your lips or be more a nude gloss; both good things! 

Hoola : Bronzer

I have no individual photo or swatch for Hoola because it was just too difficult. Hoola is one of the items that comes in a pan, not packaging, and it is not a dark bronzer, making a swatch next to impossible. I have already said this several times in this review, but I am pale. I am very pale. In most foundations, I wear one step up from the lightest shade they offer and I usually only go up a shade because I have yellow undertones. That being said, Hoola works for my winter skin, which means if you are any darker than ghostly, Hoola probably won't be suitable for you. I like all of Benefit's blushes and Hoola is cut from the same cloth. It's a soft powder that feels good on the skin, but it has a hint of orange to it, which makes it just a tad unappealing to me, but only a tad.

This box set is a Sephora exclusive, so if you're interested, you can head to a store and check it out or follow this link for more info.

 (all pictures copyright Allison Richardson Photography and not available for use without permission)