Benefit | Big Beautiful Eyes | Eye Contouring Kit

Benefit | Big Beautiful Eyes Kit | £24.50 (link)

As some of you may or may not know,  I left my job earlier this year (of my own choosing I might add, it certainly was not a Sir Alan Sugar 'you're fired' moment) and although it was very sad and there were a few wobbly moments on my last day, it's all okay because I've now moved on to pastures new and all that jazz.  My wonderful colleagues treated me to some lovely Benefit goodies, which you may have seen in a post a while back if you've been reading my blog for a while (I reviewed the 'Go Tropi-Coral' set they got me here if you're interested!), the second present they got me being this little eye contour set, Benefit's 'Big Beautiful Eyes Eye Contour' kit.  To say they must know me well is an understatement. Anyone who knows me knows I'm partial to an eyeshadow set or two - so they definitely scored some brownie points there..anyone would think they were trying to get me to stay ;)

The Big Beautiful Eyes set contains 3 eye shadows and a concealer.  The 3 shadows compliment each other perfectly and work together to enhance your peepers. I often just wear the middle shade all over the lid when I'm not feeling particularly creative or if I'm in a rush - it's such a flattering warm taupe-y kind of colour - right up my street!  The eye shadows are so creamy and pigmented, and are probably some of the most 'buttery' shadows I own - just one swipe provides such good colour pay off and they blend out like a dream. They last very well throughout the day and I find the warmth of the shades quite flattering on my skin - they definitely make my eyes look more awake.  The palette comes with some dinky little brushes - I haven't used these yet aside from the little liner brush, but I'm sure they will come in very handy when on the go (I travel abroad fairly regularly so sets like this are perfect and such an essential for me as everything is in one place) The Boi-ing concealer (in '02') is also a great little addition, although I actually haven't been able to use this yet as it's just ever so slightly too dark for me at the moment.  As soon as the sun comes out and when my skin darkens a little as it always does in the summer months, I will definitely be giving it a whirl. 

The photographs above show how I've been wearing the palette - I do sometimes wear it without any eyeliner on at all and purely just the liner shadow but I really like the way the palette looks with a thin line of eyeliner pencil close to the upper lash line when I want my eyes to look a little more defined and made up. I place a thin line of my eye pencil on top of the liner shadow, and it creates a lovely soft, graduated effect. I then smudge out the dark brown shadow into the outer corners of my eyes to keep the look soft and subtle looking. I line my lower lash line purely with the brown liner shadow and it gives such a lovely soft effect that defines the eyes but doesn't look too harsh - it's really easy to apply with the little brush they provide. The base shadow looks lovely on the inner corners, and the shimmer in it isn't too 'in your face' but helps to awaken and brighten the eye area.  The contour shadow creates a lovely finish and is a lovely warm taupe shade - it completes the simple daytime look perfectly and blends out amazingly well due to how soft and buttery the shadows are. If you're a bit unsure on contouring your eyes, then this set is a definite must have as it comes with a handy little instruction booklet and the shades provided are subtle enough to experiment with and wear on a daily basis - perfect for an everyday, neutral eye and nothing too scary or overly smokey. This being said, the shades are amazingly pigmented and noticeable, you only need a tiny bit to create a perfectly simple contoured eyelid.  I really like that you can create a whole eye look purely with the shadows provided, or add a little teeny-tiny flick of eye liner and you're pretty much sorted

I'm jolly well chuffed to have this little handy palette in my collection - it's not something I would have necessarily chosen myself but I'm so thankful that the lovely bunch at my shop picked it up for me.  I can see myself getting a lot of wear out of this, and it's a set I reach for very regularly.  I've never tried any eyeshadows by Benefit but have been really impressed by the consistency and quality - I will definitely keep my 'Big Beautiful eyes' peeled (see what I did there?) for a few more to add to my collection!

Have you tried any of Benefit's eyeshadows?