Makeup Monday- Speed Review: Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation

I'm treating you with a double whammy of makeup reviews today because I wanted to share my thoughts on what has become one of my favourite everyday foundations for achieving a natural look. Despite the range including a number of bestsellers, I must confess that I'd never have thought to try a Benefit foundation, had it not been sent to me for review, simply because the brand doesn't offer a wide variety of foundations and therefore, I honesty didn't expect their base products to be very good!

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation is described by the company as a brightening liquid foundation which has a buildable light to medium coverage, providing a natural finish. They say, "it's you.. just more luminous and healthy looking". The foundation is oil-free, with hydrating benefits and  broad spectrum SPF25 PA+++ protection (the highest level). Personal preference will dictate whether the inclusion of SPF is a positive or negative. Some people appreciate the additional protection that this offers to their skin on a day-to-day basis whereas I personally prefer to gain my SPF protection from skincare & tend to opt for foundations without SPF to avoid the risk of flash back in photography.

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation is presented in an outer box which isn't as outstanding or attention grabbing as some Benefit packaging. That said, it's perfectly fine and I guess that for many, foundation is less of an impulse purchase than say, a lipstick or blush and therefore, there's less need for the packaging to stand out. To me, the plastic bottle looks a little cheap and is reminiscent of drugstore brand packaging. Having said that, the plastic means that it's suitable for travel and I also appreciated that it's transparent so that it's easy to see how much product is remaining. It has a functional pump dispenser & I feel that this is well suited to the relatively liquid formula of the foundation.

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation is available in nine shades, with there being three options per depth of colour (light, medium & dark). They range from Ivory (I'm Pure For Sure) through to Nutmeg (Gotta Know Me). I liked that the names are cute & quirky in line with Benefit's branding. I opted for the second lightest shade, Ivory (Believe In Me) for my MAC NC15 skin and I feel that it's a good colour match. That said, I'm not convinced that those with very pale skin will be able to find a shade to work for them. Of course, with Benefit being a counter brand, a beauty consultant will be able to help with colour matching and in my experience, Benefit are good at providing samples to try at home. I haven't experienced any colour oxidisation when wearing this.

The foundation feels very lightweight on the skin and I don't feel as though I'm wearing foundation when using this. The hydrating benefits mean that it feels comfortable on the skin.

Despite the lightweight texture, I found that it delivered on the claims of having a buildable light to medium coverage. The finish is very natural and I feel that it's best described as "my skin but better". I wasn't able to detect a discernible fragrance.

I found that it wore well on my combination skin & didn't break down as much as other foundations throughout the day in my oily areas. Likely owing to the high concentration of dimethicone (which is the second ingredient), it's impressively long wearing.

Being familiar with Benefit's pricing, I expected Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow to be approximately £25. It's actually £26.50 for 30ml which isn't cheap, however, I do feel that this is a good foundation and that the price is in line with other high end brands. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for an everyday foundation which gives a natural finish.

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