Benefit: They're Real Lipsticks

Benefit is bit of a weird brand in general. I remember seeing their packaging when I was younger and thinking it must be cheap as it looked like it was aimed at younger people like me. However when I looked at the prices I couldn't believe how expensive it was. Back in those days L'Oreal was as luxury as it got for me so Benefit was definitely out of my price range. Fast forward a few years to current day and I still think it is expensive but obviously there are other brands that far surpass Benefit in terms of price. Benefit have always been quite a hit or miss brand; with their mascara and brow products being some of my ultimate favourites but other products like their concealer and foundations not living up to my expectations.

After an extensive renovation of their brow range, Benefit finally launched the key product they were missing from their range, lipsticks. I believe they were launched just over a year ago now but they didn't receive much advertisement at the time. The only catch was they came in a set of four and you couldn't get them individually. Not only did you have to buy a set but they are also a concept lipstick. They are formed of two different shades and one part acts as the liner whilst the rest gives your lips the main body of colour. The lipsticks are called the They're Real Double The Lip as it is supposed to make your lips look bigger but we will get onto that later. Eventually earlier this year they launched them as individual items and this was when I took a little bit more notice of them.

When they came as a set I couldn't have been more disinterested purely because the concept did seem a little bit of a gimmick to me and if I didn't end up liking them I didn't want to have four of them. However I was really intrigued by the idea that a lipstick could have a liner built in and some of the nude shades looked lovely. These factors lead me to wanting to try them but once again I didn't want to spend £16.50 on a lipstick I didn't really like when for the same price I could buy a MAC lipstick and use a liner I already own. Luckily Elle Magazine came to the rescue.

For my birthday this year one of my best friends very kindly bought me a subscription to Elle magazine. Prior to this I had never really thought of getting someone a subscription as a present but now that I have received it myself I can understand why you would do it. I love getting my copy of Elle in the post, it saves me from buying it which I do pretty much every month anyway. Plus it makes me think of that specific friend every time it arrives. Anyway Elle often do free gifts and at least once a year they team up with Benefit to give out a deluxe sample of a new product. I remember a few years ago they had a sample size of Roller Lash and I loved it so much I bought it the moment it came out. So when I saw that they had some of the Double the Lip lipsticks I eagerly awaited my copy. Quite often if you are a subscriber you do not get the free gifts so I really hoped I would get one when my copy arrived. To cut a long story short, I ended up buying a copy before I had even received my subscribers copy. I just couldn't wait and I had seen the shade Nude Scandal which was the one I really wanted so I ended up buying it.

I just got so worried that I wouldn't get one with my subscription, I had a moment of panic and bought one. When my copy did eventually come in the post it actually did have one with it so I ended up with two lipsticks but luckily they are two different shades so it gave me the opportunity to try out more than one. To be fair, the magazine is £4.00 which would be way cheaper than buying the lipstick and really I only paid for one copy as the other was a gift. I did gave my mum my second copy of the magazine as we usually share anyway so it didn't go to waste. After finally getting my two shades I couldn't wait to try them.

I have seen a few reviews on these lipsticks and no one seems particularly fussed about them. People don't hate them but at the same time they don't like them which these days isn't a positive thing. There are now so many products on the market that if you don't stand out then the likelihood is that no one will take notice. People want make up that they are going to use and this lipstick doesn't seem to be one of them. The reason I wanted to try them despite receiving no positive reviews is purely because they seem easy. I am not the best at applying a lip liner just because I do not have the patience for it so I hoped that I could just swipe this lipstick on and be good to go. However I really struggled with these. In the end I would go as far as to say that these are more difficult than a liner and a traditional lipstick. I struggled to get the liner even and it only really looks good if you have perfect application first time. If you go over it again you loose the liner and that defeats the purpose of the lipstick. Not only that but I like to do a cross at my cupids bow to give shape but for some reason this really struggled to do that whilst maintaining a strong line.

Not only was it hard to keep the liner in tact but I also struggled when it came to my bottom lip. You have to turn the bullet so that the liner is at the bottom of your lip but it feels unnatural as the bullet is shaped for the top lip. This made it awkward to apply and to once again get a defined line. In my opinion if you are going to do something like this you have to make it easy to apply from all angles and this didn't feel easy. As the line wasn't strong enough using this lipstick, it didn't really make my lips look any bigger and as the liner is part of the lipstick it made it hard to over draw your lips.

The formula is very creamy to the point where it feels almost slippery on the lips. I guess this feels more like a balm than a lipstick. I can't really tell whether there is a different formula between the liner and the lipstick part or whether it is just two colours put in the same tube. I think I prefer the texture of a pencil liner purely because I also like to use it as a base to hold my lipstick. With this lipstick you are unable to do this as the liner does not separate so anywhere the liner goes the lipstick goes too. In some ways this is good as I have the terrible habit of getting something out of my bag, my liner goes with it but I don't realise I've dropped it so it is never to be seen again. This won't happen with this as they are literally together. If this was just a lipstick I'm not even sure I would really like the formula then. It does have quite a good colour pay off for both the liner and the lipstick but it is slightly too creamy for my taste. I prefer something a little bit more matte.

One thing I do have to compliment Benefit on is the combination of colours. I have to admit I haven't seen them all but the two I have, the liner and the colour go well together. If not too well. My favourite combination out the two is Nude Scandal, possibly because it is a nude but also they merge together well so you aren't given an over exaggerated line. They blend well and look natural which is what you want from a nude. Plus this does give the illusion of larger lips, if you can get the line right. The liner part of Nude Scandal is a similar shade to Charlotte Tilbury's Pillow Talk but the formula of the Charlotte Tilbury Liner is much better. That is if you like the look of the liner. The two pair well for Revved Up Red but I don't like the overall colour. This isn't a red to me, it is more of a pink which personally I don't like. I would have liked to have seen more of a brick red and I think to achieve this, the lipstick portion needed to be more matte. The pigmentation isn't good enough on this one either, for a red I think of a bold statement but this comes across more like a coloured balm when you see it on the lips.

The concept is good but in practice I just do not think these lipsticks work. I have used Nude Scandal a lot more than Revved Up Red but only on days when I am heading out to get a few bits from the supermarket, I wouldn't wear this if I was actually meeting up with someone. If you were thinking about trying these I would possibly give them a miss. They don't really make life that much easier and for the same price you could buy a MAC lipstick of your choice. Unfortunately I was quite late getting this post up so this copy of Elle has now left the shops so you can't try this little sample size. However if you are intrigued to try them Benefit do a travel size which is actually the same size as these ones for £10.50. (0.75g.) These lipsticks aren't Benefits finest hour but if you do want to try something from Benefit check out their brow products, they cannot be beat.