What: The playful American cosmetics company - which I adore for its amusing copy almost as much as its products themselves - is at it again. Just in time for December's flashy festivities, Benefit is adding another irreverently named blusher to its suite of cheek colours.
This month's new Rockateur shade bills itself as a racy, rose-gold face flush. Benefit says that Rockateur stands out from the other hues in the Box o' Powder range because it's been developed to dispense the intense colour payoff of a cream formula with the cushiony comfort of a baked powder - which may explain why you're paying the same price for less product (0.17 oz. compared to the 0.25 oz. of a standard Box o' Powder).
Benefit Rockateur cheek powder, $46, is available from Benefit counters at Tangs Orchard, Robinsons Raffles City and all Sephora stores. For more information, go to www.benefitcosmetics.com, and follow the brand on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BenefitCosmeticsSingapore.
Review: Like a rough rock chick who's actually a disarmingly sensitive soul at heart, Rockateur is surprisingly - and incredibly - wearable. Earmark this as a new everyday essential.
Let's start with the packaging (above), which is Benefit at its loudest and steamiest: A croc belly printed box overlain with embossed studs and pink lace, this blush doesn't blush at being sexy.
The product still comes in the brand's signature cardboard-like material, which, if my experience with the other Box o' Powders is any indicator, is bound to get scruffy with use. Note to Benefit: I love your bold boxes, but please consider repurposing the range in a sturdier shell!
Moving on to the product proper, I was more than a little hesitant when I opened it to see the gaudy gold in the pan. That amount of glimmer just won't cut it for my already greasy complexion. Well, there's certainly a great deal of glitter at first glance, but thankfully the disco ball sparkle is just a veneer - a swipe or two of your brush will reveal a tasteful tawny hue below.
How to describe the shade? If you're a fellow Benefit babe familiar with the company's oeuvre, I'd say the Rockateur's rosé champagne colour is akin to Benefit's Girl Meets Pearl liquid luminiser, with the shine taken down a few notches. There's still a noticeable sheen, but it goes on very sheer on my pale skin, lending my face a healthy, lightly kissed flush.
(Darker skin tones might have to go for a more aggressively pigmented product, although my tanned friend was happy to use it as a is-she-or-isn't-she, natural-look highlighter.)
The beautifully silky powder is very buildable and very forgiving (see swatch above) - it took me four to five swirls with my brush for the pink to appear bronzy on my cheekbones. This subtlety is a big plus in my books, because I know I won't be able to overdo things even if I wanted to.
Buffing it in with my M.A.C No. 129 brush, I scrutinised my face to see if the powder had settled into my pores or amplified my (very) fine lines - to my great relief, it hadn't. In fact, it did what a first-rate blusher should do, which is to say it gave me long-lasting colour pay-off along with a flattering, soft-focus glow. I wore this for a full work day under a setting of translucent powder, and didn't notice any fading for a good nine hours.
Rockateur also feels fabulously expensive: The finely milled powder is superbly smooth and pleasurable to wear. The bonus that sealed the deal for me? The small, precision angled brush that came with the blush. This companion brush is not your usual perfunctory throwaway: It did a really decent job in transferring the product to my face, and can be used on the go if you're not inclined to lug along a full makeup kit with you.
Bottom line: Benefit's Rockateur approaches holy grail status for me. Despite its larger-than-life monicker, any fair-to-medium complexioned girl will find this part blush, part bronzer versatile enough for everyday wear.
Because it's so sheer, this product is also fool-proof: No clownish, laughably obvious blush disasters here. Dust it along the V-shaped area between your temples and the highest plane of your cheekbones for a gorgeous glow that suggests a day out at The Hamptons!
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