Last Christmas I decided to treat myself to having my make up done at the Benefit counter, the only cost to this was spending £30 or more on make up, ho hum, no problem for me and it means that I get some new make up! Upon doing my face the make up artist used the benefit 10, bronzer and highlighter, and after a small amount of persuasion I decided that this would be one of the products that I chose.

**Idea behind**

The idea behind benefit 10 is to combine a bronzer with a highlighter in order to define the contour of your cheekbones for that elegant look that can be difficult to obtain with a variety of different products and brushes. It takes the stress out of faffing round, and is simple to use to achieve the look you want.


**Pennies and Packaging**

The pennies - not the cheapest item of make up that I have ever bought weighing in at a hefty £23.50 for a measley 7g of product, just to compare I have checked on Amazon and the cheapest I can find is £19.50, though with the £3 delivery you are not saving much. All in all an expensive product.

The packaging - A small box, with a deep lid, which is pale pink in colour with generic girly images of diamantes (or diamonds) on the top, clearly displaying the benefit brand name. On opening the lid you see a small brush, which is housed in a plastic container, on top of the product to be used for application. The brush, although small, is thick and has an easy to grip handle, even if you are blessed with larger hands and fingers (as I am), it is also very soft so doesn't irritate the skin. The plastic container is much better than leaving the brush loose in my opinion and this is for 2 reasons, the first being that the brush doesn't get make up over the handle which then transfers onto your hand and the second being that the plastic brush does not destroy or chip the product so you can wear it away evenly with just the brush! Once you remove the brush and container you are then shown a lovely pale pink and pale bronze compressed powder with just a hint of glitter sparkling.


**Product, Application and Does it Work??**

The Product - as mentioned it is a compressed powder which is halved into the 2 colours (pink and bronze) with what I can only descibe as an artifical "make up like" smell to it which is not altogether unpleasant and you can only smell this in the box not on application. I love the way that this looks when you open it, I think its very girly and sparkly.

Application - application is a doddle. It is simply sweep the brush along the 2 colours (being careful not to mix them), tapping the excess of the brush, and sweeping, with the pale pink highlighter on the top, across your cheek bone in one movement. I find that I generally only need to do this once and the difference is notable across my skin and it looks as though I am sucking in my cheeks!

Does it work - for me I have to say it does, I love the way that it makes my cheekbones seem to pop out and it removes any need for me to apply blusher . The only complaint I do have is that if I apply in a rush, without a fluid sweepin movement, there is a very noticeable break between the pink and the bronze, rather than the subtle contour/highlighting that is the aim of this. The pale pink colour matches my skin tone well (medium warm) and personally I think this will work well for people of this colouring or paler, but not very well if your skin is darker, I think the contrast would be too deep.


**How else to use it**

As I said, I went to a make up counter to originally purchase this product, one of the tips that I was given was to not always follow the rule book on how to use this and I find that taking a big round bronzer brush and mixing the 2 colours together you end up with a very subtle bronzer with just the right amount of shimmery sparkle, I use this across my shoulders and chest to add a subtle touch of glitter and glamour!


**How long does it last**
I have had this product since Christmas so it has lasted for 8 months so far and I barely appear to have made a dent in this, however I probably only use this about once a week - namely because it has to live in my big make up bag rather than my every day make up bag and I tend to forget that I actually own this!


**Would I recommend**
In all honestly for someone like me who rarely uses blusher, I would say don't bother wasting your money, yes it is a lovely product and I love using it (when I remember) it is just not worth spending that amoung on something that is used so rarely.

However for someone who uses blusher on a more daily basis I would recommend in a heartbeat, it looks more natural than blusher and gives you that dewy glow and shimmer without appearing too harsh in the day light.

4 out of 5 stars - namely due to the price