Smoking can be good! (Benefit Bad Gal)

Member Name: carly_pussycat

Product:	Benefit Bad Gal
Date:	06/05/05 (1224 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sexy smoky eyes, Lasts ages, Comes off easily with makeup remover

Disadvantages: Seems expensive to purchase

For a while now I’ve liked that smoky sultry eyed look that some girls seem to have, but for a long time I wondered how they managed it. I could never achieve this, not even with one of those smudgy applicators. All that changed when I spotted Bad Gal and realised that they weren’t using a small sharp pencil like I had, they were using a big fat black marker of a pen…well, almost.


BAD GAL EYELINER

BeneFit don’t half give some stupid names to their products! But as it goes this one is a pretty fair representation of the product – ok so you don’t have to be BAD but you need to be BOLD. You won’t catch a first time makeup wearer in this!

The pencil itself is pretty attractive for an eyeliner, seeing as most of them just look really boring with loads of unnecessary writing. This eyeliner can be described in four words: short, fat, pink and black. Ok, perhaps that doesn’t make it sound so attractive, but trust me, it’s cute. All it says on the pencil is ‘BAD Gal’ in big black letters. If you’re looking for it on the shelves it comes in a pink and black chunky cardboard box, and it only comes in one shade of black so you can’t get confused.

Unlike some other eyeliners, using Bad Gal for the first time might not produce the best results. It depends what look you’re going for, but in buying this I wanted a smudgy smoky eyed look; so the sharp ended pencil wasn’t the best thing for it. I find this easier to use if I sharpen it and then rub the sharp tip off on the back of my hand first (it’ll wash off with soap!)

As with any eyeliner if you’re going to line both your top and bottom lashes then always start with the top otherwise you’ll get smudges underneath your eyes that you *didn’t* want. Although I’ve always chosen soft kohl eyeliners over the hard scratchy type the first thing I noticed about this eyeliner was how INCREDIBLY soft it is! Don’t even think about drawing a sharp black line or a cute little cat’s eye flick with this…this just melts on and smudges almost effortlessly.

Once I’ve completed all the lines I normally use a smudger to blend the edges in to give a smoky look. This is so easy to create with this eyeliner because unlike other pencils it blends really easily without dragging the skin on your eyelid.

The result is a really bold sexy statement – perfect for nighttime but also great for day if you don’t mind a bit of attention! The shade is black and bold but it’s not actually the darkest black when it comes to eyeliner. I’ve got a thin black pencil that creates a really sharp dark line but due to the smokiness of it and how it diffuses around the eye it gives a subtle darkness to the eye – it’s the thickness of the pencil that makes it look more noticeable. It easily stays on all day and sometimes, if you’re going for a smudgy look, it actually looks better as the day goes on!

Although it is not a waterproof eyeliner I have never found this to run, the only downside is that in being so soft and smudgy you can’t touch/rub your eye with it on or it’ll be all over your face. When you’ve had enough of it for the day it really won’t put up much of a fight. I find that even if I’ve applied a bold amount of eyeliner on both eyes I can remove all traces with a single facial wipe (using it to remove the rest of my makeup first).

Unlike some harder pencils, sharpening this is a piece of cake – easier than all other eyeliners I’ve used. The only points to note are that: 1) you need a bigger sharpener; 2) your sharpener will get caked in soft eyeliner so you’ll need to clean it. But I’m not complaining as it is, without a doubt, one of my best purchases from last year!


PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

As with anything from BeneFit, this is expensive to buy initially. It’s £12.50 for a 10g pencil. However I’ve had mine for over a year and I don’t think I’ve even used 1/5 of what was there, and I don’t find that eyeliners generally go past their best. Plus BeneFit’s often on 3 for 2 or Advantage Card points in Boots so it’s normally cheaper.


VERDICT

Oh, as if you didn’t know! I love this, it’s a must have for anyone who likes to make a bold statement with their eyes or who, like me, prefers eyeliner to mascara. The only thing that could *possibly* improve it would be if they had a removable lid on the other end of the pencil with a concealed smudger (as brand like Clinique do…) but that’s really it!

For more information on the brand see www.benefitcosmetics.com


carly_pussycat - dooyoo UK ©

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