Magic In A Bottle. (Benefit She Laq)

Member Name: heatherrr13

Product:	Benefit She Laq
Date:	24/11/05 (1775 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: works wonders, doesn't have a strong smell, nice packaging

Disadvantages: as expensive as all Benefit products

I am a massive fan of all Benefit products, so naturally I was intrigued by this one. I have to admit, when I was looking at the product I was a little cynical; I thought it was a lot of money for something that wouldn't work, so I held off buying it for a while.

One Benefit product that I regularly use is the BadGal Eyeliner. I love this eyeliner, however, after a long night out it does start to smudge a bit, especially on the bottom of my eyes. After the care and effort I have gone into in putting my make-up on I hate to see it half way down my face. So, after a couple of nights like this, I decided to take the plunge and buy some She Laq to see if it would solve my problems.

I actually bought this while I was on holiday in New York, from Bloomingdales. In America you can get Benefit products slightly cheaper than you can over here, I can't remeber the exact price I paid, but I know that it was cheaper than the £18.50 that Boots Online charge for it. As with all the Benefit products the packaging cannot be faulted. It comes in a little box (as the majority of Benefit items do), which is black and has a picture of a fortune teller on the front. Benefit are going for a mysterious, mystical, (magical?) turn with the packaging, which does make it look interesting. The writing on the box is in red, so stands out well.

Inside the box there is a little glass bottle. This is dark blue with a black screw on lid, and a black sticker with the same image on it as on the front of the box. You also get a little dark blue draw string bag, which contains 4 brushes. The bag has a kind of shimmer to it, and I think having this is a very nice touch. The 4 brushes are pretty small, with dark blue handles. You get 2 with very small and thin ends, perfect for using over eyeliner, one slightly thicker brush that would work for coating she laq on your brows and lips, and one mascara wand, perfect for eyelashes.

Onto the actual liquid. The pot is pretty small, so seems like a lot of money, however, you don't need to use much each time you apply it, so it does last. The pot actually contains 15ml of liquid. The black lid screws off, and there is a brush attached to it, like on a pot of nail varnish. The stuff does have a smell to it, I can't really place it, but you can smell the chemicals inside it. However, although you can smell this in the pot, when you actually apply the product the smell doesn't stick around so you're not walking around smelling weird.

So, so far so good. The first time I go out I go through the regular routine of coating on the makeup, using my trusty BadGal eyeliner and BadGal mascara. Then, the moment of truth. I open up my She Laq and using the brush that comes inside the lid I coat a layer over the eyeliner I have just applied. I does feel the tiniest bit sticky, but once it doesn't clump my makeup together or glue my eyelids together so it's a good start. It dried pretty quickly and this stickiness disappears. I'm pleased with it so far. As the night goes on I'm regularly popping to the toilets to check on my new She Laq, and surprisingly, it really does seem to work. My eyeliner stays smudge-free, I am actually shocked with how noticeable a difference it has made. As I return home at the end of the night I am singing the praises of my She Laq, the experiment has been a definite success. As I take my makeup off before bed the She Laq comes off easily enough with a cleansing wipe so I'm not left with Panda Eyes in the morning.

I would point out though that I have only used She Laq in conjunction with other Benefit products, so I suppose there is always the chance that used with a different company's eyeliner the success rate wouldn't be quite so high.

Also with the product you get an instruction leaflet. In keeping with the rest of the packaging this is black with red writing. The leaflet describes the product as a 'Magical Makeup Sealer', and says that this product solves the 'age old dilemma of "smudged makeup".' The leaflet also instructs you how to use the product, and recommends that after each use you wash the brushes in warm water and store them in the pouch.

Overall, I am delighted with this product. It does seem a little pricey, but I will definitely be buying it again when my pot runs out. I have had no problems with it, and I would recommend it to everyone, as it is a simple solution to the problem of makeup smudges.

Summary: A very very very good product.