Benefit Hoola Bronzing Powder and Hoola Ultra Plush Lip Review / Swatches

 

Benefit have a matching Ultra Plush Lip Gloss for each of their seven Box O’ Powders which is such a nice idea. The Hoola Ultra Plush Lip Gloss £14.50* is described as being a shimmering golden nude lip gloss to compliment the Hoola Bronzing Powder.

 

The Ultra Plush Lip Glosses are packaged within a 15ml squeezy tube with a slanted tip applicator. When it comes to lipglosses, I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of such applicators as they’re particularly hygienic and they don’t offer any precision.. however the Ultra Plush Lip Glosses are all very sheer so the lack of precision isn’t an issue.

 

What I really do like about the Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Glosses is their volume.. they contain 15ml of gloss, whereas the majority of lipglosses only contain between 6-10ml. 

The gloss has a delicious yet subtle fruity scent and flavour which is really lovely. The gloss feels so comfortable on the lips; really smooth and not at all sticky. I sometimes find that shimmery lipglosses can feel a touch gritty on the lips, but the Hoola gloss is not at all gritty.

 

Hoola’s lack of stickiness does mean that its longevity is minimised with a weartime of around two hours. I really love how pretty the Hoola gloss looks on my lips.. it is very sheer and very nude, and doesn’t impart any colour to my lips – just a super pretty gold shimmer.

 

Whenever I apply this gloss, the high shine finish and shimmer really does make my lips look ‘plush’ like the name suggests and it’s just a really lovely lipgloss which flatters every single makeup look imaginable. I’d even go as far to say that this is the perfect handbag lipgloss as it’s such a versatile shade which you can apply on the go without a mirror.

 

The Benefit Hoola Bronzing Powder £23.50 has to be the most iconic bronzer, especially for contouring as it’s completely matte.. in fact it’s been the number one bestselling bronzer in the UK for the last five years – wow. Just like all of the Benefit Box O’ Powders, Hoola contains a squared brush (which again is beautifully personalised).

 

However I would have liked the brush to be the same as the one included in their Rockateur Blush (review here) as it’s tapered and would be so perfect for contouring with Hoola. Everytime I use Hoola, I’m wowed by how intensely pigmented it is.. needing only the slightest tap of a brush into the powder.

 

During the Winter months, Hoola was a little too warm for my skintone however now the Summer months are upon us, my millions of freckles have appeared so I find that Hoola suits me a lot more.

 

To apply Hoola as a contour, I love to use it with my W7 Contouring Brush (reviewed here) whilst pulling an unattractive ‘fishface’ expression to blend the bronzer into the hollows of my cheeks. I also really like to use Hoola as my transition shade for my eyeshadow, as it’s the perfect soft, matte brown shade. Hoola is such a fantastic bronzer as it’s completely brown without any orange undertones, so there’s no risk of it looking dirty or muddy on the skin.

 

Even though Hoola is completely matte without any shimmer particles, I think it has a slight satin finish which gives a subtle glow to the skin which I like as it prevents the skin from looking flat. If you’re on the lookout for a longwearing, pigmented, matte true brown, natural looking bronzer then Benefit Hoola is definitely ‘the one’.