Pop of Posies

Scoring a bonus Benefit Posietint mini was one of those incidental, unexpected perks that can happen when you browse the department store makeup counters as regularly as I do. Last year for whatever reason, Benefit were selling a full size Sugarbomb blush for $25 (normal price $51), and if the significant price reduction wasn't incentive enough, they tacked on a free 4ml sample of Posietint. So rare and inexplicably generous was this offer, I practically compelled two friends to also purchase the set, accusing them of insanity if they passed on such an unprecedented (for Australia, at least) bargain.

Benefit Posietint

Described as a "poppy-pink tinted lip and cheek stain", Posietint is a semi-translucent, bright rosy pink. On my lips, there's slight fuchsia/raspberry undertones, but on my cheeks, it's primarily a light, warm pink that gives a subtle, flushed look. I find it a bit more watery and thin in consistency than Cha Cha Tint. You don't need to move with the same lightning pace Cha Cha Tint demands before a mark/stain is left on the skin (possibly due to the milkier colour), but you still need to act quickly. Posietint is considerably less pigmented than Cha Cha Tint and needs to be layered a few times to show up on the skin.

While quick-staining liquids can be intimidating from the outset and difficult to apply evenly, they have unique advantages that justify the extra care and effort. One of the best things about Benefit tints is they are truly staining and budge-proof on the lips and have phenomenal lasting power on the cheeks. They also meld completely with the skin in a seamless, undetectable fashion for an incredibly natural effect. The colour simply becomes your skin in a way that can't be duplicated with powders or creams that sit on the surface and can easily fade or be wiped off.

As I've detailed numerous times before (see Illamasqua Naked Rose, Tarte Dollface), I have a love-hate relationship with pinks for both lips and cheeks, despite gravitating towards them without fail. Pink blushes tend to emphasise any redness and irritation in my skin, at times making it appear ruddy and even suffering from some kind of mild allergic reaction. I don't often reach for higher coverage foundations or do any targeted concealing, so the results are usually less than ideal. Having said that, Posietint is a versatile, accessible shade of pink that's bright but still relatively toned down. As a lip product, it's useful for layering but works just as well on its own, and as a blush, it's a sweet, youthful pink that's neither overly reddish nor cool-toned.