Benefit Mystery Shopper Exposé

Article by Beauty Review member Kellie

‘Twas a stormy Monday morning, beastly be any other name, that I chose to brave the wildest of winds, the rainiest of rains and near death-by-flying-milk-crates as I stood at the windswept lights, in order to undertake my final duty as a Beauty Review Superhero – the Mystery Shop.

Was I excited?  Yes.  Was I nervous?  Oh my goodness, yes.  But for once it had nothing to do with experiencing the frantic hustle and bustle of Auckland City, because only mad people were likely to be out and about on a miserable day such at this.  What had me in a tizzy was a single question on the list of questions for my Superhero assignment:  ‘What was the name of your consultant?’

For 99% of people it’s not a question to worry about, because 99% of people don’t have a sieve for a memory.  But it was a question that struck fear in my heart.  For a brief moment in time I saw light at the end of the forgetful tunnel when The Husband offered to come with me and remember the consultant’s name.  Yes!  I all but yelled.  Then he reneged.  Gah.  Back to square one.  How to remember a name?

There was one name I wasn’t about to forget though, and that was the name of the brand I was to mystery shop.  Benefit.

***cue rays of light coming from the clouds and angels singing***

It’s been a while since I’d ventured into Smith & Caughey’s, so I was a tad worried I’d have to get my search on to find Benefit amongst the plethora of beauty counters.  But there was no missing this big, beautiful, bombshell!  Delightfully pink, decked out with chandeliers, and beauty products as far as the eye could see.  If you were to liken Smith & Caughey’s to a family, the clinical white beauty counters are the serious members of the family, the ones with 9 to 5 jobs and regular donations to Oxfam, where as Benefit is the younger aunty who’ll take you to get your ears pierced without your parent’s consent, then take you out on the town and show you a good time.  No wonder I immediately wanted to make Benefit my best friend.

Once sucked in by its tractor beam of sumptuousness, I was approached quickly by a gorgeous gal and offered help.  I immediately looked for a name tag.  There was none!

 ***cue heart seizing up***

Not one to let small (big!) things like this slow me down, I returned to my mission as given to me by the BR realms kind and good Queen M - to find a foundation and something else to my liking.  So I mentioned to Ms Fabulous (as she was so named in my head as I didn’t know her real name) that I was in need of a new foundation.  She immediately sat me down and after chatting with me about what my experience with Benefit was, what kind of skin I had, and what kind of foundation look I liked, amassed a small army of products to apply to my face.  Ms Fabulous then explained she would make up half of my face first, so I could see the difference, before finishing off all my face. 

Throughout the process she talked me through each product.  These included, Potent Eye Cream (which really did give me brighter younger looking eyes in a flash!), That Gal brightening face primer, which she applied after I explained POREfessional left my skin feeling dry. After priming my skin she brushed on Hello Flawless foundation in Ivory and Hello Flawless powder to set it. 

Then things went from, ‘this is great’ to ‘excuse me while I wiggle like an over excited puppy’... Ms Fabulous showed me how to apply bronzer and blusher to create cheekbones!!  First she brushed on Hoola Bronzing Powder along my ‘duck face’ line, (suck the sides of your lips in and look for the hollow, or in my case, the very tiniest semblance of a hollow.  That’s where you brush and blend), she then applied the very recently released Majorette booster blusher on the apples of my cheeks.

Et voila - we had cheekbones!!  The one thing I’d wanted my whole adult life, the one thing that had eluded me, until now!  She then brushed on Gimme Brow brow volumizing fibre gel, which defined my brows without making them all 80’s Brooke Shields, followed by a small amount of They’re Real mascara to my lashes.  Finally she asked if there was anything else I wanted to try, but to be honest, Ms Fabulous had given me cheekbones and beautiful skin.  Sure I could’ve tried on eyeliner and eyeshadow, but I was happy as I was.  Happy?  Let’s be honest, I was ecstatic!

So what did I purchase? The Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation was a must.  It wasn’t heavy on my skin, a little went a long way and it did a great job of covering up pimples and uneven skin tone.  Of course I had to have the Majorette cream-to-powder booster blush as it’s the prettiest coral colour, smells amazing, and gave me a gorgeous glow. 

But I couldn’t leave it at that.  Not when I’d finally learnt how to create those cheekbones I’d always wanted.  So I threw caution to the wind, decided to break my no-buy September ban and purchased The Bronze of Champions make up kit, which contained the Hoola bronzer, Watt’s Up Soft Focus Highlighter, They’re Real mascara, Creaseless Cream Shadow, Longwear Powder Shadow, and Ultra Plus Lip Gloss.

So would I recommend that you take yourself into Smith & Caughey’s and visit the Benefit counter.  Yes.  Yes.  YES.  All the yesses!  Ms Fabulous made me feel comfortable, she listened to me, she applied products that suited me and I didn’t once feel pressured to buy the whole shop.

Oh and as for Ms Fabulous’ name?  By the end of the consultation I felt so comfortable with her I was able to toss in a casual ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?’  And you know what, I don’t know if I was rocking the super-casual suaveness, or if she was onto me...  But she gave it to me.

Peri. 

And the moment I left Smith & Caughey’s I typed it into my phone so I wouldn’t/couldn’t forget.

So thank you Peri, aka Ms Fabulous.  You made this harried mama feel like a princess!

And a huge thank you too to the sensational BR Babes for not only surprising me with Superhero status, but for sending me off to a most wonderful place to mystery shop.  Now that’s what I call a fairy tale ending.

                   Much love, Kellie xxx