*NEW PRODUCT* MAKEUP REVIEW | Benefit Cosmetics–Puff Off!

Every time Benefit Cosmetics comes out with a new product, I am faced with both excitement and curiosity. Regardless of the product, we know the packaging will suck us in like a black hole so I have been trying to be more objective. Just released on Boxing Day in Sephora, Benefit’s Puff Off! ($35.00 CDN) promises to instantly “iron out” puffiness and fine lines with an innovative undereye gel and precision tip applicator.

With its vintage-inspired packaging and attention to detail, Puff Off! already had me with its actual iron-shaped applicator and metal-emblazoned cap with the words “smooth O-MATIC”. Talk about cute.

The iron-shaped applicator has a very pointy tip which is perfect for getting into the inner eye area. I admit that I thought this was initially completely gimmicky, but after the first use I realized its merit. I use an eye gel with a metal rollerball every morning for de-puffing and even though it’s not a big deal, I do feel the need to tap the gel into the inner eye area by hand because the rollerball can be a bit bulky.

The eye gel initially appears flesh-coloured and with a hint of shimmer, but becomes invisible once blended. You can either blend the eye gel right onto the skin or what I prefer to do is squeeze a little bit out onto my hand and grab what I need with the applicator. This also allows me to cover the applicator more completely for a truly seamless glide across the undereye.

This eye gel can be used under and on top of makeup WITHOUT ruining it which is pretty impressive. Upon application, it leaves a cooling sensation on the skin that lasts about 10 minutes.

Ingredients: Water, Isohexadecane, Nylon-12, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Isododecane, Butylene Glycol, Silica, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Glycerin, Alumina, Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Sodium Acrylate/Vinyl Alcohol Copolymer, Alcohol Denat., C13-15 Alkane, Ci 77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride), Caprylyl Glycol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Phospholipids, Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate, Sodium Acrylic Acid/Ma Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Polysorbate 20, Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone, 1,2-Hexanediol, Menthoxypropanediol, Steareth-20, Fragrance, Sodium Citrate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Potassium Sorbate, Geraniol, Linalool, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ci 19140 (Yellow 5), Ci 16035 (Red 40), Dipeptide-2, Limonene, Citronellol, Citric Acid, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Sodium Chloride, Hexylene Glycol, Bht, Tocopherol.

If you aren’t already using an eye cream in the morning, this could be your guy, but I wouldn’t recommend it seeing as how it is fairly pricey for just 10mL of product. In terms of ingredients, four things stood out to me: silica, hydrogenated polyisobutene, sunflower seed oil and hesperidin methyl chalcone.

We see silica in a lot in our beauty products especially for its light-reflective properties that give skin the illusion of smoothness. I don’t mind silica in makeup products, but not particularly in skincare. To me silica feels like a mask and for the purposes of Puff Off!, this is totally fine. If I REALLY wanted to do something about fine lines, silica will only work superficially.

Sunflower seed oil is rich in fatty acids, aids in reducing skin inflammation and is great for dry skin (Paula’s Choice, January 2015). I have actually been using a moisturizer with sunflower seed oil and seen improvement with my dry patches.

Hydrogenated polyisobutene acts a skin lubricant and gives skin a smooth and soft appearance (Cosmetics Info, January 2015). This allows the applicator to glide ever so smoothly across the undereye without tugging.

Hesperidin methyl chalcone supposedly works to banish dark circles in vivo, but has yet to be proven to work topically meaning, it works inside cells, but not necessarily when applied to the skin (Paula’s Choice, January 2015). This is kind of disappointing, but after looking at the fine print of Puff Off!, it never says anything about diminishing dark circles. Just puffiness and fine lines which kind of go hand in hand seeing as how diminishing puffiness will eliminate fine lines by default.

Final Verdict: My favourite thing about Puff Off! is the iron-shaped applicator hands down! To be honest, there could be water coming out of this applicator and I would still use it. The actual contents of Puff Off! is not all that impressive to me. You will notice that unlike a lot of de-puffing products, Puff Off! does not use caffeine. I can’t tell if this is because hesperidin methyl chalcone as a replacement OR if this is in fact a good thing. As much as it pains me to say this, for $35 I think I should have left the product on the shelf…I do LOVE the applicator, but this is all packaging for me and hell, that’s part of the price, but I wish the actual contents did more.

What beauty products have had you taking out your wallet solely based on packaging?