I am a massive fan of Benefit makeup, however when it comes to running out of products – I absolutely hate forking out the hefty price tag for another. One of my all time favourite Benefit must-haves is the Big Beautiful Eyes Contouring Kit, as it’s really helped to define my brows and lid line which beforehand were pretty nonexistent.
The kit itself comes with a concealer, base shadow, contour shadow and liner shadow – which together, supposedly create ‘big beautiful eyes’. I don’t use the brow shadow, as I prefer using my HD brows kit but since discovering this contouring kit, I have become much more conscious about wearing a light pink eye shadow in the creases of my eyelids in order to create a much more ‘awake’ and contoured effect. The glitter in the eye shadow really lifts your eyes (even at your worst) and gives you a much more refreshed look.
Above: wearing Carnival Dust in Coral Sparkle. It has the same refreshing/awakening effect (if not better) than Benefit’s Big Beautiful Eye Contour Set.
As the base/contour shadow gets the most use, it inevitably ran out the quickest. Unwilling to spend another £24 on a whole new kit, I decided to go on the hunt for a contour shadow that gave the same effect but could be bought separately (but just at a much cheaper price!). I discovered that Carnival Dust (in Coral Sparkle) gave the same wide eyed, refreshed and contoured look that I loved from the Benefit kit – but cost just £4.50. I first discovered it after trying it reluctantly at a friend’s (I was hesitant at first as it looked a lot brighter than it comes out). It’s a well used brand, but isn’t widely known which is strange which meant that it took a lot of hunting on the web to track the exact colour down. When I eventually found a seller on eBay, they were selling it in bulks – so I bought 36 (not quite sure why) with the aim of never running out.
Above: the dust looks much pinker in real life than on application (as you can see from the photograph of my eye with the carnival dust on).
When I received the Carnival Dust in the post, I realised that it would probably take me over four years to use up all eye shadow I’ve ordered – which is why I’ve decided to sell some in my shop. I’m selling them for £2.25 at the moment (on sale) as I am not really selling them with the intention of making a profit but just to make them accessible for other bloggers to try and review (or non bloggers)! Each pot of carnival dust will last over a month (dependent on usage) but it’s a large pot and you get quite a significant amount of powder.
The product itself is very easy to apply, stays on without creasing and gives a fantastic contouring effect (exactly like Benefit’s Beautiful Eyes Contour Shadow). It has little glitter pigments within it which helps awaken the eyes and open them up for a lovely ‘daytime’ fresh look. I apply it with both my finger and a contouring brush (depending on how much time I have to apply my makeup), but it is a really easy to apply product with fantastic results. If you haven’t tried eye contouring before and would like to (but don’t want to fork out £24.50) I really would recommend Carnival Dust in Coral Sparkle. I know I’m selling them, so you probably think ‘she’s just trying to flog us her products’ however I am only selling them because I will never use the quantity I’ve purchased myself and hope that others will be open to trying new products!
If you would like to try Coral Sparkle Carnival Dust, head over to my shop and choose Coral Sparkle in the colours list. I have sold quite a few in the last week and have attempted to explain why I’m selling them in the product biography on my shop’s page, but I thought I would explain in detail on my blog! They are £2.25 for today and tomorrow only – then they will go back up to £3.25. It’s not expensive, but it’s a lot less than the £4.50 price tag they normally sell for. Let me know if you have any questions! Click Here to visit my shop!
