Makeup Review: Benefit's Stay Put Set

Before we get to the review, a quick disclaimer/explanation: I've been playing with the idea of adding some makeup and beauty product reviews to this site just to keep things lively. However, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Please let me know what you think in the comments!

Today's been surprisingly busy yet incredibly unproductive. Besides critiquing student work and setting appointments that will (with any luck) help me get some participants, I have also managed to bake some homemade bread, do some laundry, and listen to "Loser Like Me" from last night's Glee episode approximately 30 times.

Luckily, this craziness and the rainy, damp weather gave me the perfect chance to try out some products in Benefit's Stay Put Set. Available only at Sephora, this set is like a tasting menu of some of Benefit's eye products. It includes diminutive versions of Stay Don't Stray (an eye makeup primer), Erase Paste (a brightening concealer), and Creaseless Cream Shadow in RSVP.

As someone who has problems with eye makeup staying put, I was very excited to get this set. Since it only cost $10, it seemed like the perfect chance to try some new products and to add to my Creaseless Cream Shadow collection. For those of you not familiar with Benefit's Creaseless Cream line, these cream shadows/eyeliners have very good staying power (even on my oily lids) and come in a range of colors. For an excellent overview as well as some beautiful swatches, check out one of Karen's recent posts on the Makeup and Beauty Blog.

RSVP is a light pink with some definite sparkle. Like the other Creaseless Cream Shadows, it blends beautifully and easily, and alone, it makes a pretty and understated look for daytime. At night, I might try it as a base/highlighter color for a darker shadow.

As luck would have it, I was suffering from some unfortunate dark circles today, so it was an ideal chance to try out the Erase Paste. The kit comes with the medium shade, which is almost a tad too light for me, particularly during the summer. For now, it makes a good undereye concealer as long as I blend. The texture is definitely on the sticky side, and it requires some major blending in order to get it smooth and natural looking on my skin. That said, it stayed in place and did a nice job masking my dark circles. I've heard that some people have problems with this product caking, but I didn't have this issue (perhaps the layer of eye cream I put on helped guard against this).

Given that the Creaseless Cream Shadows stay without any problem for me on their own, I didn't use Stay Don't Stray today. However, based on my prior experience with the product, I can say that it is a basic eye makeup primer. It helped my powder shadow stay in place without any problems, but I don't know if I would buy the full-size product ($24) over another eye primer.

The one issue I had with this set of products is the size. The amount of product you actually get is pretty generous. For instance, the sample size of the shadow is .11 oz, which is only a tiny bit smaller than the regular size (.16 oz). Accordingly, they have downsized the packaging, which can lead to some problems. As you can see in the picture, the packaging is around 30% smaller than the full-size jar. This can make getting the product out of the jar a little challenging if you are using your fingers.

In terms of value, this is actually a pretty good kit. While the products seem so tiny I feel like a giant when applying them, this is to be expected given the low price. Furthermore, I can definitely see the Erase Paste and Creaseless Cream Shadow lasting quite a while. If you aren't familiar with Benefit but you want to give the brand a whirl, this might be the perfect kit for you.