Are you looking for affordable natural make-up? Clean and natural make-up is by its very nature more expensive than regular brands. The raw ingredients are more expensive, and there are no cheap fillers like talc to bulk out the formulas. They tend to be more concentrated, with less water too, which makes them more long lasting. But there’s no getting away from the fact that buying a full face of natural make-up is expensive, for most of us anyway!
I’ve been lucky enough to review a wide range of make-up from clean beauty brands and I find a lot of the time you do get what you pay for. But I am really interested to see whether you can get a similar effect with a more affordable brand. I chose to review a whole face of Benecos natural make-up to see how they compare to my usual premium brands. So read my full review of Benecos natural make-up from base to eyes to nails, and see how I build my look using only Benecos products.
My Previous Experience with Benecos
I’ve used a few Benecos Natural Beauty products before with mixed results: I tried the Natural Mascara Maximum Volume and it was the one of the worst mascaras I’ve ever tried. But I use their Eyebrow Definer and Eyebrow Gel every day and they are fab. So now that a lot of us are looking for more budget-friendly green beauty products, I thought I’d try a lot of the products to create a whole make-up look, so I can let you know which are worth a try, and which (if any) are best avoided.
About Benecos Natural Make-up
Benecos say
“For a long time, natural cosmetics had a bland, generic look, limited product choices and, generally, high prices. However this is no longer the case because at Benecos we offer bright, modern, cruelty free products all at affordable prices.”
Benecos
Apart from their nail polish, the Benecos range is BDIH certified. The BDIH is the german non-profit Association of Industries and Trading Firms for pharmaceuticals, health care products, food supplements and personal hygiene products.
These products are not 100% natural but do represent a good compromise between affordable and more natural, starting at £3.95 for the products I have tried.
Benecos Natural Make-up: Base
I’ll start with my base. After applying Kimberly Sayer SPF 30 moisturiser (which is my absolute favourite, read more about it here). I used Benecos Natural Foundation Stick (£9.45) all over, then Benecos Concealer (£6.95) needed, followed by Benecos Natural Compact Powder (£6.95) all over, and Benecos Natural Fresh Bronzing Duo (£6.95) over my cheeks.
Here are the swatches of the foundation and concealer on my hand: I ordered the concealer in Light (the palest of their two shades) and foundation in Ivory (the palest of their three shades.
And this is how the shades look blended in. The foundation is a fairly good match, but the concealer doesn’t look ideal, however it actually looks better on my face, in terms of colour, at least.
Base Step 1: Foundation
I started by swiping Benecos Natural Foundation Stick all over my face. Over my forehead, down my nose and chin, over my cheeks, around my eyes and my nose. After I smoothed it in with my fingertips you can see it covers reasonably well but I’d say it’s only a light coverage, though it is described as ‘medium to full coverage’. I’d like to see Benecos extend their shades as the shades seem to are be only suitable for white skin tones.
Benecos say this foundation is “packed in paper packaging to reduce the use of plastic” and whilst this is strictly true, only the outer tube is actually cardboard- the white part you see is plastic. So it’s not plastic-free.
My Verdict: If you happen to have the right skin tone, this concealer could be a good option. It doesn’t give enough coverage for me to buy it again, however.
Base Step 2: Concealer
Next I applied Benecos Natural Concealer beneath my eyes and around my nose and mouth and blended it. It’s quite a dry formula so it didn’t blend at all well, and although coverage is reasonable, it’s not great and it also accentuates the lines around my eyes. It comes in two shades and I used the palest one – so this would not be suitable for darker skin tones.
My Verdict: This concealer a big no from me. It’s a slightly strange colour and only comes in two shades, it’s really dry, almost dusty, and only gives medium coverage whilst accentuating lines. Avoid!
If you’re after a fantastic natural liquid concealer I highly recommend Madara concealer, and you can read my review here.
Base Step 3: Powder
I set my base with Benecos Natural Pressed Powder which I think is pretty good: it gives a matte finish, without looking flat and cakey. It also gives a tiny amount of extra coverage, and you can apply more during the day to combat shine without it going all clumpy.
It comes in four shades: I chose Fair, and it’s too dark for me: I just about get away with it in the summer as it looks like I have a light tan. This shade wouldn’t work for me in the winter though. I also tried Porcelain and this one is actually darker, and has a rather orange tone on my skin.
My Verdict: This is a nice powder, giving a matte finish that doesn’t cake or look flat. The colours are too dark for me but I think they’d suit a more medium skin tone.
Base Step 4: Blush and Bronzer
I used the Benecos Natural Fresh Bronzing Duo on my cheeks and temples and this matte finish powder gives a natural glow without looking overdone. This is a great product as it’s quite strongly pigmented and in a flattering medium brown and peachy pink. Unfortunately it only comes in one colour combination, which is quite limiting. Based on the success of this, I’d be willing to try their blusher and eyeshadow in future.
My Verdict: This is lovely powder blush, giving a highly pigmented, natural matte finish.
Benecos Natural Make-up: Eyes
Next I used Benecos natural eye make-up:
I have used Benecos Eyebrow Designer (£4.95) for a few years now. I currently use Blonde, since I had my hair bleached, and used Brown when I had my natural brown hair. As you can see, I’ve used them both down to pretty much the end, and they have a spoolie at the other end which is great for combing through brows.
Eyes Step 5: Eyebrow Pencil and Gel
I filled in my eyebrows with Benecos Eyebrow Designer in Blonde, which is great. This pencil is the perfect consistency: not too hard and not too soft, and lasts all day. I’ll buy this again when I run out, and I think it’s great value.
I added a little Benecos Natural Eyebrow Gel (£5.65) in Ash Brown over the top, as my eyebrows are quite unruly! This tinted gel keeps them in place and also covers greys and makes them look fuller. Even though it says it’s Ash Blonde, it’s really a medium brown colour and I think it would be too dark for natural blondes. It is available in a clear version and a darker version too.
My Verdict: This is an excellent, well priced eyebrow pencil with an added spoolie. The colours are natural and it’s the perfect consistency. I’ve already bought it several times and will continue to use it.
The Benecos Natural Eyebrow Gel is also great and I’ll buy it again.
Eyes Step 6: Mascara
I’ve tried two Benecos Mascaras and one is the worst mascara I’ve ever used, and one good… until it rains. I’ve also tried the liquid eyeliner.
So the awful mascara is Benecos Natural Mascara Maximum Volume,(£6.95) which I have in brown. It’s wishy washy in colour, makes minimal improvement to my lashes, and runs badly. My advice is to avoid it. I bought it a year or so ago and it almost put me off the whole brand.
So for this look I tried another Benecos mascara – Natural Mascara Glamour Look (£7.95), and hoped it would be better. Read on to see how I found it!
Initially I was really wowed by the Benecos Natural Mascara Glamour Look, because it made my lashes look amazing. Look at the difference between the eye I’m wearing it on, and my other eye.
Here I am with both eyes. Such a good result from just one coat, and I didn’t need to comb my lashes through like I quite often have to with other mascaras.
Sadly, however, there is a big downside. It runs and flakes. A lot. Another strange thing is that it leave black clumps of goo in my eyes the next morning even after I remove it properly. I find this a bit odd and unpleasant, but it’s not a huge issue.
But look what happened when I got caught in the rain. Eeek! It doesn’t claim to be waterproof, and I can deal with a few runs, but this is next level, isn’t it! Such a shame.
My Verdict: I do not recommend either of these Benecos Mascaras. In this case, you do get what you pay for.
Instead, I would recommend PHB Ethical Beauty Mesmerise Mascara for a similar lash effect without the panda eye look, or PHB Ethical Beauty All in One Mascara for a great water resistant lash look. Read my reviews by clicking through the links.
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Eyes Step 7: Eyeliner
I tested Benecos Natural Liquid Eyeliner (£5.95) on a different day, to let me test them individually. Sometimes I find liquid liner can make my mascara go strange and ‘stringy’ – is that just me? Anyway here is the liner at the end of the day, with no mascara: it has stayed in place really well. It’s not the easiest to apply though as the brush isn’t great. I had to make the liner quite thick to get both lines the same. So that is something to factor in, if you’re considering this natural liquid eyeliner.
My Verdict: This liquid eyeliner has a great intense colour pay off and stays put really well. It’s not the easiest to apply but if you’re good at lining your eyes, it’s worth a try.
Benecos Natural Make-up: Lips
The final stage of my full Benecos natural make-up look is lips. I started with Benecos Lip Liner in Red (£3.95) which is creamy, pigmented and long-lasting. This liner also comes in pink and brown and I use it for all my red-toned lipsticks with great results. I layered Benecos Natural Shiny Lipcolour in Red (£6.95) over the top. I’ve had this lip colour for ages and wear it without liner for a more subtle look. It’s really flattering and feels nice to wear, but does fade quickly.
My Verdict: I recommend the Benecos Lip Liner and you can buy it in three shades. I also like the lip colour if you’re willing to reapply regularly – if so you can buy it in three shades.
Finished Benecos Natural Make-up Look
So here is my finished look, created with only Benecos natural make-up products. And this is how I looked at four hours later, so you can see how well it lasted. Both images are unedited.
As you can see, the base and bronzer have both lasted really well, as have my eyebrows and lip liner. However you can see the smudges beneath my eyes from the mascara flaking and running. Also the lip colour has all worn off. Overall though, I think it’s good, especially considering the reasonable prices for a more natural make-up brand.
Benecos Natural Make-up: Nails
I also tested out Benecos Natural Nail Polish in Oh La La! (£4.95) It’s a beautiful vibrant hot pink shade and has great coverage, even in one coat and dried quickly. Sadly it doesn’t last much longer than a day on me before it begins to chip. It is free from toluene, formaldehydes, camphor, phthalates, parabens, silicones, TPHP and colophony.
My Verdict: I would be willing to try another shade of the nail polish to see if it lasted better, and it comes in loads of gorgeous shades. However their nail varnish remover is dreadful: it barely worked at all so I do not recommend it.
Other Benecos Products
Benecos also make a translucent pressed powder and a translucent loose powder and they are both good products. I have used them both up – always a good sign – and would buy them again as a cost-effective more natural powder, without the drawback of a bad skin tone match.
My Overall Verdict on Benecos Natural Make-up
Overall I think Benecos make-up is well worth trying for some products, but based on trying two of their mascaras I would not recommend trying them! The quality overall is good and although the shade range is limited for face products, they do have a good range of different formulas. I think this review has shown it is possible to create a good finish with a more budget-friendly natural make-up range so I hope you found this blog post useful.
Why not Pin this review for later so you can make sure you don’t accidentally buy the products from my AVOID list!
