Chinese New Year is quickly approaching…Jan 31st to be exact! To celebrate the Year of the Horse, I’ve decided to join Benefit Cosmetics’s Chinese New Year Campaign and create a look featuring Asia’s best sellers!

Fun Fact: Benefit was the first brand I ever purchased when Sephora opened in Canada!  To date, creaseless cream eyeshadow/liner in R.S.V.P. is still my “go-to” shadow!

I love Zhang Ziyi’s look at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.  The look was all about luminous skin, perfectly groomed brows, and smokey eyes with a winged liner.

PRODUCTS:

STEPS:

1. In the winter, I start getting dry patches, so by rubbing total moisture facial cream  all over the face, it helps my skin stay well hydrated.
2. Having acne for all of these years left me with large pores.  So using a primer all over the face like the POREfessional, fills in those pores & creates an even canvas for makeup application.
3. Even out your skintone with hello flawless oxygen wow! foundation.
4. Apply fakeup to any dark areas under the eyes to help brighten it up.
5. For any areas of the face that requires extra concealing, use boi-ing from the big beautiful eyes kit.
   • Then use the alabaster pink base shadow all over the lid, under the brow bone, and the inner tear ducts.
   • Using a blending brush, follow the contour of your eye socket with cocoa shimmer contour shadow.
   • To create that smokey eye, apply the rich chocolate brown liner shadow to the outer third of the eye and the upper and lower lash line. Blend, blend, blend.
   • To add extra dimension to the eyes, dip a flat shader brush into the alabaster pink base shadow, spritz some water to the brush, and gently pat it onto the centre of the lid.  By lightly spritzing the shadow on the brush with water, it makes the shadow more pigmented upon application and brings out the shimmer.
6. Line the upper and lower lash line with magic ink, which is a super intense black liquid liner.  Use short strokes to create a winged liner at the top.  This step definitely takes practice.  Remember micellar based makeup removers and q-tips are your best friend in creating a sharp line!
7. Curl lashes and apply generous coats of they’re real! mascara to the upper and lower lashes.  Believe it or not, these lashes are all mine…all thanks to RevitaLash!
8. Groom brows with a waterproof and natural looking brush-on fibre gel like gimme brow.
9. Apply hoola in the hollows of your cheek to contour the face.  This is the ultimate bronzer for asian skintones.  It’s the perfect brown, so it won’t turn your face orange and make you look like an oompa loompa!
10. Using your fingers, gently pat benetint to the apples of the cheek along with the lips to create a natural flushed look.
11. To create a natural glow to your face without looking sparkly under the sun, apply watt’s up to the cheek bones, down the bridge of the nose, and on the cupid’s bow.

FINAL LOOK:

One of the perks of Chinese New Year is getting RED POCKETS! Here I’m holding a red pocket with my family name printed on it.

Benefit wants to celebrate the Year of the Horse with all Canadian beauty enthusiasts!  On Jan 30th and 31st,  five Sephora locations will be holding events where you can grab an exclusive Benefit gift!

1. Sephora Markville Shopping Centre – Markham, ON
2. Sephora Richmond Centre – Richmond, BC
3. Sephora Fairview Mall – Toronto, ON
4. Sephora West Edmonton Mall – Edmonton, AB
5. Sephora Metropolis at Metrotown – Burnaby, BC

If you don’t live close to one of the five Sephora locations, don’t worry because Benefit has you covered!  Any Canadian resident can WIN a Benefit Cosmetics Gift Basket worth over $300!!  Make sure you enter in the Rafflecopter giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Benefit hasn’t forgotten about their international readers.  You can tweet @BenefitCanada with your birth year and receive a reply with your very own #BeneCNY benescope that lets you know what you sign is and what it means!