Review; Benefit Hoola. Second Time Lucky.

The recent make up cull has thrown up a few forgotten gems but also a few shamefully unused impulse buys. Until this week I would have put Hoola firmly into the later category. Not renown for my bronzed beauty it was perhaps an odd purchase anyway.
Hoola is a matt powder that is a strangely grey looking light brown colour packaged in a cute little box typical of Benefit blush/bronzers. It is quite pigmented but very fine in texture & blends away to almost nothing.
Now when I do reach for a bronzer I usually want something with a bit of sunkissed shimmer. However, this looks really flat in the pan & a bit dirty on the skin, which is probably why I didn't fall in love with this product at the time. 

Before throwing this into the 'to go' pile I thought I'd have a quick play. I normally love Benefit products so thought this deserved a second chance.
I discovered that although this will never feature on my 'bronzers to love' list it makes a fantastic contouring product.
I'm not really a big fan of those flat square brushes that come with Benefit powders but used sideways under the cheek bone they give quite a precise line. For me, this is a helpful point from which to start contouring. Once I'd got a fairly strong stripe of colour, I took a clean angled blusher brush and blended it out a bit. I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely this powder blends. Still looking a bit heavy I got a Real Techniques Expert face brush & buffed some more. What I was left with was something near the best contours I've ever achieved. This colour really suits my pale complexion allowing me create a very natural finish & being matt it's perfect for creating a subtle shadow.
The colour was still noticeable after about 4 hours but I haven't given it a fair 'all day' test yet as I've been wearing it to work & through out the day I have to wear a mask which, as you can imagine, plays havoc with the staying powder of most face powders!