July 19, 2011

Benefit Cosmetics Eye Gotta! The Annie Collection Review, Swatches, Photos

As you know from my prior post, Benefit has two brand new Sephora exclusive eye collections available created by the brand’s Global Beauty Authories, Maggie & Annie Ford Danielson.

The shadow palettes are a range of Fall friendly colors in two color selections of warmer and cooler plus Benefit teamed up with Barcelona-based illustrator Pietari Posti to create the illustrations on each palette.

The palettes feature three velvet-y eyeshadows plus two creaseless cream eyeshadows that are housed in a chunky little boxed palette with mirror.

Let’s take a look at the The Eye Gotta! The Annie Collection today which has a rather gorgeous array of Fall friendly shades to love on.


A selections of fabulous Fall eyeshadows in both cream and powder formulas.


Annie’s Collection is my favorite of the two palettes as it contains the warmer, richer Fall colors that I reach for in the cooler weather. The palette feature three shades of powder shadow and two cream shadow/liners housed in a smaller, chunky box with a full size mirror. I like the packaging alot but I would have changed a few things about it one of which would be to include a small little drawer with applicators. The palette travels easily and includes the essentials for creating a friendly Fall look easily.

I love the powder shades they included here as they all work well together and create a beautiful contrasting look for Fall. You get Spiced (Chocolate Brown), Canopy (Olive Green), and Purple Haze (Warm Purple). For my look I used Spiced on the inner corner of my eye and blended outwards while adding Canopy on the outer v and corner of my eye and followed up with Purple Hazed lined on the lower lash line. As a base I used one of the two Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liners in Flash which is a buttery yellow. The other Shadow/Liner included with the kit is Foiled which is a metallic beige champagne.

The shadows are a step above Benefit’s normal Velvet Shadow range as they have a thinner consistency that isn’t as frosty. The smooth, buttery shades blend easily and glide across the eyes for easy application. The formula is fool-proof and quite beautiful although a good base is necessary otherwise the shades tend to fade and crease an ickle bit.

Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liners can work either as a liner or as a cream base/shadow. The formula is a thinner consistency with a slippery texture. These have a strong cult following but I’ve never been a huge fan of them outside of using them as a base which in this case they are ideal for particularly when topping with the shadows this set comes with. Both the powder and cream shadows have very good color pay off particularly the powders.

The Annie Collection offers the best shade selection for warmer eye looks or for those with brown eyes, green eyes, or warmer skin tones (of course, don’t limit yourself to purchasing it if you have a cooler skin tone as the shades are gorgeous). I felt Annie’s Collection was the nicer Fall color collection and loved all the shades of powder shadow in particular!


Although I like the overall size of the palette and feel it’s travel friendly it does suffer some down fall…

The cardboard that the powder shadows are housed in are connected to the wells that hold the cream shadows in place. This cardboard isn’t sturdy and it can be easily removed from the box. This isn’t too big a deal unless you’re as high maintenance as I am, in that case, it’ll bug you! The good news is at least the box that everything comes in can be used for storage later on after you’re done with all the product.

  • Anyone who likes warm, rich shades of eyeshadow.
  • Those seeking a small yet dramatic selection of shadow for a Fall look!
  • Those who love Benefit (between the Creaseless Cream Shadows/Liners and the gorgeous array of Velvet Powder Shadows you’ll be sure to be pleased with this selection).

  • Those who are irked easily with fault packaging.
  • Those who like cooler shades of shadow.


Benefit Cosmetics Eye Gotta! The Annie Collection was a hit for me and a solid choice for getting an array of rich colors of shadow for Fall. I think fans of Benefit can easily find the joy here particularly those who enjoy both their Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner and Velvet Eyeshadows (hey, you’re a little bit of both here!). Annie’s Collection strikes just the chord for rich, Fall hues that are warming me up for the autumn season ahead (even though it is nearing 100 degrees outside at the moment). I did get a little irritated with the packaging here but overall, I really enjoyed this selection and think it will prove a hit for Benefit fans!

Will you be hauling it?

Own it already?

Share it!

Available now exclusively at Sephora.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Liz!

    Wants! Especially the creaseless cream eyeshadows, I love those darn things and the shades in this kit look so nice!

  • CucumPear

    So pretty. I’d rather see a darker colour instead of foiled, but otherwise I love these shadows.
    I generally dislike Benefit’s kits, because a lot of them have concealers and such out in the open. But I don’t think I’d mind this one’s packaging too much.

  • Josie

    Thank you so much for the swatches and review!!! Is it bad that i only want this set just for the Foiled creaseless shadow?

  • auroragyps

    Why in the world didn’t they put the powder shadows in a small removable palette? You take out the pots & the palette and then they’re all travel friendly. Kind of dumb designing there.

  • Sarabeara

    Thank you so much for the review, Muse! Will you be reviewing the Maggie collection as well? The colors are gorgeous!

  • Josie

    What size is the box? I heard its really compact. Is it bigger then their boxed blushes?

    • the Muse

      big bigger than that yes Josie. About two of those together. 🙂

  • dina

    LOVE, other than the packaging. can’t wait to ck out both sets 🙂

  • Rachel

    I normally shy away from dark shades as I’m not great at using them (other than to darken my crease), but these colors are gorgeous and unique! I absolutely love that cream shadow in Foiled. It looks so pretty! How much is this set?

  • Ai

    Hello Muse, I’m an Asian with warm toned skin. I’m currently in between choosing Benefit’s Benetint, Posietint or Cha-Cha tint. Which one works best for warm skin tones? Thanks so much (: