Maggie Ford Danielson and I talk Benefit Eye Wanna! Eye Gotta!

My Saturday mornings are usually spent on the couch thinking about going to the gym, contemplating cleaning the house but in reality working on my ass groove while catching up on bad television. You'll be happy to know that this past Saturday was a lot more productive when I had a chance for a sit down with Benefit Cosmetic's Global Beauty Authority, and daughter of co-founder Jean Ford - Maggie Ford Danielson. Hearing about her busy life made me feel a little guilty about my slothful ways - between constant travel and appearances on HSN I was amazed to learn that she's getting married in a couple of weeks - she looks way too calm for someone about to get hitched! I was also very surprised to learn that she's not doing her own makeup for her wedding - I'm obviously a total control freak, it never even occurred to me not to do my own!

Maggie was in town for a Eaton Centre Sephora event but luckily she first had time for a chat about her obsession with eyebrows, Kate Middleton, the early (crazy) days at Benefit, her must-have Benefit products: Instant Brow, Boi-ing and They're Real! Mascara and of course Benefit's latest launches: They're Real! Mascara and Eye Wanna! Eye Gotta! Eyeshadow Kits.

If you missed it, you can find our review of They're Real! Mascara here - and of course I was excited to check out the new eyeshadow kits! Limited Edition and exclusive to Sephora at only $40 each, you might be hard pressed to pick just one:

Eye Wanna! The Maggie Collection - has 3 velvet eyeshadows in skyline - blue silver, inked - midnight sapphire and deco - fresh plum as well as 2 creaseless cream shadow/liners in static - shimmering pewter and airbrush - pink pearl.

Eye Gotta! The Annie Collection - has 3 velvet eyeshadows in canopy - warm nutmeg, purple haze - gilded purple and spiced - golden olive as well as 2 creaseless cream shadow/liners in foiled - platinum fawn and flash - shimmering sand

Both kits are gorgeous - I especially love how pigmented the powder shadows are and how clever they were to put the cream shadows into little pots so they won't dry up like they do in most palettes. I also love the funky artwork on the packaging - you can always count of Benefit to bring the cool factor!

If I was a normal person who ever actually used up an eyeshadow, my only complaint would be the design of the eyeshadows and how there is no divider between the colours which means as the colours start getting used up they will eventually crumble into one another. The smartest thing to do with this kind of design is to use the 1st and 3rd colour starting at the outer edge of the pan and work your way in and start using the centre colour in the middle and work your way out in a circle - this will cause the least amount of stress to all the colour borders keeping them intact for as long as possible. Who said I never learned anything in my structural engineering classes!

I'm probably more partial to Maggie's Collection because I love lots of colour, put if you like things a little more toned down, the Annie Collection might be more your style.

Whichever one you choose don't drag your feet - when they're gone, they're gone so get yourself to Sephora to check them out or you can order them online at www.sephora.com.

- Lisamarie -