Round two of our new feature: Things We Finish, in which we talk about the products we squeeze, scrape, or shake 'til there is nothing left. Today we hear from our advertising manager, Eunice, on her dilapidated vial of Benetint.

I’m intimidated by too-perfect makeup. I shy away from matte lipstick, eye shadow brushes, lip pencils…anything that requires any sort of artistry, precision, or poise to pull off. I’m short (5’2), and about armpit-height to most people, which means my face inevitably ends up getting smushed and smudged in a crowded situation. I need makeup that can stand a little rough-and-tumble time, so if some guy bumps into me on a subway car, or if I get sandwiched between dancing drunk girls at a bar, I can expect to still look somewhat awesome and not leave a trail of foundation swatches behind on people’s clothes when I emerge from the huddle.

So, I usually grab for the tints: tinted moisturizer, tinted lip balm, cheek and eyebrow tints. I experiment, but I always come back to Benefit’s Benetint. It’s easy, gives you some room for error, and it evokes that Old-World 'rouge' vibe when you apply it. Except instead of having to mush up my own mulberries or whatever, the pigment comes neatly bottled with a brush applicator. I just stripe it on my cheeks and blend with my fingers for a just-pinched flush, and I reapply as needed throughout the day. I also use it on my lips. I probably should have tossed it about a month ago when I started seeing weird deposits floating around the bottom, but after going through probably a dozen half-used bottles of these, I kind of wanted to see this one through to the end.

—Eunice Lee

Photo by Elizabeth Brockway.