Beauty lovers have been left stunned after cult cosmetics brand Benefit revealed in an Instagram post what their debut product was originally made for. And it’s not what you think.
Benefit’s Benetint was one of the brand’s founding formulas, but it has a rather unusual origin story.
The cheek and lip tint now comes in six different varieties, including the original Benetint, Lovetint, Chachatint, Floratint, Playtint, and Gogotint - but fans have been left red-faced after discovering what the £16 product can also be used for.
Sharing a video to their 1.3million Instagram followers, Benefit revealed that Benetint’s original formula wasn’t intended for the face at all.
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A video posted to their account on Friday saw male models painting not their lips or cheeks, but their nipples with the cosmetics product.
The caption read: “Before you come for us, yes we’re okay! Benetint’s original formula wasn’t intended for the lips OR the cheeks.”
Some followers were horrified with Jm_joanna_ma__ak exclaiming: “what the heck is this ???”
Sabrina.jaine added: “Can't unsee,” while dianakalsi wrote: “That’s soo not right puts me off.”
Others were fascinated that their two-in-one tint was now a three-in-one, as lindziellis typed: “I didn’t know that! How interesting! I’ve read before that your perfect nude lipstick should actually match your natural nipple colour as that’s the colour your lips go when you’re aroused.”
Sarahscarlett01 added: “This is a great product for anyone who lacks pigmentation, has scars or wants to accentuate their nipples….. perfect with way!”
And taralou86 commented: “Clearly I've been using this product all wrong! I think the label should be updated to cheeks, lips and t*ts! In all seriousness though it's a really good product, I've been using it for years... on my lips.”
One of the biggest sore points was that the advertisement had to use male nipples, as a result of Instagram guidelines.
Autumns_mummy said: “I actually think this is really interesting - I didn't know the history of Benetint until now! It's just a shame they had to use men. I've never understood why our nips are so 'offensive' yet men's are apparently fine!”
Nails_by_nikki_soane added: “Shame we’re only allowed to see men put this on,” and Kate_ea89 wrote: “Annoys me that if this was a woman it'd be taken down by Insta!”
To which Benefit responded: “We’re on the same page,” with an angry face emoji.
The origin story of the Benetint has been shared by LookFantastic, who stock the best-selling product.
The tint was born in 1977 by small beauty boutique owners Jean and Jane Ford, who received an unorthodox request from an exotic dancer.
The site explained: “She asked for a product that would tint her nipples for shows; she wanted something that would make them perfectly pink and last throughout the routine, a beauty problem we would never even have thought of otherwise!
“Despite the unusual nature of the task, the sisters got on with trying to make something perfect for the job. They took some lessons from traditional methods of creating lip and cheek tints to try to get the right formula that would leave the perfect flush.”
The first Benetint was created from steamed rose petals, reportedly given to the dancer in a simple cork stoppered bottle with a hand-drawn label - and the rest was history.
LookFantastic added: “Still to this day, the product is one of Benefit's bestsellers and has been the inspiration for a whole range.”
You can shop B enetint on LookFantastic here, where it’s currently on sale for £12.16 with a discount and extra 5 per cent off with the code EXTRA5 at the checkout.
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