The shade file

Benefit Cosmetics, beyond the shade name.

Compare the brand’s descriptions with readings from published swatch images.

119 shades7 products119 swatch readings

Illustrating the fit question · AI-created image

What do the numbers mean?

L* describes lightness; a* and b* describe color axes. ITA° is calculated from lightness and the yellow–blue axis to group the swatch into a depth band. None of these readings measures coverage, wear or how a formula will look on your skin.

Benefit Cosmetics names an undertone for 116 of these shades. Read off the brand’s own swatch under D65, 73 of them — 63% — land in a different undertone than the name claims. That is not an accusation of bad faith: undertone is a word, and a word is not a measurement. It is why the house publishes the number beside it.

Hello Happy Air Stick Foundation SPF 2012 shades

Benefit Cosmetics Hello Happy Air Stick Foundation SPF 20 published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
Shade 1	cool · fair	85.98	6.12	18.23	63.13	very_light	warm
Shade 2	warm · light	83.9	7.18	27.46	50.99	light	warm
Shade 3	neutral · light	81.14	8.15	22.5	54.15	light	warm
Shade 4	neutral · medium	78.25	12.25	29.75	43.52	light	warm
Shade 5	neutral · medium	74.65	10.96	31.12	38.38	intermediate	warm
Shade 6	warm · medium	74.41	9.64	35.52	34.5	intermediate	warm
Shade 7	neutral · medium	71.9	11.52	36.43	31.01	intermediate	warm
Shade 8	warm · tan	66.61	13.38	29.85	29.09	intermediate	warm
Shade 9	neutral · deep	57.04	19.33	31.93	12.43	tan	neutral
Shade 10	warm · deep	51.74	21.48	32.75	3.04	brown	cool
Shade 11	neutral · deep	48.6	17.78	29.03	-2.76	brown	neutral
Shade 12	neutral	39.57	18.18	23.36	-24.06	brown	cool

Hello Happy Flawless Brightening Foundation SPF 1512 shades

Benefit Cosmetics Hello Happy Flawless Brightening Foundation SPF 15 published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
Shade 2	warm · light	86.81	7.94	20.52	60.86	very_light	warm
Shade 1	cool · fair	84.76	5.74	15.38	66.13	very_light	warm
Shade 3	neutral · light	82.3	6.95	21.99	55.75	very_light	warm
5	neutral · medium	76.24	8.91	24.15	47.38	light	warm
Shade 4	neutral · medium	74.04	8.1	16.09	56.21	very_light	neutral
Shade 6	warm · medium	71.11	11.65	31.63	33.72	intermediate	warm
Shade 7	neutral · medium	62.84	15.44	48.92	14.71	tan	warm
Shade 8	warm · tan	50.75	21.96	37.5	1.15	brown	neutral
Shade 9	neutral · deep	43.87	15.35	30.65	-11.31	brown	neutral
Shade 10	warm · deep	40.36	25.35	34.98	-15.41	brown	cool
Shade 12	warm	39.45	19.44	18.99	-29.05	brown	cool
Shade 11	neutral	33.45	14.72	22.86	-35.9	dark	cool

Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation1 shades

Benefit Cosmetics Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
Shade 11	—	62.16	22.92	23.42	27.44	tan	cool

Hello Happy Velvet Powder Foundation12 shades

Benefit Cosmetics Hello Happy Velvet Powder Foundation published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
Shade 2	neutral · light	85.72	5	17.82	63.49	very_light	warm
Shade 1	cool · fair	84.16	3.16	14.45	67.07	very_light	warm
Shade 3	neutral · light	81.43	3.28	20.12	57.37	very_light	warm
5	neutral · medium	75.69	7.94	26.58	44.02	light	warm
Shade 4	neutral · medium	72.68	5.58	14.61	57.21	very_light	warm
Shade 6	warm · medium	69.77	10.72	32.46	31.34	intermediate	warm
Shade 7	neutral · medium	67.32	6.71	33.31	27.47	tan	warm
Shade 8	warm · tan	61.71	9.37	25.18	24.94	tan	warm
Shade 9	neutral · deep	58.22	14.55	40.25	11.54	tan	warm
Shade 11	neutral	47.1	12.01	32.98	-5.03	brown	warm
Shade 10	warm · deep	46.97	14.91	27.32	-6.33	brown	neutral
Shade 12	warm	40.61	12.93	23.97	-21.39	brown	neutral

Mini Hello Happy Flawless Brightening Foundation SPF 152 shades

Benefit Cosmetics Mini Hello Happy Flawless Brightening Foundation SPF 15 published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
1	—	87.68	10.87	12.84	71.18	very_light	cool
11	—	40.35	21.87	27.5	-19.34	brown	cool

The POREfessional Blurring & Smoothing Foundation with Niacinamide40 shades

Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional Blurring & Smoothing Foundation with Niacinamide published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
3W Trailblazer	warm	89.16	9.18	17.08	66.44	very_light	neutral
5C Confident	cool	88.15	10.97	16.71	66.35	very_light	cool
1C Ultimate	cool	87.57	7.21	14.19	69.31	very_light	neutral
2N Mighty	neutral	86.12	5.48	14.69	67.87	very_light	warm
9C Supreme	cool	84.91	11.95	21.6	58.25	very_light	neutral
8W Limitless	warm	83.33	15.75	22.09	56.46	very_light	cool
4N Wonder	neutral	82.81	9.68	16.39	63.46	very_light	neutral
6W Extraordinary	warm	81.71	7.36	23.82	53.09	light	warm
10N Ace	neutral	79.2	14.33	15.55	61.96	very_light	cool
7N Savvy	neutral	78.11	7.76	21.39	52.73	light	warm
11W Excellence	warm	76.96	8.38	29.97	41.97	light	warm
13W Champion	warm	74.31	9.98	25.78	43.32	light	warm
18W Proud	warm	73.82	13.59	31.67	36.95	intermediate	warm
12N Major	neutral	71.8	16.56	22.96	43.52	light	cool
17N Ultra	neutral	71.49	7.19	29.33	36.23	intermediate	warm
16W Stellar	warm	66.46	19.05	24.31	34.1	intermediate	cool
20W Beyond	warm	66.19	20.05	36	24.21	tan	neutral
14C Phenomenal	cool	65.28	14.94	19.17	38.56	intermediate	cool
24W Power	warm	65.04	19.95	37.69	21.75	tan	neutral
15N Incredible	neutral	64.92	14.61	24.8	31.03	intermediate	neutral
19N Triumph	neutral	63.93	15.22	24.55	29.57	intermediate	neutral
22N Outstanding	neutral	63.16	14.85	29	24.41	tan	neutral
21C Dynamic	cool	62.51	21.12	27.77	24.25	tan	cool
23W Magnificent	warm	57.29	13.08	29.83	13.73	tan	warm
25C Awe	cool	56.22	14.15	20.47	16.9	tan	cool
26C Hero	cool	54.18	17.9	26.33	9.02	brown	cool
34C Legendary	cool	48.17	19.52	22.13	-4.73	brown	cool
29W Driven	warm	45.72	27.72	37.91	-6.44	brown	cool
27W Leader	warm	45.62	22.61	32.65	-7.64	brown	cool
28N Superb	neutral	44.07	17.67	28.17	-11.89	brown	cool
31N Exceptional	neutral	43.45	17.32	22.05	-16.54	brown	cool
33N Marvelous	neutral	43.38	13.89	24.78	-14.96	brown	neutral
30C Fearless	cool	41.36	22.25	30.54	-15.8	brown	cool
32W Visionary	warm	36.93	22.91	28.34	-24.76	brown	cool
37N Brilliant	neutral	34.73	16.24	21.59	-35.27	dark	cool
36W Remarkable	warm	33.46	21.36	30.75	-28.28	brown	cool
35N Victorious	neutral	33.27	18.21	27.52	-31.3	dark	cool
38C Magnetic	cool	29.99	25.23	24.87	-38.82	dark	cool
39N Winner	neutral	24.68	15.1	19.97	-51.74	dark	cool
40N Iconic	neutral	19.89	11.72	15.43	-62.87	dark	cool

The POREfessional Smoothing & Blurring Foundation with Niacinamide40 shades

Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional Smoothing & Blurring Foundation with Niacinamide published swatch readings
Shade	Brand says	L*	a*	b*	ITA°	Depth band	Swatch reads
5C Confident	cool · light	89.68	10.29	13.12	71.7	very_light	cool
2N Mighty	neutral · fair	89.07	5.08	7.87	78.61	very_light	cool
1C Ultimate	cool · fair	88.95	5.64	12.48	72.23	very_light	neutral
3W Trailblazer	warm · fair	86.91	7.52	13.23	70.28	very_light	neutral
9C Supreme	cool · light	83.55	11.01	19.09	60.36	very_light	neutral
4N Wonder	neutral · fair	83.34	9.1	13.93	67.32	very_light	cool
8W Limitless	warm · light	81.67	13.53	21.26	56.13	very_light	cool
6W Extraordinary	warm · light	81.14	6.89	19.26	58.26	very_light	warm
11W Excellence	warm · light	80.77	6.14	27.25	48.47	light	warm
10N Ace	neutral · light	78.54	13.4	12.94	65.61	very_light	cool
7N Savvy	neutral · light	77.15	6.89	20	53.62	light	warm
13W Champion	olive · light	75.88	8.93	24.18	46.94	light	warm
17N Ultra	olive · medium	74.13	5.82	28.64	40.12	intermediate	warm
19N Triumph	neutral · medium	73.22	11.93	21.57	47.11	light	neutral
12N Major	neutral · light	72.9	15.47	17.92	51.96	light	cool
18W Proud	warm · medium	72.68	13.59	30.09	37.01	intermediate	neutral
14C Phenomenal	cool · light	71.19	13.36	14.83	55.01	very_light	cool
16W Stellar	warm · medium	68.91	15.77	19.93	43.5	light	cool
15N Incredible	neutral · light	67.51	12.99	22.85	37.46	intermediate	neutral
22N Outstanding	neutral · medium	66.22	11.95	28.18	29.92	intermediate	warm
21C Dynamic	cool · medium	65.21	15.87	23.02	33.45	intermediate	cool
24W Power	warm · medium	64.8	16.38	34.55	23.19	tan	neutral
23W Magnificent	warm · medium	61.36	11.24	23.07	26.22	tan	neutral
20W Beyond	warm · medium	59.67	21.76	31.68	16.97	tan	cool
25C Awe	olive · medium	57.64	11.99	21.26	19.77	tan	neutral
26C Hero	cool · medium	55.78	16.63	24.5	13.27	tan	cool
31N Exceptional	neutral · deep	53.11	15.5	24.77	7.16	brown	cool
29W Driven	warm · medium	52.92	22.56	37.06	4.51	brown	neutral
27W Leader	olive · medium	52.6	20.3	33.28	4.47	brown	neutral
33N Marvelous	olive · deep	52.19	10.69	21.05	5.94	brown	neutral
34C Legendary	cool · deep	50.94	18.12	20.1	2.68	brown	cool
35N Victorious	neutral · deep	46.81	15.75	28.28	-6.44	brown	neutral
30C Fearless	cool · deep	45.38	18.23	23.54	-11.1	brown	cool
28N Superb	neutral · medium	44.84	16.01	28.54	-10.25	brown	neutral
37N Brilliant	neutral · rich	43.21	14.74	25.75	-14.77	brown	neutral
38C Magnetic	cool · rich	39.7	21.47	21.24	-25.87	brown	cool
32W Visionary	warm · deep	39.12	16.58	24.48	-23.96	brown	cool
36W Remarkable	warm · deep	38.36	19.36	30.56	-20.85	brown	cool
39N Winner	neutral · rich	35.59	16.32	20.3	-35.37	dark	cool
40N Iconic	neutral · rich	18.57	13.47	16.39	-62.46	dark	cool

Match a shade you already wear

Colours are read from each shade’s own swatch image published by the retailer, not from a drawdown measured by the house — a screen swatch and a colorimeter are not the same instrument, and the house does not pretend otherwise. ITA° is the open dermatological standard, computed from the reading; no licensed colour library is used. A shade listed without a reading is one the house holds but has not yet seen.

Shop by fit concern

Start with what never quite works.

See the fit guides

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Petite, with room where you need it Shorts that cover what you choose More room through the upper arms A longer or shorter torso A waist seam in the right place More back or bra coverage Longer or shorter hems Fabric that moves and drapes comfortably

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Benefit Cosmetics, beyond the shade name.

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Benefit Cosmetics, beyond the shade name.

Start with what never quite works.

Follow the detail that matters to you.

Boots & shoes ↗

Foundation shades ↗

Pants ↗

Tops ↗

Shoes by comfort & width ↗

Swim ↗

Press-on nails ↗

Dresses & skirts ↗

Coats & jackets ↗

Bras & foundations ↗

Jewelry ↗

Glasses & sunglasses ↗

Boots & shoes

Foundation shades

Pants

Tops

Shoes by comfort & width

Swim

Press-on nails

Dresses & skirts

Coats & jackets

Bras & foundations

Jewelry

Glasses & sunglasses