mini review: benefit's they're real mascara

Hey guys!

Today's post will be a quick review on a much coveted mascara within the beauty community. Everyone raves about this mascara on blogs and Youtube alike, and even its high price tag won't stop most people (i.e. me) from giving it a try.

Of course it's the Benefit They're Real mascara!

I had high hopes for this mascara, I'll admit it - I had read and watched reviews upon reviews before actually making my mind up to buy this. Honestly, I had not seen one bad review, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. Read on to see what my thoughts are now after trailing this for a couple of months.

Being a higher end brand, the price tag on this baby is quite high. But, given that it retails in Australia for $38, it honestly isn't as hefty as other high end brands. Our drugstore mascaras usually retail for about $25-30AU, and seeing as this is only $5-8AU more expensive, I don't think that the price for this is too unreasonable. Still, I did wait until I went overseas to buy this because it is only $23USD. I did have the option to purchase a sample size at $10USD, but when in Rome..

From the Benefit website, this mascara claims to:

"... lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts & separates. Our jet black, long-wearing formula won’t smudge or dry out. A specially designed brush reveals lashes you never knew you had!"

So... What do I think?

I may be the first person to say this but.. I have such a love/hate relationship with this mascara. I really really wanted it to work - so many bloggers and youtubers claim this to be their ride or die. I, unfortunately, think differently. Is it a bad mascara? No, not at all. Is it a great mascara? Ehhh.. Well, its definitely not a bad mascara. It does what a mascara is supposed to do - namely coat your lashes and make them look more defined. But is it worthy of all the praise it receives? Not in my opinion. 

First of all, its a plastic brush. I am a known bristle brush lover, but that hasn't stopped me from adoring a select few mascaras with plastic brushes. Most people claim that this mascara is what converted them to a plastic wand, but to me its just a standard brush nothing too special. Oh, except the spiky ball on the end. That was genius on Benefit's part. It has never been so easy to get the lashes situated in the inner part of my eye, and also the outer lashes. It's my favourite thing about this mascara.

Close up of the mascara wand

The other thing about this mascara is that its that dreaded wet formula. If you don't know how I feel about wet formulas, I will tell you now. Basically, most wet formulas just clump my lashes and make them so spidery. I have to work twice as hard to get my lashes to separate and gain more volume. I am someone who prefers my lashes to look full and voluminous, and a bristle wand with a dry formula really helps me to achieve this. Unfortunately, this is a problem that I have with this mascara.

Here are some pictures with the mascara applied to my lashes:

One coat of the Benefit's They're Real mascara

Two coats of the Benefit's They're Real mascara

As you can see in the first photo, my lashes are quite thin and spidery. As much as it has coated, curled and lifted my lashes up, there is really no volume or lusciousness to them. And then the second photo, you can really see how clumped they can become. This is after trying to work with the mascara for 2+ minutes..

I don't love or hate this mascara in all honesty - I wouldn't say its a favourite, nor one that I would consider throwing out. There are days where it does work perfectly - where it really does all it claims to. But unfortunately those days are few and far between. I just wish I had had the sense to buy the sample size before purchasing the full size, but hey. At least it is one more mascara to have. But, so many other people have had a great experience with this mascara so I wouldn't let this review stop you from giving it a go - just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you! It is quite possible that I was just the unlucky person who got the dud bottle.

Do you own this mascara? What are your thoughts on it?

Until next time...

xxxx