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Benefit They’re Real Mascara Review: Disappointing!

Sup flower angels!!?!?!
For my Sephora Birthday Haul, I received a birthday present from Sephora Beauty Insider – this year it’s the Benefit Birthday Turn-Ons! The package included mini samples of the Watt’s Up Highlighter and the Benefit They’re Real! mascara – which I will tell you ALL about in this post. 
It’s VERY well-known in the beauty world for its claims to trick others into thinking you’re wearing false lashes when you’re really wearing mascara. It has a relatively wet formula, and its supposed to “lengthen, curl, volumize, lift, and separate lashes for a spectacular look.”
I have short, thin, straight, downward pointing asian lashes – will this mascara save my lash destiny? Turned out it really didn’t. For a number of reasons:

THE MASCARA BRUSH: 1/10



OK. I’m sure many people will disagree with me, but I HATE the brush!!! I know it’s supposed to be staggered bristles to “grab close to the root and lifts” but honestly, all that happened to me was immense poking into my eyeball. Like literally – the spikes was jabbing onto the root of my upper waterline – and it especially hurts because the spikes are, well, VERY HARD AND SPIKEY. And honestly it did none of the “grabbing” it claimed to do.

I applied it in the way it was described on the website – and instead of brushing it on it felt more like jabbing it on. AVOID this product unless you have super long lashes already and won’t need to apply the brush to the root of your lashes (in which case I am totally jealous and why are you even bothering with mascara?), OR unless you’re going for the red-eyed look.


LENGTHENING: 7/10
VOLUMIZING: 3/10
CURLING: 1/10
With one coat, I am able to achieve decent lengthening – however the volumizing component… What volume? Oh you mean clumps? Yeah there’s lots of those! 
On the second coat, you can already see that the wet formula is already weighing my pre-curled lashes down. This may be irrelevant but I spent about 20 minutes curling my lashes, I would like it to stay please – or at least not see such a dramatic drop after 2 minutes. 
*Update: 10 minutes after application, gravity has taken over and my lashes were pointing straight down again
Totally don’t understand why it claims to do all of those 3 things….

 COST: 1/10


Did you know that Benefit They’re Real! mascara retails for $29.00 (Canadian) at Sephora?


“That’s about $33 for a tube of clumps.” Just saying. 

To summarize, I would rather spend my money on good skincare products (Hi Lancome!) than to blow it on a tube of Benefit They’re Real! mascara.

People are probably going to blame it on my lashes – they are everything a mascara company would fear – almost impossible to resuscitate. But hey – don’t blame it on the lashes, blame it on the formula. After all, isn’t the whole point of this mascara to fool people into thinking you’re wearing falsies?

You can’t tell me this mascara will have a falsies-effect ONLY on already long, curly, luscious lashes... 

FINAL VERDICT: 

I guess if you are born with luscious lashes, GO FOR IT! But if you have genetically less than optimum lashes I would say SAVE YOUR TIME AND MONEY and go invest in 10 pairs of fake eyelashes.

Way better value for your money and I promise you it won’t take you half as long to put on a pair of falsies than to try and achieve the look with Benefit They’re Real! mascara. IF you INSIST on using mascara…. I suggest Bad Gal!!!

Did you try this mascara? 
What was your experience?
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49 thoughts on “Benefit They’re Real Mascara Review: Disappointing!”

  1. Kathleen A
    Reply

    Awwww, a lot of people that this is a really good mascara! I guess that it’s different for everyone *sigh* Thanks for sharing your opinion though!! It sucks that things in Canada are pricey :(

    http://pastel-mermaid.blogspot.com/

    1. Mango
      Reply

      YEah!! I’ve heard sooo many good reviews for this mascara – guess everyone has different lashes, just like you said! <3 THanks for taking the time to comment Kathleen! <3

  8. Karen
    Reply

    I’ve heard so much about this mascara but never really got excited over the hype- because I think my asian eyelashes will behave exactly the same as yours! I don’t think it’s worth splurging that much money on a mascara, I would rather it on eyeshadow or a lipstick :)

    1. Mango
      Reply

      Thanks Karen for taking the time to express your opinion! I agree with you – us asian lashes aren’t exactly the easiest to work with when it comes to mascaras… especially one claiming to be as miraculous as this one! But eyeshadow, lipstick, or even foundation would be well worth it! <3

  19. Mina Lycanthrope
    Reply

    Oh I don’t want to be mean or something, but I don’t think it’s this mascara’s fault. It also depends on a lot of factors, like type of lashes, the way you put/coat it on etc… There is no good product for everyone.

  24. Hannah B
    Reply

    Its such a shame it didnt work out for you, I know so many people love it and I really liked it but there have definitely been cheaper just as good, if not better alternatives out there.

    www.hbbeautyblog.blogspot.com

    Hannah x

  37. Mademoiselle Lala
    Reply

    I used to HATE this mascara – mainly because of the brush type, but after trying it one more time when my friend visited (and I had no make up with me) I actually found that I kind of like it. So I attempted to tackle the brush one more time and I am still learning how to master it. But even I – having naturally long lashes – completely understand your review. Plus, the mascara is really hard to get off!

    Mademoiselle-Lala.com

  39. Fiona Neal
    Reply

    Great review!
    I’v just come across your blog and love it!
    im a new follower, would love it if you could check out mine too & let me know what you think! :)

    http://fiona-sarah.blogspot.co.uk

    Fiona-Sarah
    xoxo

  43. Lu Ross
    Reply

    That’s really good to read an honest review about this mascara. I’ve never tried it and will not. Thanks for sharing this so we can avoid spending money on this mascara.

    http://thefashioness.com/

  45. Joanne
    Reply

    OMG I’m wearing they’re real right now and I agree with everything you wrote. I didn’t really like this mascara nor the brush. I just have the deluxe sample size from Sephora and I’m glad I didn’t go ahead and get the full size. I think there are a lot of drugstore mascaras that would do a better job than this. :)

    I’m inviting you to the giveaway I’m currently having on my blog:

    Win Barbie Circle Lens of your choice

    Hope you join! ^^

  46. Rizuna Swon
    Reply

    I’m so proud when you said something you want to say. When it’s good, you said good. When it’s bad you really said the truth. I’m loving your courage. I don’t know why people post something about a brand or a shop and help them (the shop) with their giveaway but I can see from the post they wrote that they didn’t really like the brand. But kept writing it because the gift (or coupon) the shops give.

    Big hug,
    Rizuna from 100% Nerd

  47. Misa
    Reply

    I feel the same way. And I also got this from sephora beauty insider this year ^^ it’s really clumpy for me :( and doesn’t hold curls that well haha but I still use it regularly since other mascaras I have are worse xD

  49. Roya A.
    Reply

    My sister got this as a birthday gift from sephora too and passed it on to me as she doesn’t like mascara. And I have to agree with you, I’m totally unimpressed. The amount of times I’ve scratched my eyeball with this… And it’s so hard to remove!

    Great review though, really in depth :)

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