Review: Benefit They're Real Mascara, Comparison with Cover Girl Lash Blast

Benefit hit the nail on the head with their marketing for Benefit's They're Real Mascara, what women want most out of their mascara is the appearance that they are false lashes, but wait, they are real! We all know that the mascara advertisements that we see all contain women wearing false lash inserts, those results are not attainable alone. So does Benefit's They're Real give a pleasing result? And are the girl's boobs in the advertisement real too? I think the left one definitely looks fake, less shading on it or something, it looks weird. I guess it's up to you to decide.
 
I went back and forth about getting Benefit's They're Real because of the high price, normally I get drugstore mascaras and find some of them to be very good and comparable to that of high-end types. But I love trying out new products so I finally caved. Benefit's They're Real retails for $22 US and $29 Canadian, I got mine at Sephora, it's always sold on the Benefit website.

Benefit's They're Real promises many things "lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts and separates. Our jet black, long-wearing formula won't smudge or dry out!". In a consumer panel survey, 94% saw dramatic length and volume, 90% saw base to tip curl, 94% saw visible lift, and 100% saw long-wearing results.

They're Real comes in a metallic brown tube, it's hard to photograph so I got a bit of flash back on there. I like the packaging, it stands out from my other mascaras. The brush is nice, it's "specially designed to reveal lashes you never knew you had". It's a plastic spikey brush with a precision tip with additional spikes (which makes this mascara unique). To use it you are to position the wand horizontally and wiggle side to side from base to tip, then use the tip spikes vertically to curl and separate.

Here is They're Real applied to the left eye and nothing on the right. The first thing I noticed is how black the formula is, it definitely stands out. It's volumizing and lengthening. And it does not take a lot of work, I find with most drugstore mascaras I would need several coats to get this effect and with this I stop at two. As far as holding a curl.. meh I don't think it does that well.

The brush is very similar to the Cover Girl Last Blast in that it has lots of tiny spikes, but the brush itself is much smaller and easier to work with, and it has those added spikes at the end. The spikes are great for getting into the inner eyes and the lashes at the sides. However, I did find that too much product collected on the spikes at the top, and in order to do my bottom lashes, I had to clean off the wand (this could get better as the formula thickens up a bit as it gets older).

And here is the ultimate test, one eye with Benefit They're Real and one with Cover Girl Lash Blast (waterproof version). My eyes look almost identical! With the Benefit mascara, I could reach the smaller lashes close to my tearduct easier and since the brush is smaller it was easier to work with for sure, which makes me want to reach for the Benefit over the Cover Girl. I love the Lash Blast but the brush is giant and every time I use it I make a huge mess and get it transferring everywhere and have to wipe with a q-tip. The Benefit formula is a bit thicker too and less glossy compared to the Cover Girl.

The verdict: If you like Cover Girl Lash Blast but find the brush too big for your eyes and hard to work with, get Benefit's They're Real, you will enjoy it.