Friday, September 30, 2011

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.

16 comments:

AmyRoto said... Best Blogger Tips

I agree with the brush of Lash Blast being too big -- it's always so awkward to use, even though I do ultimately like the formula of the mascara!

I have to say I've never tried a Benefit mascara before!

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@AmyRoto - I used Bad Gal from a Sephora Beauty Insider thingy, that's the only other one I think, and that one was pretty good.

Eden-Avalon said... Best Blogger Tips

Hum. I'm surprised by how much more I like the results on the lash blast eye than the they're real. And I love they're real!

Stephanie said... Best Blogger Tips

Justine! So glad to see you back :) Thanks for the review--I've been hearing tons of mixed reviews about this one. So far, I'll stick with my colossal mascara from maybelline!

Risa said... Best Blogger Tips

The Benefit mascara look really lengthening! But i gotta agree that lashblast gives pretty much the same effect..not too sure whether to spend the extra penny on the former..

Thanks for doing the review! It's really helpful

xx

SleepandMakeup said... Best Blogger Tips

Great review love!

Liz (Beauty Reductionista) said... Best Blogger Tips

Nice comparison. I don't like these middling range mascaras and tend to go super cheap or super expensive. I'm definitely going to skip the Benefit one, thanks!

MarBear said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks for this post, I've been wondering how They're Real compared to Lash Blast (my HG), and by the looks of your picture, they're about the same! I love the curl Lash Blast gives, so I think I'll stick with it!

Edwina said... Best Blogger Tips

Hey Justine! Thanks for hosting the giveaway :) I'm so happy to have won!

I heard from a blogger that you can actually get a sample of the vitalumiere aqua if u ask them... I'm not sure what happened when u asked them? maybe it was just that SA! Yea my swatch looks dark for some reasons... but it doesn't look like as dark in real life.. probably it was the lighting. If all fails, go to the counter and ask them to try it on u and see :)

Thanks again!

SAHAR said... Best Blogger Tips

grt review...love ur lashes with mascara

BeautyAndTheBrute said... Best Blogger Tips

great review! I've been so curious about this mascara, but think i just might jump on the bandwagon and purchase it when i get a chance! :)

Tracy D said... Best Blogger Tips

I really wanted to try this, but I held off b/c of the price..and I don't really like Covergirl Lash Blast but I can definitely see that there is very little difference here.

мσитѕєяgιяℓ ❥ said... Best Blogger Tips

Great comparison! I have been wanting to try this but I hate cover girl lash blast so I think I will stay away.
It looks like they both provide exactly the same amount of volume and length. This was very helpful =D

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

I really want to try this, but Benefit has so many stuff that doesn't not even work for me ....

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Katherine - I hear ya, I am debating on returning this. Don't waste your money.

Danielle said... Best Blogger Tips

Thank you SO much for doing a comparison. I wish I had seen this before I went to Ulta today. They were having their 20% off sale and I finally broke down to try this. I am unimpressed. I have other mascaras that feel better when applied. It will be going back I'm sure.