Product Review: Benefit They're Real Mascara

  

This has undoubtedly been the most hyped up mascara of the last six months or so and was the best selling mascara in the UK for 2012. Retailing at £18.50 it promises dramatic length and volume, base to tip curl, visible lift and long wearing results as observed by 90-100% of people in a consumer panel survey. It also claims to provide clump free, beautiful lashes.

I'd held off buying this mascara for quite a while, I have far too many, way more than I can use up before they dry up or get too old and unhygienic to use. However I am a sucker for a bargain and when I saw this on Buyapowa for £13.50 I thought I would give it a try. That site is bad for my bank account seriously.

So I clicked 'join co-buy' and waited with much anticipation for the postman to come a-knockin'.

The outer packaging is nicely designed, I'm not sure if it fits in with Benefit's existing style of vintage style imagery but it certainly fits their fun flirty brand. The mascara itself has quite a unique applicator, the standard spikey plastic wand has the addition of a little ball at the end designed to catch all of those inner corner lashes and tricky to reach places.

So the good points of this mascara. It's extremely black, the blackest mascara I have come across. It brightens the eyes and certainly gets every lash. It stays black all day without fading out to that murky grey that some mascaras do. Unfortunately for me this is where the good points end.

The applicator is very spikey and if you poke yourself in the eye it's bad news. Not just like normal mascara wands, but to the point your eye spasms, turns red and waters like the Niagra Falls. Okay so you aren't meant to poke yourself in the eye but it does happen and it seems to happen a lot more so with this wand. Maybe it's just me being careless. So that aside what other problems did I have?

You are meant to be able to build this mascara up, using it first in a rocking side to side motion to coat the lashes then in a vertical motion to create lift and get all those tricky lashes that like to hide away. But after just one coat I can feel my lashes getting clumpy. I've watched YouTube video after YouTube video to try and get the right technique but nothing seems to work. Yes you get volume and lift but my lashes also just seemed to get weird bobbles at the ends. The small ball at the end of the wand always comes out coated in far too much product for the small lashes to hold and even after wiping away the excess it doesn't seem to help much. My lashes are left spidery even after using a lash comb and have that horrible crispy feeling which gets harder and harder throughout the day. I also found that although the mascara didn't smudge or fade it did flake a little.

In all I am really disappointed with the Benefit They're Real Mascara. I was expecting good things and I just find it really unworkable. Maybe you just need good lashes to begin with to make this work, a lot of people love this mascara and maybe you will too. It just isn't for me.

Links:

Buyapowa 

They're Real at Boots 

Benefit Website 

February Favourites

So it's the start of a new month which means that in traditional blogger fashion I am going to do a favourites blog.

I've been trying a lot of new products lately, some will probably make it into my March favourites, but I didn't feel I had been using them enough throughout the whole of February to include them here. But these are the products I've found myself picking out again and again to use throughout the last month.

Large "Donut" Bun Ring (Primark £1.50)

I've been wanting one of these for a while now and I finally picked one up during a Primark outing and it has been worn so much. It's great on those days where you just want your hair off your face or when you could never wear it down because it's ready for a wash but you just don't have the time. I'm quite late on the donut bandwagon but for me this is a new love.

Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow (£17.00)

Another product that has been on my wishlist for a while now. I'm quite pale and find it very hard to find good contour colours without them making me look orange. This is fantastic. It's a buildable cream that blends beautifully and has more of a pinky-grey undertone than the typical orange-brown undertone many contours have.

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Nova (£5.99 in Boots, can often be found on 3 for 2)

I was excited for the release of these products and they did not disappoint. I bought these in three colours, Nova, Big Bang and Apocaliptic, but so far Nova has been my go-to. It applies smoothly and has a nice creamy texture, isn't too drying and lasts for a reasonable amount of time for the type of product it is. I love the shade, it provides a lovely pop of colour without being too dramatic for daytime.

Illamasqua Brow & Lash Gel (£11.50)

My brows have been a little unruly of late, I have finally got round to re-shaping them but before this the Illamasqua brow & lash gel had been my saviour. A clear gel that holds brows in place all day, great if brows grow the wrong way or are just a little long or lack shape. I usually brush a little of this through until I get the shape I want then carefully fill in any gaps once it has dried.

L'Oreal La Touche Magique True Match Anti-Fatigue Illuminating Concealer in Rose Porcelain (Boots £8.19)

The best concealer I have found yet for under the eyes. Blends perfectly, isn't heavy and has a peachy tone to correct dark circles. No matter how much or how little make-up I am wearing I will always use this and a small amount goes a long way. 

Clinique High Impact Mascara (£16.00)

I used to use this years ago and it was amazing but then the price tag forced me back to cheaper drugstore mascaras. These days a good drugstore mascara isn't much cheaper so for Christmas I decided to ask for this again and have been loving it ever since. Quick and easy to apply, has a good consistency; not too wet or too dry and doesn't clump. My only gripe is that it runs far too easily if my eyes water so my next purchase my have to be the waterproof version. 

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Black Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner (Boots £3.99) 

This is up there with the best of them. I would liken this to the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners in terms of texture, colour pay-off and durability but for a fraction of the price. Lasts all day and for £3.99 you really cannot go wrong with this. Even goes on easily and stays put on the waterline which can be tricky to find in a waterproof pencil. Definitely pick one up if you love your eyeliner. These are also available in six other shades and at that price I will be tracking a few of them down to try.