Rave or Rant? - Benefit's "They're Real!" Mascara Review

I recently got the opportunity to try this mascara out by getting a trial size mascara as part of my Beauty Insider birthday gift from Sephora. I was really glad that I finally got my hands on this mascara as I had heard so many good things about it and love Benefit Cosmetics. I've seen so many beauty gurus using this in video tutorials and even had friends tell me about how good it was.

But there was one thing that I did hear about his mascara that I didn't like - I heard it was a pain in the a$$ to remove it. Even through I heard this a couple times, I still decided to give it a shot and make my own decisions about the product.

First, I want to start with the wand. I love this wand and think that it's so ingenious to have made the tip part of the wand for those hard to reach spots! The great thing about these spiked wands is that they really do get the product from the base of the lash to the tip and keeps lashes separate. However with too many stokes, it only clumps the lashes together.

The formula does what it said it would, it lengthens and separates. I do find that it gives that "Tarantula legs" look, which I expected with this type of wand. I am not really a fan of this tarantula look for everyday, I prefer something a little more natural looking. I can see one using this mascara with either a really bare eye to accentuate lashes or a very dramatic look. I love that it does lengthen (a lot), but it doesn't feel comfortable and is difficult to layer. It does last all day with no flaking or smudging, however it does dry out late in the day.

And truth be told - it is a HUGE pain in the a$$ to remove at night!! Wow! I have 2 different eye make up removers, one that's a little more gentler and the other for heavy duty. I started removing the mascara with the gentle eye make up remover, figuring I would take it nice and slow. It removed some of the mascara, but the majority stayed on. After about 10 minutes I decided to bring out the big guns - the heavy duty make up remover. I couldn't believe how hard of a time I still had, even with my heavy duty remover! Ugh! Not to mention how annoyed I was with all the redness and lashes falling out from the constant rubbing with a cotton ball. I finally gave up even though I knew there was still some left on my lashes, hoping that my cleanser would take off the rest.


I was so shocked and annoyed with my experience that I had to do it again, just to make sure that this really was as disappointing as initially thought. I wore it again the next day, same as the day before-2 coats. When it came time to remove it, it was the same story (maybe worse from the left over residue from the day before!).

When removing make up is this bad for me, I don't even care to remember whether or not I liked wearing the product and ruins the whole experience for me. Unfortunately, this is the case with this mascara, I'm glad I got a trial and not wasted money on the full size! This is not a raving review - I am ranting more about it than raving, with the likeliness to never purchase this in the future. It's very disappointing for me as I usually really love Benefit products, but you can't win 'em all.

Grade: C

Let me know if your experience with this mascara was similar or completely different in the comments box below, this is only my experience I would love to read about yours! Please be sure to subscribe to my blog for more product reviews and you can also follow my blog on Bloglovin' (Makeupmasochist). For more daily posts and photos be sure to follow my Instagram (@fernonje) and if you have any questions or suggestions of products for me to review, please email me makeupmasochist@gmail.com

For more information about this product or where to buy please visit:

http://www.sephora.com/
http://www.benefitcosmetics.com/

Enough Ranting...

xoxo
Ashley