Review: Benefit They're Real! Mascara

I've seen a lot of love for Benefit's They're Real! mascara on Twitter and blogs, yet something held me back from buying it- I think the fact that I could part with £18.50 and then be let down with a very average, hyped up mascara. However my boyfriend's mum very kindly bought it for me for my birthday and I was so excited to try it and see if it lived up to its claims. Who doesn't want a false lash effect minus the fiddly application?

For reference, the claims as per Benefit's website are: "they're real! lengthens, curls, volumises, lifts & separates. Our jet black, long-wearing formula won’t smudge or dry out. A specially designed brush reveals lashes you never knew you had!"

Of course once again Benefit comes up trumps in the packaging department, even giving us the mascara in a box. A bit unneccessary, but at least you can recycle it, plus it's a lovely thought and is one of the things that I think differentiate Benefit from other brands.

Now onto the actual mascara! I love the wand, which is made up of lots of short, spiky looking bristles for lifting and coating every single lash. I didn't even think about the bristles on the end of the wand until I noticed a beauty tip on the Benefit website, which states that this custom-domed tip is for fanning out your corner lashes. Bonus!

So does this mascara live up to the hype? It certainly does! I was instantly impressed. When applying the mascara you can basically feel the bristles picking up your lashes and lifting them. It actually does reveal lashes you didn't know you had as per their claim, even the tiniest littlest lashes, which contributes to the false lash effect. It also doesn't clump, which was my bugbear with my previous mascara, and so my little separating wand has almost been made redundant! 

If you read my last mascara review on No7 Extravagant Lashes you will know that my biggest want in a mascara is curl power. So does Benefit give me what I want? YES! One curl with my eyelash curlers before applying is all I need.

Above: eye on the left with Benefit They're Real! mascara and on the right without.

Since I've been wearing the mascara it hasn't smudged or flaked off at all. In fact the only slight negative to it is that it's actually a bit stubborn to remove! 

In summary, it's my new must have mascara and other mascaras have got a lot to live up to! For me, it is definitely going to be worth parting with £18.50 of my own pennies when this runs out.

Have you tried Benefit They're Real! mascara? What's your must have mascara for length, volume and curl? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Beauty Bird xx