Instant Lashes

Considering the relative short shelf life of mascara and the quality and performance of cheaper brands, high end mascara has never particularly appealed to me. But for whatever reason, when I saw the wand of Benefit They're Real on display, something told me that I'd probably like it. A lot. It reminded me a bit of my beloved Maybelline Define-A-Lash, with its stiff spikiness and defined bristles. The tip looked intriguingly like one of those Medieval spiked balls, and the girl at the Benefit counter kept emphasising how it didn't smudge, and then showed me the pack with the complementary travel size, and before I knew it, I was handing over my credit card for something I never planned to buy.

The pack I bought isn't bad value as the free travel size mascara has the full-sized wand and is 4g, which is just under half the full 8.5g size. I imagine that the travel size would still last a decent amount of time. As for the mascara itself, I'm surprisingly impressed by it. It has thoroughly exceeded my expectations. I would go as far as to say this is the best mascara I've used. I'm even considering repurchasing at Australian prices when both the travel and full size run out.

I have fairly typical Asian lashes, i.e. short and mostly straight, and having monolids, what eyelashes I have are largely overtaken by my eyelid. If I had naturally lush, curled and long lashes, I'm sure I could use whatever rubbish mascara was available and be set, but I need all the help I can get. My trusty Shiseido eyelash curler is an unmissable first step, and one coat of They're Real is enough to bring my lashes to the point where they're actually visible. I have darkened, thickened, separated, clump-free, lengthened lashes. Better still, it holds curl and smudging is kept to a minimum. The last part is somewhat of a revelation, as I don't think I've come across a single mascara when applied to my lower lashes, that didn't bleed and smear by the day's end. They're Real really stands out in that respect.

l-r: bare lashes, with one coat of They're Real

Something about the wand and formula means that even when this mascara is whacked on in a somewhat haphazard manner while rushing out the door in the morning, it doesn't smear and smudge all over my eyelid. I've found the spiky tip of the wand is particularly useful for coating the small, fine bottom lashes. Needless to say, I'm glad that the combination of the Benefit sales assistant's persuasion and enthusiasm, and my own boundless capacity to buy makeup that I don't need, resulted in this purchase.