Thursday 19 November 2015

w7 Absolute Lashes Mascara VS Benefit They're Real Mascara. Save or Splurge?

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are well :)

I have a slightly different type of post for you all today, its a sort of "battle of the brands" if you will! Bargain beauty buys are great but whats even more fantastic is when you find a budget product that performs more or less the same as a high end product. I'm sure everyone has heard of the Benefit Cosmetics They're Real! mascara, its the number one best selling mascara in the world. It caused quite a stir among the beauty community when it was released a few years ago with everyone and their mother singing its praises. Well, word on the street is that budget brand w7 released a mascara that is a dupe for They're Real!. I love a good old bargain buy so I decided to put the two to the test today on the blog to see if the budget brand could compare to the highly hyped They're Real!.

I am a fan of Benefit Mascara. Bad Gal is glorious, Roller Lash is a firm favourite of mine but Benefits best selling mascara They're Real!...not my cup of tea. I didn't let that get in the way of this post though, I was still genuinely curious to see how the w7 brand mascara would compare. So on we go!



First things first, the packaging. The tubes are very similar, they are the same size and both have that metallic reflective finish to them. The colour of the packaging differs slightly with one being a gunmetal grey and the other leaning towards more of a silver. Even the font is much the same. So we can all agree that the packaging is pretty similar but are there any other similarities?




For me a wand can make or break a mascara. I just find that it doesn't matter how amazing the formula is, if the mascara doesn't have a decent wand it doesn't perform well over all. With these two mascaras, I like the wands on both. From a distance the wands look identical but on closer inspection you will find that there are some subtle differences.


Benefit They're Real Mascara 


w7 Absolute Lashes Mascara 



Both of the mascara wands have a spiked tip on the top which I find great for coating the lashes on the very outer portion of my eyes. The wands are the same size in terms of height however the Benefit wand is thinner and has less spikes where as the w7 wand is thicker and is coated in more spikes. Now onto the good part..the application!

Lashes Before - No Product


w7 Absolute Mascara - One Coat


Benefit They're Real Mascara - One Coat


Lashes After One Coat of Mascara


While the products may have initially been very similar after application the difference begin to show. The Benefit They're Real! Mascara is noticeably darker than the w7 version. Benefits formula is more wet while the w7 mascara is on the drier side which is my preference. I find a mascara that is ever so slightly dry performs better than one that is very wet. The w7 Absolute Lashes Mascara separates the lashes really well and lengthens them but not as much as Benefits They're Real!. On the other hand, the Benefit mascara does a better job at thickening the lashes. You can see from the above photo that the roots of the lashes on my right eye are darker giving the appearance of fuller lashes. 

w7 Absolute Lashes Mascara - Two Coats


Benefit They're Real! Mascara - Two Coats


Lashes After Two Coats of Mascara


On applying a second coat the Benefit mascara further lengthens and deepens the colour of the lashes but this comes at a cost. Unfortunately that cost is clumping. Some people like the appearance of clumpy, spider like lashes but it isn't my preference. The second coat of the w7 mascara adds further volume but the lashes are still noticeably separated. It gives the effect of full fluttery lashes which I really enjoy.

In terms of longevity both mascaras lasted almost equally as well throughout the day. However, with the Benefit mascara the product did flake down onto my cheeks on occasion.

The removal process is extremely easy in regard to the w7 Absolute Lashes mascara, a little bit of Garnier Michellar Water does the job. The Benefit They're Real mascara is much more tricky to remove and is one of the reasons why I just don't like the product. To remove the Benefit mascara you will need an oil based makeup remover. 

The w7 Absolute Lashes mascara is known to be a dupe for the Benefit They're Real! mascara but I would have to disagree. The w7 mascara is by no means a dupe for they're real!, they are two completely different mascaras. You can tell from the pictures above that based on the formulation and such, that in terms of performance they are not similar at all. I actually way prefer the w7 mascara for so many reasons in relation to the way in which the mascara works. Also, the Benefit They're Real! mascara retails at €26 while the w7 Absolute Lashes mascara retails at just €3.50. That speaks for itself really!

I hope you enjoyed this style of blog post, it was really fun to make!
Chat soon :)
Eimear x

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