Review - Lush Benefit They're Real Tinted Lash Primer

Benefit - They're Real! Tinted Lash Primer (Mink Brown) £18.50
Benefit have cheekily let all readers of December's ELLE UK try their latest product They're Real! Tinted Lash Primer (mink brown) nine whole weeks before the rest of the world! The mascara from the They're Real! family is already a bestseller so expectations are high.This decent sized sample comes in a 3g tube. Although the tube design is not a miniature replica of the real product, the brush and the bristles are of the exact match. There is nothing more annoying than trying on mascaras without the brush its designed to be used with!I was a little hesitant about trying this product as I already have a mascara that works for my lashes and I don't need anything more to enhance them BUT as I am a beauty junkie, I had to see what the hype was about! Do we need another primer? Do our eyelashes really need a primer? Isn't my mascara enough?So, scroll down to see photos of the application process and I'll also let you know my final verdict at the end.Here are my eyelashes- sparse, thin and short. At the moment I use Bourjois Volume Clubbing Ultra Black Which gives me the much needed volume and I only ever use this mascara as its the only one that really holds the curl. I'm hoping the tinted lash primer will give me more volume and help make the mascara application smoother.As always, I curled my top lashes to start off with. Nothing too dramatic, just clamped at the bottom and the middle of the lash to create a curl.So I applied the They're Real! Tinted Lash Primer to my top lashes to begin with. The brush is flexible and the bristles really help separate the lashes which is great and the Pro Vitamin B5 enriched primer sets a great base for the mascara. As you can see, the mink brown tint can be worn alone as it does give the lashes some definition for a natural look (plus its water resistant!) but for me, the formula is too thin to be worn alone and it doesn't seem buildable on its own. On top of the tinted lash primer, I've applied one coat of my chosen mascara, which is the Bourjois Volume Clubbing Ultra Black and to be really honest with you, I do see a subtle difference. My lashes look very similar to when I've applied no lash primer but two coats of mascara. I can see that the primer has provided a slight oomph of volume but nothing more.So I applied the tinted lash primer to my bottom lashes too and straight away I notice that it's quite difficult to use the brush on the lower lashes. The tip of the brush if slightly larger so that doesn't help get into the corners. However, the primer really separated my lashes and added a slight noticeable amount of volume.Lastly, I applied a coat of mascara to the bottom lashes and once again, there isn't any dramatic changes. It looks like I've applied two coats of mascaras, which is great I suppose, as I am using less mascara. However, once my eyelashes were dry, I applied more primer to the tips of my top lashes to see if I could build up the volume and it worked a little. I applied more mascara to the tips only , where I added more primer, and I could see added length and slight volume build up.

Although I wasn't too impressed (as I hoped I would be), one of my work colleague did pay me a compliment on my eyelashes. She said they were more noticeable than most other days! That made me very happy as I love a good lash day! As you can see in the photo, my eyelashes are curled up high and believe me when I say that they stayed up ALL day long!

Overall, I am not too excited about this tinted primer after testing it -purely because I feel as though I can achieve the same results with just my mascara. It's a little commodity which I personally don't feel the need to use. However, after a few uses, like any other primers, I can imagine wanting to invest in another tube for the occasional special days. I was convinced I didn't need a primer before but now I use it every morning before my foundation.. so you never know!

It's definitely something I'd recommend a friend to try because this lash primer subtely enhances, volumises, lengthens. Seems to be buildable too so if you are interested in experimenting, grab your little sample before everyone else or wait patiently till the release on the 26th December 2015.