Tarte "Gifted" & Benefit "They're Real" Mascara Reviews

Hi everyone!  So, I’ve been using my two new mascaras alternately for the past week and I figured I have enough…data…experience…something…to give my opinion on them.

To start out, here’s a picture of my eyelashes with nothing on them.  As you can see they are sort of light and fairly short.

I tried the “Gifted” Tarte Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara first.  This is the one I saw on QVC and thought at first the model was wearing falsies.  Then, when they put it on the 2^nd model, I saw that it wasn’t fake eyelashes, it actually was the mascara.  After using this I honestly believe this actually works.  It lengthened, thickened and lasted the 12 hours Tarte claims it will without flaking.

A few days later I tried the Benefit “They’re Real” mascara.  This one works like expected as well.  It also lengthened, thickened and lasted all day.  It seems to work just as well, if not slightly better, than the Tarte “Gifted”, and I do like it a lot as well.

Over all, they are both great mascaras and would be perfect for anyone who wants something to  make their lashes look long and thick.  By volume, the they are about the same price, the Tarte is $19.00 for .24 oz and the Benefit is $22.00 for .3 oz.  I will more than likely only repurchase the Tarte “Gifted” however.  I have fairly small eyes and the brush on the Benefit mascara is actually too big for me and I can’t get it into my inner lashes without getting it all over my eyelids.  I have included pictures below of the wands so you can see the size of the applicators.

The applicator brush on the Tarte is average size

As you can see, even though the wand is short, the applicator brush on the Benefit is quite a bit larger than on the Tarte.

Additionally, the Tarte mascara is made of natural ingredients with no mineral oil, parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate or synthetic fragrances, which for me is nice since my eyes can be quite sensitive.  However, since both mascaras work very much the same I would recommend either one to anybody looking who asked.

Also, just for reference, I have included a picture of my lashes with my other favorite mascara, MAC’s Mascara X, which has very similar results as the above mascaras.  However, it appears that Mascara X may have been discontinued as it is no longer on MAC’s website, though it would have been nice had I been told this the last time I bought a new tube L.  I guess it’s a good thing the Tarte “Gifted” lived up to my expectations, lol.

I hope this review helped anyone who was on the fence about either of these mascaras.  I really liked the way both worked and am very pleased with all the results.  If you have any questions or anything, let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to everyone!

That’s it for this evening, have a great night!  I’ll talk to everyone soon! J

Weekly Wrap-Up

Another weekend almost over and a new week about to start.  Tonight’s post is up a little late.  I just got home from seeing Kathy Griffin do standup.  She was so hilarious and the show was awesome.  And I was with two awesome friends which makes it even better!  We had a great time.  Hope everyone is doing well and had a good week.  It’s time for the weekly wrap-up.

Starting with weight loss this week I’m very excited.  As of this past Monday’s weigh-in I’m down another 3.4 lbs. which brought me to my first goal weight!  Now I’m on to my second goal to lose just another 5 lbs.  After that all I have to do is maintain the loss.  I just want to thank all the girls and guys on my team who are so supportive in all this.  To everyone, not just to me.  You all rock!  And I’m so proud of all the hard work we’ve all put in on this J.

On to fashion and beauty purchases for this week.  There aren’t a whole lot once again. 

For fashion I did get a new Coach handbag.  They’re my obsession as all my family and friends know.  I get invitations to the Coach Factory Outlet online sales so the prices are quite reasonable.  I got a large Sophia in grey with silver hardware and a beautiful amethyst lining.  I’m carrying her already and *love* her.

For beauty purchases I only picked up a few things.  I replaced my MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle and my MAC Mascara X in black since I was out of both.  I was also planning on getting a new MAC lipstick through their Back 2 MAC program, but I forgot how many empties it takes.  For those that don’t know, the Back 2 MAC is MAC’s recycling program.  They accept returns of their primary packaging (the boxes are labeled on the products that qualify).  If you return 6 empty packaging containers to a MAC counter or MAC Cosmetics  online you’ll receive a free MAC lipstick of your choice.  Even though I do have 6 empty containers, I left one at home because I thought it was 5.  So no knew lipstick for me this week, lol.

I also needed some new primer so I bought some Too Faced Primed and Poreless this time instead of the Smashbox PhotoFinish.  I like this one better for some reason, and it’s slightly cheaper which is nice.

And finally, I received my “The Club at Ulta” (their beauty club) certificate and I hit level 6 last quarter.  One of the options for level 6 is a free perfume up to a $40 value.  I picked out Jessica Simpson’s “I Fancy You” and got the 1.7 oz. that is $49 planning to pay the additional $9 but got the whole $49 off!  I was surprised.  I’m horrible at describing scents so I’m not even gonna try, lol.  I’ll just say I think it smells lovely J.

Finishing out this evening is my bi-weekly manicure.  This one is “Stranger Tides” by OPI from their Pirates of the Caribbean line.  It’s a very light sea green cream shade.  Now that spring is getting closer (it’s been in the 50’s here which is not normal for Kansas in February) I figured it’s time to mix in some lighter colors with the dark ones.  I think this one looks very pretty.

Well, that’s it for this week.  Hope you all have a great week ahead and I’ll talk to everyone later! J