June 5, 2014

Benefit They’re Real! Remover Review

This was provided to me by a brand for review but all opinions expressed are my own

Benefit They're Real! Remover

Benefit They’re Real! Remover is what Benefit Cosmetics calls a strip down waterproof eye makeup remover. If you use Benefit They’re Real Mascara I imagine you’ll automatically want to snatch this one up as a fan of the mascara.

I actually had to grab my own tube of They’re Real and see how hard it was to remove the mascara to warrant it’s own eye makeup remover. Actually, it is kinda tough to remove! How did I never realize that? Eh! Even with an oil based remover I noticed I had to swipe a good deal to get all the mascara off my lashes.

Never the less this was a good excuse to check out Benefit They’re Real! Remover and see how well it performed at removing not only They’re Real Mascara but any mascara and eyeshadow combo!

Benefit They’re Real! Remover comes in a 1.7 oz squeeze tube for $18. This is a cream based remover which you that’s marketed to remove long wearing waterproof mascara. They also promise it has a gentle yet powerful formula that won’t tug during removal. To use it simply squeeze a small amount on a cotton pad and wipe away eye makeup.

It’s basically a form of cold cream and although my grandmother might have embraced cold cream to remove her makeup it’s just not good enough for me. Don’t get me wrong there are still plenty of folks around that use cold cream to remove their makeup! Props to them! But I think it’s messy and I think it doesn’t really get everything off and the same goes for Benefit They’re Real! Remover.

Benefit They're Real! Remover swatches

Benefit They’re Real! Remover Swatches

I find awkward and messy to apply it on a cotton pad and swipe my makeup off. My first pass over my eye it didn’t remove much so I had to go over my eye a few times to remove about 75% of my eye makeup. By that time I had tugged a fair bit to get off what I did and I was left with little chunks of cotton around my eye because the cream tugs on the cotton which results in a little puffs of cotton ending up all over my eye and lid. There was no burning sensation during the removal process so it was fairly gentle on my eyes however, it left me with cloudy vision. You have to rinse after anyway so I splashed water in my eyes a bit after the removal process to clear the trippy cloudy vision I had. At this time I looked in the mirror and realized I had raccoon eyes because the remover hadn’t taken all my makeup off.

On the upside the cream does moisturize eyes well so your skin feels super smooth after use.

I love Benefit but I’m sorry I just find cream based eye makeup removers too messy and ineffective to remove my eye makeup. I prefer an oil based liquid eye makeup remover and would have appreciated that more than a cream one!

Benefit They’re Real Remover launches on June 27th in stores and online.

Do you use cream to remover your eye makeup?

Do share!

This was provided to me by a brand for review but all opinions expressed are my own

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Robin

    Nope, I use Clinique’s Take the Day Off remover. I tried the mascara and when my eye makeup remover couldn’t take it off, I switched mascaras. Which by the way, you have me wanting to try Perricone’s no makeup mascara. Your lashes looked fab in that pic!!

    • Isabella Muse

      oh thanks! TRY it! it’s amazing Robin ;-D if you do let me know curious if you like!

  • Gillie

    They’re Real! mascara does take a bit of work to remove, doesn’t it?? I’ll probably pass on this remover, though. I found a little jojoba oil and a warm washcloth over the eyes for a few minutes softens the mascara up enough to comfortably get it off at the end of the day.

    • Isabella Muse

      right? I never noticed it before but I was removing in the other day and I was like wow this is work 😀

  • Ash

    Unless I’ve purchased something that comes with one of the free makeup removers (from lancome, Estée Lauder etc) I always buy the one from Avon. It’s a moisturizing eye makeup remover lotion, so I’m guessing it probably has the consistency you described above. It’s usually on sale for .99 and I’ve used it with the They’re Real mascara with no problems & had effective removal. But, you would probably hate it since its not an oil base!!

    • Isabella Muse

      i didn’t even know avon had a cream eye makeup remover eh learn something new everyday!

  • Claudia

    Thanks for the review. I guess I’ll stick to my Lancôme Bi-facil eye makeup remover. Haven’t found anything better than this in the past 15 years. I love that it doesn’t affect my vision even with contact lens on and I don’t have to rinse afterwards either. Seems like They’re Real makeup remover takes too much work. :/

    • Isabella Muse

      bi-facil is hg for me too just wish it was a smidge less $$!

  • *Estrella*

    Have you tried Lush’s Ultrabalm? Its amazing! Its akin to spreading lard on your face but it gets off the toughest waterproof makeup and moisturizes your skin. I use it every night to remove my makeup and help get my skin soft!

    • Isabella Muse

      I have indeed and reviewed a few years ago 🙂 I don’t really use it for eye makeup removal but use it on my face, def great stuff!

  • SirenPrincess

    I only use cream make-up removers for my eyes. I’ve tried many oil-based removers and they just don’t work for me! All they seem to do is coat the make-up in oil, so now I have on make-up and oil. I can scrub and scrub and just can’t get it off. Creams seem to soak the make-up lashes more so that I can just gently wipe off and that’s it, all gone.

    I am curious to try this product. I currently use Caudalie cleansing milk and it works great. I’ve also tried the make-up forever sensitive eyes remover and it burned my eyes and was soooo drying! I did not care for that one. I’d love to try this one.

    • Isabella Muse

      if you typically use cream removers you’ll probably love this Siren 🙂

  • Libby

    I’ve had issues with removing They’re Real from my lashes since it launched 🙁 I like the formula and it works well on my lashes but the fact that it’s near impossible for me to remove fully (without taking off a lash or two with it…) means that I can’t use it. I was hoping that their remover would actually work well enough for me to use the mascara again but grrrr, I can see that’s not the case!

    Thanks for the review, Muse. I’m not going to be picking this up 🙁 Back to using my other mascaras it seems! Haha

    • Isabella Muse

      I just didn’t like this Libby 🙁 you might want to try it when it launches, never know you might love it but I’m not really one for removing with cream! I prefer cleansing oil or an oil based eye makeup remover, bi-phase formula of some sort 🙂

  • Irene

    I’m not a fan of cold cream either, I see a lot of ladies in the retro/vintage scene swear by it but I much rather use my trusty cleansing oil to get rid of make-up. Fast and easy! For mascara I just use Sephora’s waterproof eye make-up remover. I cut a round cotton pad in two, soak each part in the product, and press gently over my eyelids for 3 minutes to let the product work its magic. The make-up comes right off without any tugging that breaks precious lashes!

    • Isabella Muse

      agreed, not much into cream either! Cleansing oil all the way for me 🙂

  • Autumn

    I wear Tarte’s Lights, Camera, Splashes since I, uh, never really know when I’m going to have a crying fit. Awkward… Anyway, it’s fabulous except for the fact that it’s very hard to remove. Clinique Take the Day Off works, but I actually used up all my little sample bottles of it (a feat I never thought I’d accomplish). I’ve tried oh so many removers, hoping to find one that measures up, the lastest of which was Urban Decay Meltdown (which is a cream fomula). Urban Decay makes a lot of long wear products so their makeup remover should be awesome, right? It is so terrible. It smells like my Grandma’s perfume, stings the crap out of my eyes (not surprising, since it smells like Granny’s perfume), and doesn’t even take my mascara or eyeliner off. After trying all these removers that just didn’t measure up to my beloved Take the Day Off, I had an epiphany… Why don’t I just buy Take the Day off? I’m such a ding-a-ling sometimes.

  • josette

    I use boscia makeup break up oil to remove benefit they’re real mascara. Works great! I just put some on my fingers and gently rub it on my lashes, then wait 5 min and it rinses off with water.

  • Madeline Harrington Fortuna

    I LOVE the Benefit They’re real Mascara so ordered samples of the remover from E Bay. It scared me to death…did your entire eye area turn punk, the lids, outside corners and beneath. And it didn’t really remove the mascara.I’m reading your other hints because it is the first waterproof mascara that didn’t flake on me and I want to continue using it. Did it affect anyone else this way? I don’t really have sensitive skin…

  • Molly

    I stumbled across this post whilst googling how to actually use this product to make sure I was doing it right. I experienced everything you said above and actually find it to be useless at removing makeup! I didn’t like the cloudy vision either! Thank god I only had a free sample as if I had spent my money on this I would have been so disappointed! Great post and thanks for reassuring me I’m not losing it!
    Molly xxx

    • Isabella Muse

      Oh sorry Molly! 🙁 I’m just glad you didn’t indulge in the full size!

  • Karina

    I’m so glad you gals have had a similar experience. I tried to remove they’re real last night with a sample of the benefit cream remover. Well I went over and over with the remover and for all the wrinkles it caused, it’s not worth it. I also don’t think I should be spending 5 minutes alone on removing mascara. While the remover did not irritate my eyes, my eyes were dry from the excessive washing. I’m going to give removing it another shot tonight with olive oil. If that doesn’t work, I’m taking it back. I used my MAC oil remover on it and it did nothing. I’ve had great results with that makeup remover on waterproof products by MAC and Smashbox among others. I’m sure there are other mascaras that don’t make me bald!