I’ve been testing these two identical-looking mascaras out for a few weeks now. I’ve loved Benefit They’re Real mascara for a while and it’s the only expensive mascara I’ve ever bought. I saw the W7 Absolute Lashes mascara at a makeup sale and I couldn’t resist picking it up to see how it compares.
Which one do you think is better? The expensive one or the cheaper dupe? See my verdict below.
First of all, the packaging looks exactly identical in shape. The colours are slightly different as Benefit They’re Real is more silver while the W7 Absolute Lashes is more on the rose gold side.
The Benefit They’re Real mascara retails at NZ$42 at Smith and Caughey’s. The W7 Absolute Lashes mascara was $6 at one of the Big Bucket deals which is a makeup and fragrance sale that roams NZ every few months.
The brushes are similar too. Absolute Lashes is a direct copy of the Benefit They’re Real.
Here’s a better photo of the mascara wands. They both have plastic brushes.
The main difference is the formula.
Benefit They’re Real is a wetter formula compared to the W7.
The bristles of the brush of the W7 Absolute Lashes is also not as even or consistent compared to the Benefit They’re Real. The tip is quite uneven so there’s more product stuck at the tip. The bristles of the plastic brush is also harder than the Benefit mascara.
Here’s how each mascara wears:
One the left is the Benefit They’re Real and on the right is the W7 Absolute Lashes mascara. Unfortunately, the day I took this photo on my slr I didn’t have the best makeup day and both appeared clumpier than usual. I’ve worn both multiple times and they’re not usually this clumpy.
This is the W7 Absolute Lashes on both upper and lower lashes.
And the Benefit They’re Real. I’m sorry the Benefit photo isn’t as great. I didn’t realise how hard it is to take close up photos of the eyes to show mascara! I don’t know how other beauty bloggers do it! I haven’t mastered it and it was such a struggle.
On the day I took the photos above, Benefit They’re Real was less clumpy and separated my lashes better.
I took this so I knew which mascara I had on each side.
The W7 Absolute Lashes mascara dries stiffer than the They’re Real. You can sort of tell from this angle that the Benefit They’re Real on the left has more of a natural curl compared to the right. I curled my lashes using my Shu Uemura eyelash curler after applying mascara just to see how it keeps the curl too.
I took a few more on different days:
https://instagram.com/p/8mnMXxgBWS/?taken-by=astylecollector
I switched it up on the photo above. On the left is the W7 Absolute Lashes and the right eye has the Benefit They’re Real. The people on Instagram preferred the right which was the Benefit one. However, I asked the ladies on Beauty Review and they liked the left one more which is the W7 mascara.
This is from another day with W7 on the left and Benefit on the right.
As you can see from different photos above, the Benefit They’re Real mascara is better at separating the lashes and less clumpy than the W7 Absolute Lashes. However, they’re both good at keeping the curls throughout the day. They’re the same in terms of lengthening too.
I’ve been wearing them at work and I’ve asked my workmates to tell me which ones better and they couldn’t tell which was the more expensive and which one was the cheaper mascara. One day they liked the Benefit one and another day they picked the W7 mascara. After a while, it was hard to tell the difference.
As for removing the mascaras, Benefit They’re Real is known to be hard to remove. I must say, both mascaras are not as easy compared others I’ve tried. Another difference is that the W7 one comes off in flakes or clumps which I’ve never experienced in a mascara before. However, the W7 is slightly easier to remove than the Benefit They’re Real mascara.
Overall, both mascaras have their pros and cons. The Benefit They’re Real is slightly better because it separates the lashes more. However, it is on the steeper end of the price scale. The W7 Absolute Lashes is so much cheaper.
I got sucked into purchasing Benefit They’re Real thanks to the lovely ladies on the Smith and Caughey’s counter but I don’t think I’ll repurchase it any time soon because of the price. I don’t think you need to buy expensive mascaras as there are a lot of good inexpensive ones out there. For an every day mascara, I’d rather have the W7 Absolute Lashes for $6.
Have you tried both of these mascaras? Let me know if you have and what were your thoughts on each. I’d like to know which one you think is better too from my photos. I’ve received mixed comments from people so there’s no clear winner but for me, I’d rather save money and go for the cheaper option.
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A Style Collector 
Gotta love a shameless copy! I’ve tried They’re Real but wasn’t a huge fan. Looks like the W7 is a decent option if you’re on a budget. I agree with you that it’s super difficult to take such close up pictures of the eyes.
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I was getting so frustrated taking photos of my lashes. Why is it so hard and how do beauty bloggers do it?! I don’t know. I want to post a review on other mascaras but I’ve been put off by taking photos of them.
The W7 is not a bad dupe to be honest and I prefer it because of the price difference to the They’re Real.
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This is a very interesting post!! I have only used the Benefit they’re real mascara I liked how it looked on me but is smudged around my eyes a lot!! From the photos above I actually like the look of the W7, it looks like it gives your lashes more volume! It funny how just because something costs more it doesn’t mean it is actually better! Great post! Thank you! xxx
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Thank you Alisha! I much prefer the Benefit Rollerlash mascara over the They’re Real too. They’re both good but if you could get a similar or better mascara for a cheaper price, I’d choose the latter. You’re completely right, more expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better. 🙂
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Great review! I think I’ll try the W7 one because it is so much cheaper.
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Thank you! I think the W7 is a better option because of the price difference. I don’t think I’d pay over $20 for mascara any more let alone $47 for a Benefit one.
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Great review and so interesting to see how similar they are! It has me wondering if they both use the same packaging wholesaler for their products. Will definitely check out the makeup sale next time it is in town.
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Thank you! They’re so similar. I’m surprised W7 has replicated it so much.
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Totally agree about mascara photos! Puts me off reviewing mascaras!!! Great post – I’ve never heard of that cheaper dupe before but it looks good!
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How do other bloggers do it?! It’s so hard to get mascara photos right. These took me so long and I still wasn’t happy with how they turned up. Thank you! I don’t know where else you can find the W7 mascara besides the Big Bucket Deals but for $6, you can’t really go wrong with it.
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Mascara photos are so hard to get! I swear all of mine end up looking the same. I haven’t tried the w7 mascara but I do like They’re Real but only on rare occasions because I HATE removing it!
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They’re so difficult to take photos of! They’re Real used to be my #1 mascara but I find Rollerlash better. Between the W7 dupe and They’re Real, I’ll rather have the $6 mascara though. I don’t know if I’ll ever fork out over $30 on mascara again.
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Thanks for the interesting post! There’s not really much difference is there? It’s so incredibly hard to get good pictures of mascara! I tried once and it took me about half an hour.
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Thank you! At the end, there’s not much difference except for the prices. Now I know that I’m not the only one that struggle to take photos of mascara. I don’t know how other bloggers do it but I guess it’s just practice. I took so many photos and I only had the ones in this post as I deemed acceptable enough. Hopefully I’ll get better at them.
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