Can you believe I had never had my eyebrows done before my visit to the Benefit Boutique in Toronto?

I can’t believe it myself! My eyebrows have ways been an afterthought for me, so I just never bothered having them shaped by a beautician.

I had heard about the opening of the Benefit Boutique in Toronto, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to check out the boutique, and have my eyebrows shaped and waxed for the first time.

Making an appointment was easy – I could have called but they also had an online booking system which was great!

The boutique is located on Yonge Street in Toronto, and it was recomended on the site that I arrive 10 minutes before my appointment to hang out and try out their makeup.

The boutique was exactly as cute as I expected! Everything was pretty, pink, and there was makeup everywhere!

The girls working there were so lovely – it felt like I was just hanging out and chatting with my girlfriends.

As for my eyebrows, the expert who worked on mine did a “mapping” on my face for me to show me where my brows should be. Unsurprisingly I have been over plucking. She easily waxed my brows (it hurt, but we were chatting so I was distracted!), and I was left with a great new brow shape, and a plan to grow my brows to where they should be over the next 5 months.

Once I was finished with the waxing, she touched up my makeup, and I was all done!

Once I got home I took a photo of my eyebrows – what do you think? I think they look great! They finally have a great shape to them. I’m excited to keep going back to make sure they say on-point.

The boutique was a great spot to test out all of the Benefit Cosmetics products, and the boutique offers a full range of beauty services.

They also allow you to book the whole boutique for a party! Champagne, friends, and pampering? Sign me up!

For more information on the Benefit Boutique in Toronto, visit them here.

The Benefit Boutique is located at 2614 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4P 2J4, (416) 440-2769.

I waited until I was completely out of my Benefit’s They’re Real Mascara before I tried Benefit’s latest addition to their mascara arsenal – Roller Lash.

I have done so many review’s on Benefit products that you may think I am a little obsessed with the brand, but they are usually spot on with their packaging and products so I can’t help myself.

Benefit’s Roller Lash Mascara promises to separate, lift and curl lashes using it’s Hook ‘n’ Roll Brush. The mascara promises to hold up to 12 hours so there’s no need for a touch up.

I have been a huge fan of Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara, so I was interested to see how the two mascara’s would compare.

The first thing I noticed is the lid is a cute pink colour (and it looks like a hair roller – adorable!), so I was sure I would be getting this wand pretty dirty. I was right – at this point it’s smudged from other makeup and products that were on my hands, and it’s looking a little worse for wear right now.

I tried using this mascara with the help of my eye lash curler, and without. The best way to go is actually without the eye lash curler! Benefit’s instructions say you don’t need a lash curler, and I found it applied better and created a great curl on it’s own – there was not only no need for a lash curler, but my lashes seemed to look much better without using one.

The formula itself did lift and separate my lashes as promised. I really felt like the mascara did everything it said it would – it even lasted all day!

Here is where I ran into a problem – I found myself missing my Benefit They’re Real! Mascara for the length it would create.

Roller Lash does everything it promises to, but for me personally I missed the lengthening power that Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara seems to have.

The funny part is that when I checked Benefit’s website, they actually include a Beauty Tip on the Roller Lash Mascara page which says “For super curl AND length, apply roller lash first to curl & lift your lashes then layer They’re Real! lengthening mascara on top. It’s sexy drama beyond belief!”.

I think once I go out and grab another tube of Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara, I will be a very happy girl!

Here is a photo of me wearing Benefit’s Roller Lash Mascara, photo taken by moi since there never seems to be anyone around when I need a photo of myself trying out a new mascara. What’s up with that? Any one interested in coming over to take before and after photo’s of me when I am trying new products? I can pay you in unlimited Starbucks and beauty product cast-offs!
 

For more information on Benefit’s Roller Lash Mascara, please visit their website here!
 

I have to admit – sometimes I buy products just because of the packaging.  Benefit Cosmetic’s gets me every time because I think their packaging is genius.  Who wouldn’t want to buy a set of products called How to Look Best at Everything, or Primping with the Stars?  It’s all so clever and cute that I find myself pulled to the Benefit section at Sephora and Shoppers Drug Mart.

The one thing I am always buying is mascara.  I honestly think I have tried them all.  Ultimately my goal is for my lashes to be as long and curled as possible without wearing fakes.  I’m also that girl who has a mascara for a year instead of 2-3 months like the experts say the shelf life should be.

When I saw Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara I of course laughed to myself because the first thing I thought of was, well you know what women are usually judging if they are real or not.  The packaging had all kinds of research results on it too which you don’t usually find on mascara so I was intrigued.

I splurged the $29 for the mascara and gave it a try at home.  The first try didn’t go super well because I am the worst for cleaning my lashes.  I always have second day mascara, and because I didn’t want to wait to try this one I had a bit of a disaster on my hands.  This mascara loves clean lashes, so if there is anything on your lashes already then you are just looking for a mess.  Because it separates and lengthens the bristles are very concentrated, so I just ended up making a lumpy mess.  Fast forward to 20 minutes later after trying again with clean lashes and my life was changed – this mascara was amazing!  It separated my lashes like I had never seen.  It was like I had lashes where I didn’t know I had lashes!  The more coats I put on the longer and more separated my lashes became.

I think the only set back I found with the application is that it didn’t make my lashes as thick as I wanted.  I actually paired another mascara on top to add some volume, and then used the Benefit mascara again to get rid of any clumps.

For second day use you really need to have totally clean lashes for this stuff to work, so I either go through the trouble of actually removing my eye makeup from yesterday (this happens from time to time), or I skip a day with it.  Wow does this stuff stay on!  You really need a good makeup remover to take it off your lashes because it’s not going anywhere otherwise.

It only comes in jet-black which works for me, and the brush allows you to go vertical or horizontal because of how the bristles are designed which is nice.

As for the research results I mentioned, Benefit claims that in a consumer panel survey, the following results were reported:
– 94% saw dramatic length and volume
– 90% saw base-to-tip curl
– 94% saw visible lift
-100% saw long-wearing results

I think I could agree with all of these results except for the curl part.  Sometimes I saw some curl, and sometimes I couldn’t get it.  I think it depends on how skilled you are with the brush.

As I mentioned before normally I have a mascara for about a year because I have so many, but because I use this one so much it really only lasts me about 3 months.  For me that’s a bit of a splurge since I’m not used to spending that much on mascara that often, but when I don’t have it my lashes seem a little depressed.  And I don’t want to see anything on my face looking depressed.

Photo #1 courtesy of www.benefitcosmetics.com, photo #2 courtesy of www.sephora.ca