Short Story (you may skip this and jump down to the review is you want ^^)
Many of you may have heard of the Innisfree Super Skinny Microscara but have you heard of the Nature Republic Botanical Real Slimcara? I'm sure the Nature Republic is a dupe for the Innisfree product as the names and wand are just way too similar. Innisfree Super Skinny Microscara was the first mascara I purchased here in Korea. The wand was crazy slim which made it amazingly easy to handle. I never had to worry about poking my eye with the bristles because the wand is only 2.5mm wide. It held my curl and decently and naturally lengthened my eyelashes. After that, I discovered the Majorica Majolica Lash Expander Frame Plus and I never looked back - til now. The MM Lash Expander Frame Plus is no longer sold in Korea and the bristles of the Heroine Make Long and Curl tends to poke my eye when I try to coat my lower lashes, so I need a new mascara with smaller bristles and there is no mascara wand smaller than the Innisfree Microscara. However, as I was browsing through Nature Republic one day, I noticed this mascara with the very similar - 2.5mm - sign. It was on sale for about 4 800 Won (not on sale it would be around 6 900 Won). Innisfree Microscara costs around 9 800 Won. I checked the tester, the wand is the exact same. For the half the price, I gave the Nature Republic Slimcara a try.
REVIEW
Packaging: The Nature Republic Botanical Real Slimcara has a simple white and brown packaging. It doesn't look like a mascara at but rather like a liquid eyeliner. Wand length is the almost the same as my Heroine Make mascara but the handle (part you can hold) is longer. As advertised, the width of the wand is about 2.5mm, and the bristles are tiny. You can easily reach any sparse eyelash area and not have to worry about poking you skin. On the bristles of the wand, you can see tiny bits of fiber.
Performance: I wasn't expecting much from this product but it really impressed me. As I coated my eyelashes with the mascara, tiny fibers latched onto my eyelashes making them decently and naturally longer (almost as much as the Heroine Make Long and Curl). It also volumized my eyelashes by just a little bit which I was not expecting at all. The mascara is very black and does not weigh down my eyelashes. I would say this is a pretty dry and waxy mascara. It dries within 5 seconds of application. If you apply a second coat after it dries, it gets a bit difficult and clumpy. I guess this drying speed is a bit of a positive and a negative. Positive that you don't have to worry about the mascara making a mess after application and negative that you cannot build on the first layer of mascara.
It lasts all day with no smudging (really impressive as I have extremely oily eyelids). My eyelashes would look almost exactly the same as when I first applied the mascara. There was no irritation at all throughout the day.
I can see that this tube of mascara will only last me for around a month because after just two weeks of opening, the product is already noticeably drier than before. It's a good thing that it's in a tiny tube.
Removal: Here comes, the one main fault of this product... It is extremely difficult to remove - even more difficult than the Majorica Majolica Lash Expander Frame Plus and the Heroine Make Long and Curl. The longer you have it on, the more resistant it is to removal. I used a cotton pad soaked with makeup remover and held it over my eye for 10 seconds, which usually gets rid of most of the eye makeup, but this time, it only took off part of the mascara. A lot mascara was still stuck to the base of my eyelashes. I had to massage my eyes with cleansing oil thoroughly to get everything off.
The Good:
- gives very natural looking eyelashes
- lengthens decently
- holds curl well
- doesn't smudge
- wand is easy to handle
- bristles can reach sparse and short eyelashes without poking skin
- really dark black color
- cheap
- doesn't clump
The Bad
- really difficult to remove
- hard to apply a second coat
- boring packaging
- doesn't say how much product is in the tube
- overall product dries out fast
Overall:
I prefer this over the Innisfree Super Skinny Microscara. It's darker in color, lengthens more, definitely volumizes more, stays smudge free longer, and is cheaper. Definitely a win. It's one of the cheapest mascaras I've ever bought but it has definitely outperformed many of the others I've tried. I highly recommend this product to you if you're looking for naturally looking eyelashes with a bit of length and volume or if you have really sparse lashes that are reach.
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