Good makeup brushes make a huge difference to how makeup applies and looks on the skin. This mantra has been etched in my head ever since I started on my hardcore makeup obsession. However, it's not something that's easily attainable because good makeup brushes are so bloody expensive!! I mean yes there are cheaper alternatives like the elf studio brushes, but when it comes to brushes for liquid foundations and concealers, the more superior brushes are obviously ... more superior.
Eyeshadow brushes are quite generic. You can use cheap ones and still get a relatively good look. Some people even prefer using their fingers when it comes to eyeshadow application! The more expensive brushes definitely work better for smudging because the hairs in the brushes are not loose and they will not fall apart after a good washing.
Liquid foundation brushes, on the other hand, are very difficult to get right. The cheaper versions leave streaky marks on your face and you have to blend them out using your fingers (what's the point??). These cheaper ones also cannot withstand constant washing. I usually wash my brushes once every two or three weeks, and my face brushes cannot tahan the water torture lah. :( I have used so many powder/face brushes because they just don't last as long as I want them to. These types of brushes are also usually the most expensive. I have seen such brushes going for over S$50 and nope, I'm not going to spend that money (in which I can perhaps get 10 articles of clothing from Taobao) on ONE freaking brush.
Along came the Real Techniques brushes by Samantha Chapman. Samantha Chapman is one half of the pixiwoo sisters on Youtube and they are damn good beauty gurus. DAMN GOOD. The Real Techniques brushes are marketed as high-quality brushes with affordable pricetags and I wanted them SO BAD.
My awesome friend Lily brought in these brushes and sold them on her beauty blogshop (http://www.under-twenty20.com/) for crazy affordable prices. A set for S$32! AWESOME! Lily was supahdupah nice and she gave me some Real Techniques brushes for my birthday. YAY LILY! :D I finally can have great face brushes. *cries happy tears*
The Core Collection retails for S$32 and the Expert Face Brush retails for S$22 on her blogshop. Go flood it now to get your Real Techniques brushes! :D
First and foremost, we have the Expert Face Brush. It's most suitable for application of cream or liquid foundation (or BB/CC Creams) and I love it to death.
It's actually the first face brush that shocked me because of how amazing it was. The bristles are very dense and firm, and the brush is quite broad in its width, which is perfect for swirling and blending all those liquid makeup products. I have been using it RELIGIOUSLY since I got it and I'm a total convert. This applies better than my fingertips, wtf. It's crazy!
I also love the brush handle. It's sturdy, and you can feel the weight when you hold up the brush, unlike those filmsy brush handles that snap into two after 2 usages. The robust handle allows for better control during application.
This brush is a HOLY GRAIL BRUSH! In love every single time I use it.
You see how robust the Expert Face Brush is? It's able to self-stand! AMAZING. Also, this somehow brings me to a rather random analogy of how I stayed with Apple iPhones. I wanted to switch to Samsung when S4 came out (amazing features!), but I held it in my hand and I instantly decided to stick with my iPhone 5. It's so light! Like a toy phone! So that's it guys, you know I like robust and heavy things. HAHAHAHAHA.
Samsung lovers, please don't flame me okay. I LOVE SAMSUNG but I just cannot handle the toy-phone similarity.
Ok that was a weird diversion. HAHA.
Next, Lily also gave me the Core Collection brushes. This set contains full sizes of the:
- Detailer Brush
- Pointed Foundation Brush
- Buffing Brush
- Contour Brush
The Detailer Brush is quite tiny, but tiny does not mean less powerful. For me, it's an amazing brush for powder concealer. For problematic zits, I love to pile on the concealer. Usually, it's a layer of cream concealer and then a layer of powder concealer to set the cream concealer. The problem is applying concealer is especially tricky for huge zits because of the shadow it makes under different lightings.
When your face is directly under a light, the top of the huge zit will catch the light and if you don't conceal it properly (aka load more below the huge zit), the shadow formed on the area that's not catching the light will accentuate the zit. It's nasty. Hence, when I apply concealer on a huge pimple I like to make sure I covered 360 degrees of the monstrosity. This can cause other problems like cakeyness and uneven application.
This is where this Detailer Brush comes in. I was quite amazed at how such an unassuming brush can have great effects. I set my cream concealer with a powder version using this brush and it's setting the concealed area perfectly. Somehow, it flattens the area (?!), and the zit is no longer so prominent. I'm quite sure it has got to do with the lighting condition during application and what not but I just really love this brush!
The Pointed Foundation Brush is my least used brush out of the whole set, and that's simply because I'm reaching out for the Expert Face Brush more.
To be really honest, I'm not very impressed with this brush. It still left streaks when I used it with liquid foundation and after that attempt I just stopped using it altogether. I also didn't like how small the brush was. It's too small for effective application. Great for hard-to-reach places like around the nose etc but the streaks that came along with it was not pleasant at all.
So, a boo to the Pointed Foundation Brush for me.
The Buffing Brush has become another staple of mine. I use it with my powder foundations/loose powders to set the entire face and it's, once again, amazing. This brush is less dense than the Expert Face Brush, but it's still as firm and easy to handle. The sparseness of the brush allows more powder to be picked up and also allows a more even application of powder face products.
The Buffing Brush is sparse, but that's in relation to the Expert Face Brush. If you compare it with normal face brushes from the cheaper brands, this is quite dense. Because it's not as sparse, you don't get powder everywhere, so the whole process is less messy, and everyone's happy. Yay!
The Contour Brush is the first brush that I own that's solely for the application of highlighters. Usually I just use my blush brush and not care so much. However, after using the Contour Brush, I realised its importance! When you using the usual blush brush to apply highlighters, it's not that easy for you to focus on the upper cheek area or your nose bridge because the brush is simply not designed for such purposes. The Contour Brush actually attacks the said areas perfectly and it makes the highlighter stand out on its own. This is especially so if you are using an extra shimmery highlighter. The tendency to get shimmer at unexpected places is very high when you use a blush brush to apply a shimmer highlighter. You end up looking like you have two glitter globes on your cheeks and it's not fancy.
The Contour Blush allows for such shimmery highlighters to be concentrated on specific areas, without interfering with other areas. I don't usually apply highlighter, but after acquiring this, I'm slowly going for the highlighter more and more!
The brush case that came along with the Core Collection is just pure genius. You can store the brushes as per normal, or you can use it as a brush stand!
Moreover....
.... you can carry brushes around with you too. It folds into a bag! PURE GENIUS.
In all, Real Techniques brushes by Samantha Chapman have been a delight to work with. Some of them have become a staple in my daily makeup routine and I don't know what I'll do without them. The Pointed Foundation Brush is not a brush that I will use though. Great concept but leaves a rather unpleasant streaky application. Hoorah to the Buffing Brush and the Expert Face Brush!
Will I buy it (them) again? Definitely. As of now, I'm good. But when the time comes for me to replace the brushes, I will do so instantly.
Do try them out guys, some of the brushes are REALLY good!!! Have a great day and have fun!! :D
