Slowly but surely, I've been accumulating some of the brushes from Real Techniques. In case you're not familiar, it's a line by well known YouTuber & makeup artist, Samantha Chapman. I first ran into these brushes at Ulta, and as a whole, I've found them to be really high quality brushes for an affordable price. See how the bristles on these brushes have lighter tips? That's pretty much a consistent feature throughout the whole line. They have really soft, synthetic taklon bristles. The ferrule of the brush is a colored aluminum and is longer (the ferrule) than most other brushes. It seems most of the larger brushes that you can buy singularly can stand on their own, which is another unique feature. The specific name of each brush is actually written out on the brush, which is handy as well. I thought I'd just walk you through what I have, and my thoughts on them.
(And yes, they need to be cleaned! haha)
Stippling Brush: This is the first brush I got from the line and it has much shorter bristles compared to my Sigma stippling brush. I feel like the shortness also makes them a bit more stiff, and therefore able to apply a bit more pressure to the face & truly stipple on a product with ease. You could use this brush to stipple on a liquid or cream foundation, but the size also lends it to cream blushes or highlights as well. It's just slightly larger than my ELF Studio Small Stipple brush, which I also like to use for that purpose.
Blush Brush: This is one of my most recent Real Techniques purchases, and it's definitely the largest, most full brush that I have from this line. It has an extremely tapered egg shape, and while it can apply blush, I really feel like it's ample size for applying all over face powder or bronzer. as well as a highlight, for that matter. I think the degree to which this brush is tapered makes it a good multi-tasker for all of those products- and therefore it's also a great travel brush when you don't want to pack a whole lot.
Setting Brush: Another recent purchase, the setting brush is a terrific size for setting your under-eye concealer with a light amount of powder. A lot of flat concealer brushes have a tendency to pack too much on, and anytime you powder the under-eye area, it needs to be really lightweight. This brush is so nicely tapered that you can really get the perfect application in that area. It's also nice for highlighting targeted areas.
Expert Face Brush: After just trying a couple of brushes from the line and not being super wowed by them (the Stipple brush and the eye set), this was the first brush that I really, really enjoyed- and prompted more brush purchases from this line. Marnie a.k.a. MsGoldGirl on YouTube has raved about this one as a foundation brush, and I must say- it has definitely fallen into my "brush rotation" along with Sigma's SigMax synethic brush collection. I still feel like my Sigma F80 is my ultimate favorite for applying liquid or cream foundation because of the effortless circular motion it can perform. The shape and taper of this brush makes it a bit more stiff, but it's still awesome for a liquid foundation. As with all of the brushes from this line, it's extremely soft and just feels great on the face.
The Core Collection: This is a set of four face brushes, and while I explain the ways I use them- keep in mind this set can be really multipurpose depending on your needs. The top brush is the Buffing Brush. This isn't much larger than the expert face brush, but the bristles are slightly longer and not as tightly packed, making it a bit more flexible. I think this is a good brush for buffing in a mineral or powder foundation when you want maximum coverage. The Contour Brush is the second from the top. This is kind of like the baby version of the blush brush. it has that same egg shape and super tapered cut. I think it's great for both contouring and highlighting. The Pointed Foundation Brush is quite small, and so I'm not a big fan of using it for foundation, but it is rather nice for blending out concealer. The long bristles allow for light pressure, and keep you from totally wiping concealer away. The Detailer Brush is something I haven't reached for much, but I could see it being used to spot conceal some very small problems, or even as a smudgy eyeliner brush.
If you get any of the Real Techniques brushes in a kit, they come with a very innovative little holder. It has a toggle on it so you can fold it back and stand your brushes up like this. You'll notice there's additional elastic if you want to add in some other brushes.
You can also loosen the toggle and use the velcro closure to store or travel with your brushes like this. I'd never seen this kind of a holder sold with brushes before and thought it was really handy and user friendly!
The Starter Set: This set of eye brushes also came in one of those toggle/velcro fold over holders. This was one of the first Real Techniques products I purchased, and I really wasn't too thrilled with most of this collection. As a whole, I felt these eye brushes were just too large to give me much control. The top brush is the Deluxe Crease Brush. It seems really large for my crease, but I believe I'll start using this brush to buff in cream or liquid concealer. If may be hard to tell, but this is not a flat brush- it's totally rounded and the ferrule isn't pinched at all. The Base Shadow Brush is more flat, tapered, and cut to a slight point. it's like the baby version of the Setting brush, shown above. This one is ok for packing color on the lid, but it's not quite as firm as I prefer. The angled brush in the picture is the Brow Brush. No problem with that one! It's a pretty basic angled brush that's slightly thicker than a typical angled liner brush that you might use for eyeliner. Next is my favorite in the pack- the Accent Brush. Perfect for highlighting your inner corner or applying smudgy liner. Finally the Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush is just way too big for eyeliner, in my opinion. I've used it with cream liners and I get a much thicker line than I want.
But don't worry, my Real Techniques liner woes were over once I found that they had a much smaller eyeliner brush sold individually called the Fine Liner Brush. It's pretty much the perfect size and cut for cream liners. I wonder why they didn't just put this brush in the Starter Set to begin with?
Here you can really see the size difference-- the thickness of the Pixel Point liner brush is 2 to 3 times the size of the fine liner brush. Wowza!
Shading Brush: Here's another really basic-seeming brush that's sold individually, but would've been nice in that Starter Kit. It's small and flat, and allows you to provide just the right amount of pressure for packing shadow on the lid or pulling it into the crease. As with all of the other eye and face brushes, it the bristles are really nice and soft.
Overall, I think Real Techniques brushes are really great quality. I was drawn to purchase several of these after watching the demonstrations on the Real Techniques website. I would highly suggest checking it out, not only to see all of the various brushes- but to also see them in action and learn about the multiple uses that some of them have.
My favorite brushes from this line are the Blush Brush, Setting Brush, Expert Face Brush, Fine Liner Brush, and Shading Brush. The Core Collection is good, but not really all that unique compared to brushes I already have, and the Starter Set for eyes was probably the product that I least enjoyed. And just so you know, I'm not affiliated with this brand and bought the brushes with my own money at Ulta or Ulta.com. What brushes have you tried from Real Techniques? What are your hits and misses?
- This morning I shot an "All Drugstore" Get Ready with Me video! I used a lot of the brushes I talked about in this blog post.
- Currently uploading a haul video!
- I am so excited for American Idol tonight! woohoo!!
- In yesterday's Daily Nuggets I mentioned that I didn't know what to do with my leftover Rotel/Velveeta dip. Well Molly was Johnny-on-the-spot with this comment about making it into a pasta bake. I didn't have quite all of the ingredients she mentioned, but basically did what she said and it was delish. Tyler loved it too. Thanks Molly!
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I have all 3 of the kits and find myself using the deluxe crease brush for concealer, and the buffing brush for quick foundation on the go. Also, I didn't see you post about the Multi-tasker brush, but that is great for bronzer or powder. I saw these kits several times at my local drug store (Bartell's) over the holidays for full price and didn't pull the trigger. Until I went back after the holidays and saw the kits for $8.24 each. Can you believe it? So now I have them, and am eying the single brushes. )
I love these brushes too. Recently they were Buy one get one for 50% off at Ulta. And I had a 20% off your purchase coupon. Yay! Gotta love the deals on makeup and brushes.
Just checked out the Flower line from Drew Barrymore after seeing your video. Some of that packaging is very clunky and some of it is very cute and looks more high-end. I may try some soon. Intrigued by that stick foundation. Thanks for the info!
Hey.
I just wanna tell you first that I watch your videos since I learned English. =) and I just love it ( I'm Brazilian) and I would like you to make a video with tips to not get the foundation with cake effect. I always see everybody's face so beautiful and I don't know what I'm doing wrong because mine is always weird, you can see that I have the foundation on and always look so havy.
You've probably got the wrong colour foundation, I used to have the same problem because I have very fair skin and could never find a foundation pale enough for me. I switched to BB cream and the problem was solved with almost as much coverage :)
I have the Core Collection, Starter Set, Basic Shadow Brush, Expert Face Brush, and Powder Brush.
I use the Expert Face brush for foundation, the Buffing Brush for blush, the Powder Brush for powder, the Contour brush for contouring/bronzer, and the big domed Crease Brush from the Starter Set for blending concealer. I use the Detail Brush from the Starter Set for applying lipsticks.
I think the tapered shadow brush in the Starter Set is an amazing crease brush. I use the Concealer Brush from the Core Collection for packing glitters on my eyes. The Basic Shadow Brush is my go-to eyeshadow brush.
I don't much care for the Angle/Brow brush, pixel liner brush, or the Foundation Brush; they've been tossed aside with all my other brushes that have been replaced with the Real Techniques brushes mentioned above.
I've supplemented my Real Techniques collection with just a couple other brushes- the shadow brush from Urban Decay that came with the Naked 1 palette, a Revlon double-ended angle brush/detail brush, the Everyday Minerals Eye Kabuki Junior (replaced my Mac 227), and the ELF Pro bent liner brush.
Once I finally get the Real Techniques Stippling Brush my set will be complete!
Thank you so much for this review! I was debating on buying some of the eye brushes or going with Sigma, and now I think I'll make the Sigma investment.
My first brush was the expert face and loved it so much i picked up a couple more. Some of my favs are stippling ( for liquid foundation and cream blush), blush brush, and setting brush. Along with the crease brush and powder brush. Great quality and easy on the wallet!!
I had a problem with the pixel brush. But I got the smaller eyeliner brush and love it! I really like these brushes.
Great review, Emily! I have the Stippling Brush, Setting Brush and Blush Brush and I'm thrilled with all of them. I feel like they are really fabulous quality for a pretty reasonable price. (Especially since Ulta sells them Buy One, get One Half Off most of the time).
I loooove all my RT brushes, but my favorite is the buffing brush. Wish they sold it seperately. I use it for buffing out my foundation after appying it with my fingers, and for cream blush, and for powder foundation. I even use it to blend out my eye shadow for a super no makeup look. Hi from Honduras. )