Real Techniques brushes

A little over a year ago I bought myself some Real Techniques make up brushes. At the time I bought the Core Collection. After liking the brushes I was using from that kit and hearing tons of good things about their other brushes, I decided to try some more. I got the Starter Set, which contains 5 eye brushes and the Blush Brush which is just as it says a brush to apply blush.

Real Techniques Starter Set
Real Techniques Blush Brush

Like the Core Collection, these brushes look sturdy, are made of synthetic bristles and are easy to use. What I like about the Real Techniques brushes is that they come in different colors depending on their function. Face brushes are yellow, eye brushes are purple and blush/ powder blushes are pink. The handles taper outwards towards the end on the bigger brushes which make them a bit difficult to store, but since they are wide enough at the bottom they can easily stand up. I bought mine from The Make Up Spot, where I paid €12.50 for the Blush Brush and €25.99 for the Starter Set. That is one downside of Real Techniques brushes: most of them only come in sets, so if you’re only curious after one of the eye brushes then it’s a bit of a steep price to pay for one brush. Overall, they are in the cheaper price range when it comes to make up brushes.

The brushes arrived in this bulky plastic packaging. Handy when you buy these from a drugstore, but for shipping them I find it a bit unnecessary. Not very economical space wise and I’m sure you can make sleeker packaging for a few brushes. First I’ll discuss the starter set and at the end of this post you’ll be able to find my thoughts on the blush brush.

Real Techniques says:

Eye definition goes high definition with our revised starter set.

• Base shadow brush: applies a smooth, flawless foundation of color.
• Deluxe crease brush: soft, oversized design for effortless contouring.
• Accent brush: for precision detailing, highlighting and smudging
• Fine liner brush: for precision application of liquid of cream eyeliner.
  • Replacing the pixel-point eyeliner brush
  • Offers a more “fine” tip that allows for even more control than before
• Brow brush: distinctive shape easily defines eyebrows.

The Starter Set contains 5 brushes and retails for around €14 euros from the Real Techniques website. That’s a lot cheaper than what I paid for it, but since the website ships from the US, costs may come to the same amount if you add shipping & handling fees. Before I delve into these brushes I’d like to point out that the brushes I was most curious about were the base shadow brush, the deluxe crease brush and the brow brush. The other two were a bonus for me and so I was curious to try those. Also, I ended up using some of these brushes in slightly different ways, but that has made me love 3 out of 5 of these brushes, like 1 out of 5 and there is only 1 that I feel I really could have done without.

base shadow brush

The first brush from the set is the base shadow brush and is meant for applying eyeshadow across your lid. I find this brush too fluffy and too tapered to work nicely for all over lid shadow application. Instead I’ve been using this when I want a heavier application of a crease color. The thick fluffy brush allows for a generous amount of product to be picked up and the pointed shape allows it to fit perfectly into the crease area. When used light-handed, you don’t even require a blending brush after applying color. All in all it’s a great little brush to have, but not life changing in any case.

deluxe crease brush

Why this brush is called a crease brush I don’t know. It’s a dense, fluffy brush with lots of hair. It’s almost like a mini kabuki brush. So I’m not using these for applying contour shades of eyeshadow. Instead I love to use this with concealer and after purchasing this brush I found that the Pixiwoo sisters who created these Real Techniques brushes use it for that purpose as well. It’s great for picking up concealer from a pot (so you don’t have to stick your finger in it) and it’s even better for quick and easy blending of under eye concealer. Before I always just used my fingers to blend out concealer but ever since I got this brush I refuse to do so if I get the chance. This brush IS a game changer for me.

accent brush

On to a brush which I wasn’t too excited about. That attitude soon changed when I started using this puppy. It’s super super tiny and great for smudging little bits of eyeshadow on your lower lash line or for applying just a teeny amount of inner corner highlight. However, I tend to use this slightly different as well. What I’ve been loving this blush for is for applying concealer. I don’t ever use concealer anywhere apart from on my under eye area, except when I’m making a bold colored lip. I always, without fail, manage to put lipstick outside of my lips. I take it away with a cotton bud and especially to prevent looking like a clown when applying red lipstick  I then use a teeny amount of concealer to tighten up my lip line. And that’s what I love using this brush or. It’s small enough to be precise and the bristles don’t have that much give which makes for perfect control for tightening up that lip line. Unexpected love for this amazing little brush.

pixel-point eyeliner brush/ fine liner brush

On to my least favorite brush in the bunch. It was also a brush that I got because it came in the set. How anyone could ever do eyeliner with this is beyond me. The bristles splay near the end of the tip which makes it a pain to get a neat, thin line. Unless you have a massive eyelid this might work for you, but with my tiny lids that need any space preservation they can have, this is not a good brush. I have also not found a different way of using this brush, so this has ended up in the back of my collection.

brow brush

The last brush in the Starter Set is the brow brush, which I was looking forward to trying. So far I was using a very cheap HEMA eyeliner brush to do my brows, which worked fine for me. But since the kit came with this brow brush anyway, I thought: why not try a different brush. And I’m hooked. It’s a fairly thick brush and lays on quite a bit of color. Not good if you’re trying to carefully draw on faux brow bristles, great if all you need to do is fill in some gaps and extend your brows ever so slightly. I fall in the latter category and filling in my brows literally takes me about 5 seconds now. Love it!

blush brush

What Real Techniques says:

Contour and define cheeks for flawlessly blended, high-definition results:

• look pixel-perfect even in harsh light
• ultra-plush, synthetic bristles are hand-cut and 100% cruelty-free
• self-standing for easy storage
• extended aluminum handle is light and easy to use

The other brush I got is available individually, which is a plus. It is a bit more expensive, but still a decent price for a blush brush. It’s thick and fluffy and super soft, which is always a deal breaker on any brush. And OMG, this has made applying blush a breeze. Before I used a fairly flat blush brush by The Body Shop. Since this brush is a lot rounder this makes it so much easier to apply blush as it blend as well as applies at the same time. The brush picks up just the right amount of product from the pan and always gives off the right amount of product to my cheeks. It’s a bit too big for me to contour, but it’s great for blending that out and giving a natural finish. If you’re interested in Real Techniques brushes I recommend this one.

All in all, this wasn’t a bad round of brushes. There’s only one that I really don’t like and one that I am not going to use very frequently. To me, the set and the individual brush have been worth their money and 4 of these brushes have become staples in my make up brushes rotation.

Which Real Techniques brushes would you like to try out?