23rd November, 2012
Today I have a review on these two brush sets by Real Techniques. I’ve been swooning over them for ages now, and when I saw Teri from the blog Bella Chique ordered them on Amazon, I decided to take the plunge and order these with my birthday money! I couldn’t be happier with them. They are simply amazing!
The two sets I got are called the “Core Collection” (on the left) and “Starter Set” (on the right). They come with a multipurpose black brush roll which you can fold so the brushes sit up on your desk as pictured.
The Core Collection set comes with the following full-size brushes:
- Contour Brush: This brush is perfect for applying contouring, blusher, bronzer. It’s super soft! As are all the brushes. They feel amazing on the skin.
- Pointed Foundation Brush: This is a small pointed brush, can be used for foundation but I like to use it for concealer as well.
- Detailer Brush: This detailer brush can be used for applying concealer and lipstick.
- Buffing Brush: This large brush is perfect for buffing in your (powder) foundation or applying setting powder. I simply love this brush! It’s so soft! I really like the shape and size as well, it’s simply perfect.
The Starter Set comes with the following full-size brushes:
- Deluxe Crease Brush: Say hello to the best blending brush I’ve ever laid my hands on! Simply.. Wow! When I first saw this brush I thought it would be too large for my small lids but it’s just perfect! It blends your eyeshadow flawlessly. This is probably my favourite brush out of all of them!
- Base Shadow Brush: This shadow brush is great for applying colour but also for more precise blending.
- Accent Brush: This small brush is great for smudging eyeliner or applying highlight in the inner corners. It’s very precise!
- Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush: This is the eyeliner brush in the set. I haven’t tried this yet but I might use this for lips as well!
- Brow Brush: This brush is meant for applying eyebrow powder. I am used to using stiffer brushes for eyebrows so I had to get used to using this brush, but the results have been great so I love it!
If you watch make-up tutorials on YouTube I’m certain you’ve come across the girls from Pixiwoo. The brushes were designed by one of the Pixiwoo sisters, Samantha Chapman. She and her sister are both professional make-up artists, they’re probably my favourite YouTubers! They have so many amazing videos and are full of great ideas, creativity and tips. I highly recommend their videos!
I’m so glad I took the plunge and ordered these. They are amazing quality brushes and the price is very reasonable too. I paid £15 per set and got a free shipping deal on the Amazon.co.uk site. My order arrived in just two days!
Have you tried Real Techniques brushes? Let me know in the comments!
25th May, 2010
I have a Sigma review and comparison for you today. I’ll be reviewing the complete brush kit and comparing it with the travel kit.
The complete kit has 12 brushes and costs $69 without the brush roll and $89 with the brush roll. I reviewed 8 of the 12 brushes already as they are in the travel kit, you can read my review on them here. They are pretty much the same except for the size. The handles are obviously bigger but some of the brushes themselves are slightly bigger as well.
A comparison, the SS150 face brush. Top is from the Nice in Pink travel set, bottom from the Complete kit. As you can see the handles are much bigger but the brush is slightly bigger as well. I find that they both work a treat, but the full sized brush feels so luxurious to hold, it’s heavy and great to work with, I prefer the big one better. 
These are the four brushes from the complete kit you don’t get in the travel kit reviewed one by one:
ss252 – Large Shader Brush
This is a huge flat brush and it’s used for packing in lots of colour on your lid. As the tip of the brush is very fine it’s also for precise application. I really like this brush but I wish it was slightly smaller, it’s too big for my small lids to use as an eye brush. I think for me personally it would be more suited to us as a concealer brush which this brush is great for as well.
ss257 – Medium Angled Shading Brush
As you can see this is an angled brush. It’s used for applying highlighter under the eyebrows and for precise application in the crease. I used it for the latter and it works really great. It’s also very soft. I’m not sure I would use this very often, that’s my only concern.
ss209 – Eyeliner Brush
This is an eyeliner brush, for applying liquid eyeliner. When I first saw this I thought this was a lipliner, I tried using it as a lipliner and that works great as well. You could definitely use it for both I reckon.
ss266 – Small Angle Brush
You can use this brush for eyeliner as well but I prefer using it for filling out my eyebrows, I have an eyebrow pencil from Zoeva but it’s way too hard and not precise enough. This is absolutely perfect! I love it!
Conclusion: I would definitely go for the Complete Kit, it’s worth the extra money. If it’s a bit out of your price range I would still go for the complete kit but without the brush roll, it’s fun to have but you don’t necessarily need it, it’s quite big and I don’t think I’d take it with me when travelling. The complete kit is really high-end, it’s the same quality as the travel kit but it does feel even more luxurious and professional cause of the large handles. If you treat your brushes well they will last for years and years so I think these are a great investment if you want superb quality for a decent price.
website: http://www.sigmamakeup.com
I was sent these products by Sigma Make-Up to review. I am not in any way affiliated with this company nor am I being paid by them. All opinions stated are honest and my own.
20th May, 2010
A few days ago I received the The Travel Brush Kit from the famous Sigma. I know most (or some) of you don’t really follow the make-up vloggers on Youtube, but I can say that right about everyone that means something on youtube has spoken about these brushes. They have been compared to MAC brushes endlessly (which are much more expensive) and some say they are better than MAC, others say they aren’t. I believe it is unfair to compare them as they are from a different price range, let’s just say that being compared to MAC is a compliment, they are without a doubt of a professional quality, but for a price most of us can afford and are willing to spend on make-up.
I can honestly say that the right brushes are key to creating a stunning make-up look, I have given some make-up advice to several of my friends face-to-face over the past few months, it always started off by saying “get proper brushes!” It is so important I can’t stress enough. However, you don’t have to spend an average of €15 per brush if you want decent quality, I don’t think all of us are willing to spend that much, I for one am not, even though I am really into make-up.
Sigma offers several brush kits, ranging from €31 for an Eye (seven brushes) or Face kit (five brushes) to €120 for the Premium set (fifteen brushes + brush roll).
I will be reviewing the Travel Set in Pink (also available in black) which costs €39 or $49. The kit comes with seven brushes and a complimentary foundation brush which makes it eight in total. It is a travel kit and comes with a great brush roll to keep your brushes in, with a zipper for some smaller items (I keep the complimentary brush in there, perfect!), the brushes are smaller in size, I was a bit scared this would bug me but it doesn’t at all, they fit very nicely into your hands and applying make-up with them is very comfortable despite of the size. I did read on several reviews that they smell a bit at first, some described it as “a rancid stench”, which is totally exaggerated, they did have a mildly unpleasant smell but I washed them before using and after that the smell was fine.
The Face Brushes:
SS150 – Powder Brush
This brush is sooooo incredibly soft! I thought my Zoeva brushes were the softest in the world but these are even softer! Feels wonderful to apply powder with on the face.
SS187 – Duo Fibre Brush
I was most looking forward to trying this one, it’s a stippler brush. It can be used for several things, for regular powders like blushes, highlighters, bronzers and pressed, loose or mineral powders. But you can also use it for liquid foundation, it’s perfect for creating an “airbrushed” finish.
SS168 – Angled Brush
This is an angled brush you can use for contouring or blush. I like my zoeva angled brush better I have to say. It’s really soft but for me it’s not springy enough. A nice brush but not my favourite.
SS190 – Foundation Brush
This is the complimentary foundation brush, it is AMAZING I really love it. The quality of this one is superb and it makes applying foundation a dream, I had a Zoeva foundation one already which I thought was good but this one is miles better.
SS194 – Concealer Brush
This is the same story as with the foundation brush, it’s the same quality, great for applying concealer.
The Eye Brushes:
SS239 – Eye Shading Brush
This is a really great brush, great for applying eyeshadow but I love really using it for blending as well as applying.
SS224 – Tapered Blending Brush
This is a blending brush, it’s nice cause it’s really big but I wish it had been slightly more springy, I feel like I’m just stroking and sweeping over my crease and eyelid instead of really blending it in. Other than that it’s really soft and I think I will likely use it most for applying highlighter under my eyebrow. I honestly have spoken too soon, I tried this brush several times and it is an absolute dream to blend eyeshadow with. It’s become my favourite!
SS219 – Pencil Brush
This is a great little brush, to me it’s absolutely perfect for applying dark colours in the crease, sometimes I do a look and it just needs a tiny bit more black in the crease and in the outer corner, this is great for finishing off your look, dotting the I!
All in all a great brush set, you really get your money’s worth, it’s just €4,80 per brush if you count the complimentary one, which is a great price. These brushes are a great alternative for the pricey ones, if you are just getting into make-up or if you want to invest in some nice brushes that don’t cost a fortune… Meet Sigma!
website: http://www.sigmamakeup.com
I was sent these products by Sigma Make-Up to review. I am not in any way affiliated with this company nor am I being paid by them. All opinions stated are honest and my own.
2nd May, 2010
I bought myself a brush holder Saturday, well basically it’s just a big glass jar used for decoration, to put a candle in or something like that, but I thought it’d be really fun to use as a brush holder. I filled it with white stones to keep the brushes in place. Most of my brushes are in there, my Zoeva brushes and a MAC eyeshadow brush, there are a few missing, I have a few double sided brushes and I’m not risking putting them in there I don’t want to damage the hair.
I think it looks very fun, it’s in my favourite colour, minty green! It’s so much more easy to use them regularly like this instead of just having them lying around everywhere.
Glass jar and stones from Life & Garden.
2nd February, 2010
Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! THEY ARE HERE! MY PALETTES ARE HERE! I’ve been craving for these for so long, 12 days to be exact. As I mentioned a few days ago, I ordered quite a lot more than I intended to at first, but I figured, order everything I want now and have no regrets later. I’m SO not paying 11 euro shipping costs again. That’s just a bit too much for my likings. Anyway, less chattering, here are the pictures!
What I ordered:
(right click and open to view larger, this applies to all images btw)
(you can see me giving a thumbs up, if you look carefully! haha!)
(colours look better in this image, it’s the same as above but the wrong way round, sorry!)
From left to right and top to bottom: Metallic Stones Palette, 88 Warm Shimmer Palette, 88 Matte Palette, Rouge/Contouring Palette and Concealer Palette.
They all look amazing! The concealer palette is crazy good, gone be the hated bags under the eyes and spots! The crazy colours on the left, are for covering up tattoos in case you were wondering, the orange especially, the pinks are for dark circles and the green for red areas. The Matte Palette is more a mix of matte and shimmery colours, but that doesn’t really bother me. The possibilities are endless. The Metallic Stones is a perfect palette for party and evening looks.
And the set of 12 brushes. It includes several eyeshadow brushes, a face and cheek brush (for blush and bronzer and the likes), a foundation and concealer brush, double-sided brow brush, eyeliner and lip brush. The foundation brush is a bit wonky (you can see it in the picture, the third brush, it’s got a dimple) but I hope that will even out when I wash it. Other than that tiny error, the brushes are AMAZING, the softest I have ever felt in my life and such a dream to work with. Very dense and springy which is what you need to look for in a brush. I can really recommend this set to anyone, it’s a great starters kit, it has everything you need and you won’t be able to find better ones for such a cheap price, a mere €20.
I ordered together with a few friends to share the shipping costs, this is what they ordered:
225 Eyeshadow Brush (this one looks SO amazing, very dense and great quality), Metallic stones palette, 88 Warm Shimmer Palette, 78 Eyeshadow/Rouge palette and a Concealer Palette. Good luck to them with their make-up, I’m sure they’ll love them to bits and a huge thanks for ordering along side me to share the shipping!
Today me and my boyfriend shared our 1 year “anniversary”, so we went for dinner together with my parents at this lovely Greek restaurant in Sint-Niklaas, called Kavala. Had a great evening, the chef was eyeing me up a bit and kept saying “mooie madaaaaam” (means pretty lady, in a funny Dutch/Greek accent) and tutting to my boyfriend on how lucky he was, very amusing though! I think he was a bit jealous my poor man. Bless him. Anyway, this is was I did for my make-up for the special occasion:
I used the Metallic Stones Palette and a matte white eyeshadow by Mac for my tear ducts.
I can truly say I love my new palettes and brushes. You can find everything on the website of Zoeva, they have a splendid service, you can track everything from the moment they recieve your payment (paypal or regular bank transfer!) until it arrives on your doorstep, which saved me a great deal of stress and put my mind at ease.
