Sparkled Beauty

Here it is, a perk from my US trip, one of the most talked about products that us Canadians want to get our hands on: Real Techniques brushes by Samantha Chapman of pixiwoo.

I was able to get this Travel Essentials set from Ulta, reg. $15.99, with a 20% off coupon that they had on their site at the time. Often enough, Ulta has the $3.50 off $10 purchase coupons, helps you save a bit of $.

I also wanted the Core Collection set but it was out of stock in both visits I managed to make to the store :( Hence, this is the only review from the brand, for now.

This set comes with 3 brushes:
- Essential foundation brush (orange)
- Multi-task brush (pink)
- Domed shadow brush (blue) and
- Brush case,
Housed in a sturdy clear plastic packaging.

If you haven't noticed, Real Techniques brushes are colour coded - orange is for your base, pink is for your finish and blue is for your eyes. Convenient and fun, isn't it?

The elastic band to hold the brushes on the case is quite strong, also there is a plastic insert placed at the bottom of the brushes to hold them in place. Your brushes won't be going anywhere outside the case, let me tell you.

The case is made of a strong padded material that won't bend easily except for the slot where it is supposed to bend (to turn itself into a brush stand). A nice thing to have.

Here are the brushes side by side, just to give you an idea of their sizes. The bristles are synthetic taklon, hand cut and 100% cruelty free, FYI. They are soft but give a firm hold at the same time, help the deposition of products. I didn't see any fall outs while using or washing them. No particular smell on the brushes either.

The ferrules are made of aluminum, so they are light weight, balanced with the weight that the wooden end of the handles add on. The brushes feel comfortable in my hand. I also like the fact that the ferrules are extended longer down the handle than most brushes.

Here are the brushes, in their own spotlights:

The Essential foundation brush is meant for liquid foundation or concealer. And I use it for just that. The bristles are firm enough to spread the product evenly without scratching my face. However, I found it a little smaller than I would like for foundation, takes a little long to cover my whole face. It works better for concealer, to my taste.


The Multi-task brush does a decent job with my finishing powder, powder blushes and highlights, whatever I might need it for in a particular day. I wouldn't use it for cream blushes though, even when it is a synthetic brush, as it is a little too soft for that.

The Domed shadow brush is medium sized, works well in padding colours on my lids and even blending them out a bit at the edges. I still need a blending/ crease brush with it to complete a look but it does well what it is meant to do.

So, all in all, this is a good little nifty brush set to travel with you, for basic makeup needs. I would love to see Real Techniques come out with bigger sets in the future, as 3 brushes won't be enough for me. But they have done things right with this set, and I hope to get more next time I'm around an Ulta.

There are online tutorials by Sam on Real Techniques website, quite helpful to get your started. The site also mentions a seller for those of you who don't live in the US: Love Makeup, from the UK. I can't comment on their shipping cost or whether they ship to your country, as I simply don't know the details - but they are working on that. There is hope, lol.