Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Brushes Review

Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Brushes

I LOVE Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman brushes! Ever since Sam (one-half of pixiwoo) launched her makeup brush line, I have been using them and loving them every time I do my makeup. The majority of the time that I am applying my makeup, the makeup brushes that I use are mainly the Real Techniques brushes. I do have other brushes from MAC, EcoTools, Sonia Kashuk, ect. but the Real Techniques brushes work so amazingly for the price. Not to mention that the design of the brushes are so cute! The brushes that I own from Real Techniques are from the Core Collection Set, Travel Essentials Set, the Stippling Brush, the Foundation Brush, and the Blush Brush. All the brushes are very affordable and the brush line ranges from $6-$18, including the brush sets. All the brushes are made with hand-cut taklon bristles, an aluminum handle, and a flat bottom for your brushes to stand up! The brushes are color coordinated where the gold brushes are for base makeup, the pink brushes are for face/cheek products, and the purple brushes are for the eyes! Even though the brushes may look like they are dual fibered they are not, only the tips of the bristles are white, which actually makes it easier to see how much product is on the brush and how much you are applying to your face. The brush cleaner that I use is the MAC Brush Cleanser and I find that these brushes are the easiest to clean out of all of my other brushes. 

Real Techniques Core Collection Set

The Core Collection Set comes with four brushes and the panoramic brush case. I actually have 3/4 of the brushes and I will explain the reason later on in my review. The four brushes that comes in this set are the buffing brush, detailer brush, contour brush, and pointed foundation brush. The Core Collection Set retails for $17.99 USD. 

Buffing Brush

The buffing brush is my favorite brush out of all the brushes in this set and it works amazingly to buff on liquid or powder foundation. It buffs in liquid foundation flawlessly and it does an amazing job to buff in powder foundation to its highest coverage without ever looking cakey! This brush also does an amazing job for contouring, cream blushes, or to buff out any harsh edges. Unfortunately, out of all the Real Techniques brushes that I own this is the one that shed, a lot. One side of the brush completely just had chunks of the bristles falling out. Chunks of hair! I actually didn't use the brush for a while, since the bristles just kept falling out in chunks, however it eventually came to a point where it stopped, so I fortunately can now use it normally again. The shape on the side has changed and flatten a bit, but it still works just as perfectly as before. I have not heard this happen to anyone before, so I'm pretty sure I just got a dud, but it still is a fantastic brush and I would buy the whole Core Collection Set just for this brush again!

Contour Brush

The contour brush tapers out nicely and is the perfect size to highlight or contour your face. For some people, the brush head maybe too small to contour the face, however I find it perfect for precision contouring. It gets the bronzer exactly where I want to sculpt my face. I also love it for highlighting my face, since it is the perfect size to placing highlighter on the cheekbones. 

Pointed Foundation Brush

The pointed foundation brush is great, but not for foundation. It is way too small and thin to apply foundation effectively, however it is really good to apply concealer under the eyes or on large areas of the face. It is pointed enough to get around the nose and to really get in the inner corner of the eyes to put concealer and to apply the concealer under the eyes quickly as well. Great concealer brush, bad foundation brush. 

Detailer Brush (Image Credit)

Unfortunately, I do not currently have the detailer brush to show an actual picture for you guys because I gave it away to a friend, however I did used it before and I do know how it performs. The detailer brush is very tiny and is great for pin point concealing and to apply lip products. I personally don't do pin point concealing or usually apply my lip products using a brush, so I gave it away to my friend. The brush has good precision though and is great for the uses that I stated. 

Travel Essentials Set

The Travel Essentials Set comes with three brushes and the panoramic brush case. The three brushes that comes in this set are the essential foundation brush, domed shadow brush, and the multi task brush. The Travel Essentials Set retails for $17.99 USD. 

Essential Foundation Brush

The essential foundation brush is slightly better for foundation than the pointed foundation brush, however I still find it too small to apply foundation quickly enough. The essential foundation brush is thicker, so it does apply foundation better, but it would take too long to apply foundation to the whole face because the size is so small. If you have the time to work the foundation all over the face with this brush, then it can be good for foundation, but I would still suggest using it for the same uses as the pointed foundation brush. 

Domed Shadow Brush

I really like how this shadow brush is not completely flat, but not completely domed/rounded shaped as well. The shape of the brush allows me to apply shadow on the eyes and blend out eyeshadow as well. I actually like this brush better for applying concealer, rather than eyeshadow for me, since I have small eyes. If I were to use this as an eyeshadow brush, then I would just use it to apply one eyeshadow all over the lids or to blend out eyeshadow, but I mainly use this to apply concealer. I find that this brush applies and buffs out concealer under the eyes really well. 

Multi Task Brush

My favorite brush out of the whole Travel Essentials Set! I actually bought the whole set just for this brush alone and I really like it! It is so soft and fluffy! It really is a great multi-tasking brush, since it has various uses for face makeup. It is great for blush, bronzer, and powder! I really like to use it for blush mainly, since it is the perfect size! Not too big, not too small. Perfect size to apply blush and blend it out!

Individual Real Techniques Brushes

The brushes that are individually sold from Real Techniques varies in prices and the brushes that I have are the foundation brush ($7.99 USD), blush brush ($8.99 USD), and stippling brush ($9.99 USD). 

Foundation Brush

The foundation brush is big and thick enough to apply foundation very well! This brush would be great for anyone that likes to apply their foundation the standard way by using a flat synthetic foundation brush. This foundation brush is angled, so it is great to get around the nose and around areas that are usually hard to apply foundation around. You will get the highest coverage out of your liquid foundation with this angled and flat foundation brush. 

Brush Brush

Some people love this for blush, but it is way too big to apply blush precisely on my face. However, I absolutely love this brush for powder all over the face or for bronzer. I actually use this brush every single day to apply powder to my face. It is domed shaped when you regularly use it, however it does taper to a point! I usually squeeze the brush a bit and it tapers to a perfect point for me to apply bronzer on the areas of my face that naturally hits the sun. I really love the shape of this brush and would definitely purchase another one!

Stippling Brush

The stippling brush is absolutely my favorite brush to apply liquid foundation. It is really an "airbrushing" brush! The finish I get is so flawless and I find that I don't waste product with this brush at all. It does what a stippling brush should do! The difference between this stippling brush and the generic stippling brush is that the bristles are short and compacted together. I find that the generic stippling brushes, like the MAC 187, has bristles that are too long and "floppy", which results in major brush streaks with the foundation on your face! Since the Real Techniques stippling brush has bristles that are dense and short enough, I find that when I stipple my foundation on and then start to buff it out using this brush, it buffs the foundation in perfectly! I find this stippling brush lovely for foundation and it will give you a more airbrush finish with your makeup. This brush also works really well for cream blushes. 

Panoramic Brush Case

The panoramic brush case only comes in the brush sets and is not sold separately. I think the idea behind the panoramic brush case is very nice, however I don't find it very effective. First off, there are slots to put 6 brushes in the case, however it can only really hold three or four, depending what brushes you put in it. It just does not have enough room to put in many brushes and close it properly. Secondly, you can't have the case propped up on your desk/table and then easily take or put the brushes back in its elastic loop every single time you are doing your makeup. The elastic loops on the case are very strong, so you would have to stop what you are doing and use your hands to push the brush back into the loops. It is just a slight hassle that is not very convenient. Thirdly, the only good thing that I can see from having this case is nicely displaying six of your Real Techniques brushes when you are not using them, or you are going out of town and only need to take three or four brushes. 

Slight General Problems with the Brushes

I find that the words can rub and come off sometimes on the brushes and since the brush handle is made of aluminum, they can have dents. However, I have only had those problems on two or three of the brushes. 

Again, I LOVE Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman brushes! They are affordable, great quality, and great design! If you love makeup and you use makeup brushes, you need to get the Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman brushes! If you guys have any questions, feel free to comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!

-Lily <3

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in anyway to Real Techniques or Samantha Chapman. I bought the Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman brushes with my own money and I am just another huge fan of pixiwoo. =]

NEW Sonia Kashuk Brushes Review + Buffing Brushes Comparison

Bottom Picture (left to right): Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush, Sonia Kashuk Dense Blush/Powder Brush, Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Buffing Brush, Sephora #45 Mineral Powder Brush

I love makeup (of course, this is a beauty blog) and that means I love makeup brushes as well! Many people have different preferences as to how they apply their makeup. Some people want to be as minimal as possible and use the least amount of brushes as they can, along with using their fingers as well. However, I am not that kind of person. Well, that is not necessarily true, since I do love to use my fingers for foundation sometimes and I think it is one of the best tools for makeup application, but I am just that kind of person that loves having different brushes that do different things! One of my favorite types of makeup brush is the dome-shaped buffing brush. I believe these kinds of brushes are so versatile and are amazing for foundation and various other things. I have four dome-shaped buffing brushes. Surprisingly, and unfortunately, the MAC 109 is not one of them, however I think one of my four brushes can be a similar dupe to the MAC 109! I did do a review on the two Sonia Kashuk brushes that I have on my personal blog, however I will post it again here for you guys to read. The review was written on March 9, 2012. 

Today, I will rave about two NEW Sonia Kashuk brushes that are fantastic! Not only are they fantastic, but they could possibly be good dupes for higher-end brushes! The brushes I am talking about are the Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush ($12.99) and Dense Blush/Powder Brush ($17.99).

I was browsing through Target today and I notice that Sonia Kashuk did some remodeling! The slight changes that I saw were that Sonia Kashuk has a few new, and very unique, brushes and that the prices have change slightly. The prices are slightly cheaper than they were before, so I would highly recommend for you to go to your local Target and check the Sonia Kashuk area out! Anyway, back to the brushes!

I’m going to tell you about the Sonia Kashuk Dense Blush/Powder Brush first and it is the brush with the black handle. First off, I love the design of the handle, because it allows the brush to fit very nicely in my hands and I feel like I have a lot of control of my makeup application. When I first saw this brush I immediately thought that it was so similar to the MAC 109 Brush! Now, I don’t have the MAC 109 brush myself, but I do know that the shape of the brush is almost the same. However, I do know that the MAC 109 is a little bit softer and definitely more dense, than the Sonia Kashuk Dense Blush/Powder Brush. The use of this brush is pretty self-explanatory, but when I use this brush for powder and blush, I think it works amazingly! The brush is the perfect size and density for applying and blending out blush and it applied powder really nicely to the areas where I wanted a little bit more coverage. I can also see this brush working very well for bronzer and contouring.

I think the Sonia Kashuk Dense Blush/Powder Brush is amazing, but I was the most surprise by the performance of the Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush! I was blown away! I honestly thought that this brush was going to apply foundation the same way as my Real Techniques Buffing Brush but I was so wrong! Not only did my foundation blended in so well, but this brush did it so quickly! I can honestly say that I did my whole face of foundation in around 10 seconds! No lie! This brush is like magic! While I find that my Real Techniques Buffing Brush works really well for really liquidy/runny foundations, I find that the Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush works extremely well for thick foundations. I used it with my BB Cream and I honestly have never applied BB Cream in an easier way before using this brush! Also, if you know how thick BB Creams can get, my BB Cream is really thick! The Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush is very soft and dense enough to truly buff in your foundation! Of course, anyone can use this brush for other things as well, like powder, bronzer, blush, ect. Now, the brush that this brush kind of reminds me of is the Sephora #55 Airbrush Brush. Now, I also don’t have the Sephora #55 Airbrush Brush, however I know that the Sephora brush claims to give an airbrush finish and the concept of the two brushes are the same. The Sonia Kashuk brush also claims to give an airbrush finish and to buff in cream/liquid products very nicely in circular motions. I’m not saying that the Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush is a dupe to the Sephora #55 Airbrush Brush. I’m saying that the Sonia Kashuk can be an alternative to the Sephora brush, if you are on a budget.

Now on to the mini comparison review of all the four dome-shaped buffing brushes! The four dome-shaped buffing brushes that I have are the Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush, Sonia Kashuk Dense Blush/Powder Brush, Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Buffing Brush, and Sephora #45 Mineral Powder Brush. All of the brushes are made up of synthetic hair, except the Sonia Kashuk Dense Blush/Powder Brush. All of the brushes are great for buffing out your makeup, however these are the uses that I like to use each brush for: 

Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush: I find that this brush is mainly good for thick cream/liquid foundations, like BB Creams. 

Sonia Kashuk Dense Blush/Powder Brush: Great for blush & bronzer! Powder as well when I want more coverage on specific areas of my face! I like to use this for powder products, but not cream products.

Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Buffing Brush: AMAZING for liquid foundations that are very "liquidy" and great for mineral/powder foundation! Great for liquid, cream, and powder!!!

Sephora #45 Mineral Powder Brush: The best for mineral and powder foundation for when I want the highest coverage! This brush is good for liquid foundation as well, however it is not amazing, since I do find that a lot of the product gets wasted because of the density of the synthetic bristles.

Do you need all of these four dome-shaped buffing brushes? Of course not! I could probably just have the Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Buffing Brush and use it for every aspect of my makeup application for face products, but I am just the type of person that likes to have a collection of makeup brushes for different things. Overall, all of these brushes are amazing multi-tasking brushes that are great for foundation, powder, blush, bronzer, and/or buffing out your makeup! I really hope you guys find this review and comparison helpful! Let me know if you guys have any questions or comments! Thank you!

- Lily <3