For months I have been scavenging various Walmart locations, multiple times a week, looking for the Real Techniques Core Collection Brush Set. Ever since their appearance in Canada, Walmart has been either low on stock, or sold out. Eventually, there was more stock and I did see the two other sets in Walmart, but the Core Collection was always missing! I was recently given the opportunity to test and review the Core Collection, and I cannot explain how happy I am to finally try them out!
You might be wondering... these brushes have been out for a while now, why are they still sold out everywhere?? Well they only recently were made available in Canada. The three collections: 'Core Collection', 'Travel Essentials', and the 'Eyes Starter Set' are available at Walmart stores. The three collections as well as some individual brushes are available online at FarleyCo, the Canadian distributor of Real Techniques.
If your not wondering that.. then you must be thinking, what is Real Techniques? But the picture may have given that away! Real Techniques is a brush line designed with pro makeup artist Samantha Chapman from Norwich, many of you may know her on Youtube as pixiwoo.
The brushes are made with taklon bristles which are ultra-plush, with soft fibers, and smoother than most synthetic brushes. They are 100% cruelty free.
The brushes are hand-cut to fit comfortably in your hand. They are very light, due to the majority of the handle being aluminum, and the bases are flat so they can stand on your countertop, which is a plus if you have a lot of countertop space, or like to be decorative! The smaller brushes don't stand up for me though. In this collection, only the buffing brush stands on its own. Actually, all of the brushes in this collection aren't very large.
I can tell you now... I am absolutely in love with these brushes, and the few other Real Techniques brushes that I own! There are a decent amount of brushes in the collection, and it is my goal to collect them all! ..seriously though.
Buffing Brush: "Use for cream to powder foundation, or a mineral foundation. It can also be used to apply bronzer, blush, and highlighter."
This is my favourite brush in the set! I find it to be quite dense, similar to the expert face brush, also by RT. I mainly use this brush to buff liquid foundation on my face. It does a good job of evening out the foundation on my face, so it looks more natural, and less harsh/caked on. It does such a good job of blending out my foundation that I don't have to use as much product because the bristles have little/quick contact with the foundation, and doesn't cling onto it too much. I do find the expert face brush does a better job of not absorbing too much foundation, but they work very similarly, and I find this brush to be a bit softer. This brush does work well for blush, highlighter, and bronzer if you want a pigmented application. I however, didn't like how the brush picked up powder, especially a loose powder, and with bronzer it definitely isn't for the cheekbones, and more for all-over bronzer.
Pointed Foundation Brush: "For liquid foundation, and concealer under the eyes."
This brush is way too small for me to use with liquid foundation. It is actually my most unfavourable brush in the collection because I really only have one use for it. I use it for under-eye concealer. When I first tried it out I found it to apply quite streaky.. then I tried a dabbing technique, and my results were much better and it gave me so much more coverage. It is soft and flexible but I wouldn't recommend this for all over foundation. Aside from concealing under the eyes, it could also be good for concealing blemishes.
Detailer Brush: "Precision cut for concealer, under-eye concealer, or to define lips with lipstick."
This is the thinnest and tiniest brush ever! It's probably able half the size of typical eyeshadow brushes. If it weren't for the orange handle it would get lost in all of my other brushes. At first I thought, this is so tiny what could I possibly use this for? It's too time consuming for concealing under the eyes, although it can be good for spot concealing. I found it to work best for fixing and concealing precise areas on the face, such as the sides of the nose, and corners of my eyes. I also really like it for applying primer on my lower lashline. Because the brush is so small I don't have to worry about putting the primer too far below my lower lashline. I usually use Nyx Jumbo Pencil in Milk for priming my lower lashline, and I can use this to blend it out so the shadow goes on evenly. It works well for brightening the inner corners with eyeshadow as well, but I noticed a bit of fallout and don't love it for eyeshadow.
Contour Brush: "With bronzer to define the cheekbone, contour the crease above the eyes, for highlighter."
I love this brush for contouring the cheekbones and I almost regret buying a $40+ Mac brush for that purpose! I find this one so much easier to contour with; it places nicely underneath the cheekbone and blends easily. I was scared to use this at first because of the shape, but it ended up being easier than my Mac 109 (contour) brush because of the smaller size and ability to fit in the hollows of my cheek. I haven't used any other brush for defining my cheekbones since trying out this one.
I didn't really mention that all of the Brush Sets come with a panoramic case, which they fit snugly into. Maybe a little too snug.. I chip nail polish while trying to slide these brushes in!! It is a great accessory, and I love that it is quite innovative.. meaning you can fold/open the case to have it stand/lay flat, but it's not necessary for me. If I am bringing brushes with me, I am going to bring a lot more than what can fit in this case! EDIT: Over a year later, and I notice this post is still pretty popular. I am still totally in love with these brushes and use the Buffing Brush very often. Just wanted to update, I still feel they are worth it :)
If you are interested in these brushes but need visual tutorials on how to use them, Samantha has tutorials on all her brushes on the official Real Techniques website.
The prices of these brushes are very reasonable to me, I don't think you can get quality even close to this for any cheaper.. any cheaper and you'd be looking at brushes from the dollar store. This set is roughly $20 give or take.. that is basically $5 a brush! I would definitely recommend this set. I don't think I have a Real Techniques brush that I don't like (I currently have 10 including these so 5 that aren't pictured here.) As I mentioned before, they can be bought in Canada at Walmart stores, or FarleyCo, in the US at Ulta.
Have you used Real Techniques? Do you have any RT brush recommendations? What'd you think of this set?
Disclaimer: I received this product for review. All opinions stated are my own and not influenced by any affiliates.
Disclaimer: I received this product for review. All opinions stated are my own and not influenced by any affiliates.
