I know a lot of good things have been said about these brushes already but here is my two cents worth anyway….in a nut shell I like these brushes and I think they are a good investment!

First up a bit of background for those who don’t know about these… Real Techniques are a brand of brushes made by one of the Pixiwoo sisters (Samantha Chapman) – they make some good Youtube videos – you can check them out here.

The brushes in the packaging (double click to enlarge)

Summary:

Each set is £21.99 or $17.99 in the USA

Core Collection contains 4 face brushes

Eye Starter Set contains 5 brushes

Sold in Boots in the UK and some online retailers

Synthetic Brushes that are light and dry quickly

Case can be used a make up stand also!

Great quality for a low price

Review:

These brushes are synthetic and cruelty free and I am going to show you two of the sets you can buy. I love that these brushes are very light weight and they feel really comfortable in your hand, which I think is really important.

The brushes – aren’t they lovely?! (double click to enlarge)

In addition to these you can also buy individual brushes, I don’t have any individual brushes yet, but I will do very soon! I have brushes from MAC, NARS and Sonia Kashuk and I think these compete very well with these higher end brands. I still like my other brushes, but these are really good value for money if you ask me.

Each set of brushes is £21.99 in the UK (or around $17.99 in the US) and it comes in a handy and versatile case that acts as a stand too!

The Core Collection, brushes standing up in the case (double click to enlarge)

The first set I have is the Core Collection, which is made up for 4 face brushes, lets take each brush in turn:

Buffer brush: This is great for buffing in foundations, powders, bronzer and blush, its lovely and super super soft, I love using it. It is very dense and lovely to use. I used to use the ELF Studio Face Kabuki but now that doesn’t get a look in and I like to use this to buff my foundation and give a smooth and gorgeous finish – this is my favourite brush of the set, I think!

Contour brush: This is one of my favourite brushes, and although its small its actually perfect for contouring, it make it very easy and idiot proof (which is good for me!). It perfectly fits in the hollow of my cheeks and is also great for highlighters also – I was using a small angled blush brush before this but now I have this there is no going back!

Detailer brush: This is the type of brush you can use for a variety of uses and its cool. You could use this for eye shadow, lip products or concealer, I personally like using it for concealer, its really good. Its quite small which means its handy for precise work.

Foundation Brush: This is the one brush I don’t actually use. For a start I don’t apply foundation with a brush, I prefer to use my fingers, but even so, I did try it for the purpose of the review and I don’t like it. Its fairly stiff and its quite small, meaning it would take a while to cover your whole face with this. I have read that some ladies use this for a sweep of eye shadow, which I have to admit I have not used it for, but I may try that before giving this to a friend if it doesn’t work for me!?

Overall: I really like this set, and seeing as you get 4 brushes, each brush ends up costing a little over £5 which I think is pretty good. I am one happy bunny with this, especially loving the buffing, detailer and contour brush.

I am giving these 4/5

You can buy the Core Collection here.

Since I liked these so much I got a second set, which is called the Eye Starter Set

The Eye Starter Set in the case, standing up (double click to enlarge)

Base Shadow Brush: This is a great, very versatile brush for laying down eye shadows, and you can also use it in the crease if you wanted to. It is an awesome brush and I am really glad I have this in my set. I find it picks up pigment really well, so you end up using less shadow for a great effect. I use this brush a lot, I wish you could buy it on its own so I could have more of these.

Deluxe Crease Brush: I really like this brush, but I don’t use it for its intended purpose, I actually use this to blend my eye shadow, like a mini buffing brush. Its really good for that. I think its too big to use as a crease brush, but again I am glad I have this in my collection. I do sometimes use this for highlighter application on my brow bone but generally I just use it for blending. Its really soft and lovely.

Brow Brush: I really like this brow brush, I use it with my ELF Studio brow set every day and I love it. Its really easy to use and the handle length is just right, the brush with my brow set was too small and fiddly to use all the time, I only use that now when I travel. You could possibly use it as an eyeliner brush if you wanted to, but you will get a fairly thick line if you do that.

Accent Brush: This is perfect for detailed work, like adding shadow to the inner eye, its very precise and I think its one of the best brushes I have used. You can also use it in the crease and below the lash line to create some gorgeous looks with this.

Pixel Point Eye Liner Brush: The name of this brush is misleading, you actually get quite a thick line of eyeliner using this, and I am not too keen on it for that. I do however like using it for lining my lips instead, so I am glad I still have a use for it.

Overall: This is a great set to have, but probably not as good as the Core Collection brush. I think 3 of the 5 brushes are very usable but this might not be the case for you.

You can buy the Eye Starter Set here.

I’m giving these 3/5

The case closed (double click to enlarge)

Now on to the cases – each set of brushes comes in a case and what is cool about these is that they turn into a stand for the brushes by pulling the toggle on the back. Its such a simple idea but its great and the case even has some space for additional brushes. The case is also great for when you wash your brushes, you can stand them up in the case and leave them to dry, rather than laying them down flat.

The back of the packaging (double click to enlarge)

Having these had made me want more of these brushes, I think the next one I will buy is the Blusher Brush…watch out for a review of that!

Have you got these makeup brushes or any other brushes from Samantha Chapman?! What do you think of these ones? Get in touch and let me know!

Thanks for reading, Grace xx

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Grace