My Real Techniques Brush Collection & Review!
Hey guys!
Slowly but surely, I've been accumulating some of the brushes from Real Techniques. In case you're not familiar, it's a line by well known YouTuber & makeup artist, Samantha Chapman. I first ran into these brushes at Ulta, and as a whole, I've found them to be really high quality brushes for an affordable price. See how the bristles on these brushes have lighter tips? That's pretty much a consistent feature throughout the whole line. They have really soft, synthetic taklon bristles. The ferrule of the brush is a colored aluminum and is longer (the ferrule) than most other brushes. It seems most of the larger brushes that you can buy singularly can stand on their own, which is another unique feature. The specific name of each brush is actually written out on the brush, which is handy as well. I thought I'd just walk you through what I have, and my thoughts on them.
(And yes, they need to be cleaned! haha)
Stippling Brush: This is the first brush I got from the line and it has much shorter bristles compared to my Sigma stippling brush. I feel like the shortness also makes them a bit more stiff, and therefore able to apply a bit more pressure to the face & truly stipple on a product with ease. You could use this brush to stipple on a liquid or cream foundation, but the size also lends it to cream blushes or highlights as well. It's just slightly larger than my ELF Studio Small Stipple brush, which I also like to use for that purpose.
Blush Brush: This is one of my most recent Real Techniques purchases, and it's definitely the largest, most full brush that I have from this line. It has an extremely tapered egg shape, and while it can apply blush, I really feel like it's ample size for applying all over face powder or bronzer... as well as a highlight, for that matter. I think the degree to which this brush is tapered makes it a good multi-tasker for all of those products- and therefore it's also a great travel brush when you don't want to pack a whole lot.
Setting Brush: Another recent purchase, the setting brush is a terrific size for setting your under-eye concealer with a light amount of powder. A lot of flat concealer brushes have a tendency to pack too much on, and anytime you powder the under-eye area, it needs to be really lightweight. This brush is so nicely tapered that you can really get the perfect application in that area. It's also nice for highlighting targeted areas.
Expert Face Brush: After just trying a couple of brushes from the line and not being super wowed by them (the Stipple brush and the eye set), this was the first brush that I really, really enjoyed- and prompted more brush purchases from this line. Marnie a.k.a. MsGoldGirl on YouTube has raved about this one as a foundation brush, and I must say- it has definitely fallen into my "brush rotation" along with Sigma's SigMax synethic brush collection. I still feel like my Sigma F80 is my ultimate favorite for applying liquid or cream foundation because of the effortless circular motion it can perform. The shape and taper of this brush makes it a bit more stiff, but it's still awesome for a liquid foundation. As with all of the brushes from this line, it's extremely soft and just feels great on the face.
The Core Collection: This is a set of four face brushes, and while I explain the ways I use them- keep in mind this set can be really multipurpose depending on your needs. The top brush is the Buffing Brush. This isn't much larger than the expert face brush, but the bristles are slightly longer and not as tightly packed, making it a bit more flexible. I think this is a good brush for buffing in a mineral or powder foundation when you want maximum coverage. The Contour Brush is the second from the top. This is kind of like the baby version of the blush brush... it has that same egg shape and super tapered cut. I think it's great for both contouring and highlighting. The Pointed Foundation Brush is quite small, and so I'm not a big fan of using it for foundation, but it is rather nice for blending out concealer. The long bristles allow for light pressure, and keep you from totally wiping concealer away. The Detailer Brush is something I haven't reached for much, but I could see it being used to spot conceal some very small problems, or even as a smudgy eyeliner brush.
If you get any of the Real Techniques brushes in a kit, they come with a very innovative little holder. It has a toggle on it so you can fold it back and stand your brushes up like this. You'll notice there's additional elastic if you want to add in some other brushes.
You can also loosen the toggle and use the velcro closure to store or travel with your brushes like this. I'd never seen this kind of a holder sold with brushes before and thought it was really handy and user friendly!
The Starter Set: This set of eye brushes also came in one of those toggle/velcro fold over holders. This was one of the first Real Techniques products I purchased, and I really wasn't too thrilled with most of this collection. As a whole, I felt these eye brushes were just too large to give me much control. The top brush is the Deluxe Crease Brush. It seems really large for my crease, but I believe I'll start using this brush to buff in cream or liquid concealer. If may be hard to tell, but this is not a flat brush- it's totally rounded and the ferrule isn't pinched at all. The Base Shadow Brush is more flat, tapered, and cut to a slight point... it's like the baby version of the Setting brush, shown above. This one is ok for packing color on the lid, but it's not quite as firm as I prefer. The angled brush in the picture is the Brow Brush. No problem with that one! It's a pretty basic angled brush that's slightly thicker than a typical angled liner brush that you might use for eyeliner. Next is my favorite in the pack- the Accent Brush. Perfect for highlighting your inner corner or applying smudgy liner. Finally the Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush is just way too big for eyeliner, in my opinion. I've used it with cream liners and I get a much thicker line than I want.
But don't worry, my Real Techniques liner woes were over once I found that they had a much smaller eyeliner brush sold individually called the Fine Liner Brush. It's pretty much the perfect size and cut for cream liners. I wonder why they didn't just put this brush in the Starter Set to begin with?
Here you can really see the size difference-- the thickness of the Pixel Point liner brush is 2 to 3 times the size of the fine liner brush. Wowza!
Shading Brush: Here's another really basic-seeming brush that's sold individually, but would've been nice in that Starter Kit. It's small and flat, and allows you to provide just the right amount of pressure for packing shadow on the lid or pulling it into the crease. As with all of the other eye and face brushes, it the bristles are really nice and soft.
♥
Overall, I think Real Techniques brushes are really great quality. I was drawn to purchase several of these after watching the demonstrations on the Real Techniques website. I would highly suggest checking it out, not only to see all of the various brushes- but to also see them in action and learn about the multiple uses that some of them have.
My favorite brushes from this line are the Blush Brush, Setting Brush, Expert Face Brush, Fine Liner Brush, and Shading Brush. The Core Collection is good, but not really all that unique compared to brushes I already have, and the Starter Set for eyes was probably the product that I least enjoyed. And just so you know, I'm not affiliated with this brand and bought the brushes with my own money at Ulta or Ulta.com. What brushes have you tried from Real Techniques? What are your hits and misses?
♥
Daily Nuggets...
- This morning I shot an "All Drugstore" Get Ready with Me video! I used a lot of the brushes I talked about in this blog post.
- Currently uploading a haul video!
- I am so excited for American Idol tonight! woohoo!!
- In yesterday's Daily Nuggets I mentioned that I didn't know what to do with my leftover Rotel/Velveeta dip. Well Molly was Johnny-on-the-spot with this comment about making it into a pasta bake. I didn't have quite all of the ingredients she mentioned, but basically did what she said and it was delish!! Tyler loved it too. Thanks Molly!
click to enlarge
i love these brushes!!! the buffing brush was a little too stiff when i first got it but then with some use i "broke it in" and i love it! for everything! contouring, foundation, blush etc!
ReplyDeletei bought the expert face brush here in uk, its so expensive!!! consider sam is actually from here... but anyway. i really like it, it has unique shape and just gives a flawless look(altho i use bourjois healthy mix serum.foundation which applies better using hands).but its really good for cream foundations is well, and in a rush one day and used it for powder foundation, it was fine us well! really good purchase
ReplyDeleteThese are hands down my favourite brushes. I've tried and bought so many brushes in the past few years but no one equals their amazing quality at such a low price. The latest kit I've bought is the eye kit but I've only used a couple of them so far. I'm curious to try the eyeliner brush, but I think it's too big, too. We'll see! My favourites are the blush brush, the expert face brush and the setting brush :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the brushes in the Core collections from this line...they were excellent face brushes! Great review!
ReplyDeleteI am kind of new to liquid foundation! I stopped using it years ago and started using bare minerals but I am sick of the mess it makes and on Emiliys recommendation I started using Revlon color stay whipped but I just want to know how often and how do you wash your foundation brush that's used for liquid foundations?
ReplyDeleteI have tried them all and I really feel like they are a miss with me. I felt that my ecotools brushes were far better.
ReplyDeleteI had my eye on the Starter Set at Ulta but I'm glad I didn't buy it! Sounds like it's not worth the money.
ReplyDeleteI have a few from this line and am really liking them.
I've replaced my old brushes (since they were so prickly) with the ones you've purchased, and I'm so happy I did. Love the Expert Face Brush, the Contour Brush (for my blush) and the Deluxe Crease brush (great for undereye concealer). I find it amusing that some of the brushes have been named for a particular use but I use it in another way. The Blush Brush is too big, so I use it for loose face powder. The Buffing Brush is great for powder foundation, the Detailer Brush is great as a lip brush, and the Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush is good for applying eyeshadow as eyeliner. Hope this gives you some ideas on using the brushes that you haven't used yet!
ReplyDeleteI have a ton of these brushes. I have found uses for all the eye brushes from the set. The crease brush is great for undereye concealer. The eyeliner brush I use for powder eyeliner and to smudge liner. The shader brush works great for blending if you turn it on it's side. It's kind of my replacement for the 217. The blush brush is my favorite blush brush ever. I use the expert face brush almost daily for my foundation. I can't say enough good things about these brushes!!
ReplyDeleteI really love these brushes! This is the way I use the brushes you don't like as much, hope you'll find it useful.
ReplyDelete- The detailer brush is GREAT for applying lipstick.
- The crease one works really well to apply cream eye shadows and concealer when you want good coverage.
- The base shadow works really well to softly blend the crease, and also to apply concealer for a slightly lighter coverage.
- The pixel point looks huge, I know, but it actually delivers the EXACT same results than the Mac 109 (i have two of those). It's great for a thick, pin-up like cat eyeliner.
Oh! And the brow one has quickly become my favorite brow brush of all time, over the Mac 266 and the Sigma angle brush. Since it's a bit thicker, it works faster and makes my eyebrows look more natural. Hakuhodo sells eyebrow brushes that are even thicker than that one.
ReplyDeleteFinal comment! The multi purpose one is great for blush.
ReplyDeleteThese brushes look so perfect! I really want to try them.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
XO
scribblesofvalerie.blogspot.com
love the real technique brushes, really want to add the expert face brush to my collection :D
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thelilywhiteenglishrose.blogspot.com
I use the detailer brush every single day and it is excellent for covering my blemishes (which have been showing up way too much on my face lately!). I also like the contour brush because of its size. Although I do not reach for it everyday, since I do contouring and highlighting if I'm going out for a night out or something.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite brushes are the contour brush, stipplingbrush, deluxe crease brush and expert face brush. I don't use them for their "intended" purposes tho. I use the expert face brush for contour, the stippling brush for blush, the contour brush for powder etc.
ReplyDeleteI just bought more of the real technique brushes for myself over the weekend. They were buy one get one half off at ulta. I also had a 20% off coupon!! I"m pretty sure the only other store I've seen these brushes was walmarts website.
ReplyDeleteTheese really are some of my favourite brushes!!!
ReplyDeleteHere in Denmark Sigma brushes isn't easy to come by, and they are very expensive if I order them from the states.
The Real Tecniques brushes work really well for me. Espacially the face brushes.
I always use the deluxe crease brush for concealer and it works wonderfully for that.
I have the core collection, the eye collection, the shading brush, the stippeling brush and the blush brush.
I really want the rest. I bought mine at iherb.com, which is really recommendable.
You're welcome on the recipe! Glad you both enjoyed :) Love the thorough brush reviews. I've been using Real Techniques brushes for over a year!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI always look at these brushes when I'm at Ulta, but have yet to pick any up. I guess I have enough brushes to work with :-)
ReplyDeleteMonica
www.pear-shaped-gal.com
I have all 3 of the kits and find myself using the deluxe crease brush for concealer, and the buffing brush for quick foundation on the go... Also, I didn't see you post about the Multi-tasker brush, but that is great for bronzer or powder. I saw these kits several times at my local drug store (Bartell's) over the holidays for full price and didn't pull the trigger... Until I went back after the holidays and saw the kits for $8.24 each!! Can you believe it? So now I have them, and am eying the single brushes. :)
ReplyDeleteI am actually thinking of getting a few of Real Techniques (stipple brush for sure!) but they are so expensive in Europe... :(
ReplyDeleteI was JUST looking for reviews on these and Eco Tools brushes cause I need some face brushes ASAP but I think I'm going for ET for their price.
ReplyDeleteMy first set of brushes are from Real Techniques. They're good quality for any person starting to use makeup. I have both face and eyes set in which I only use a few from these sets plus individual ones sold separately. My favorites are the big powder brush, contour, buffering, shading, kabuki and deluxe crease brush. I use the crease brush to blend my under eye concealer. I recently purchased the expert face brush and am really happy with it.
ReplyDeleteelaiine27.blogspot.com
I love these brushes!!
ReplyDeleteCheck out my online beauty store: http://beautybymissash.blogspot.ca/
I am a huge huge fan. I love Samantha Chapman and I love the high quality of the brushes. They are different from any of the other brushes I have in my collection, and I adore them!
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I've been curious about these brushes, and I'm usually careful to research any beauty product before purchasing - this was helpful, thanks Emily! I'm excited for American Idol tonight, too! Wednesday nights is paint my nails night, so I'm doubly-excited. lol! :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE these brushes. I have really sensitive skin apparently, I never thought that before I started using makeup brushes(almost all MAC brushes-including the beloved eye shadow blender 217 give me hives, like full on welts!) And it's been really difficult for me to find brushes that don't irritate my skin, most lines are hit and miss even if I purchase only synthetic. Real Techniques have been amazing and cause me no irritation and on top of that they're great quality and not very expensive! I highly recommend them!!
ReplyDeleteI have been dying to try these brushes! I love how they are quality but still affordable. Thanks for the extensive review Emily! Love your channel and blog! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Emily!
ReplyDeleteI love your channel. You have such a great soothing voice and I love how you talk about the products in depth.
I love love love the Real Techniques brushes. I think for a beginner,like me, it's the perfect set to learn with. I am going to buy my first Sigma Brushes soon for my Birthday. Do you recommend a certain set for my first purchase? I know you mentioned the Sigmax was one of your favorites.
I just did a review on these brushes yesterday, I am only new to them but I love them already!!
ReplyDeleteI am going back for the rest of the collection soon :o)
matillysthisnthat.blogspot.com.au
Great review Emily :). I agree about starter set, my least favorite too.
ReplyDeleteNut I just love Expert face brush. I use itto do my entire face, from foundation (liquid, cream, BB) contouring, highlight, blush to powder. It's excellent multitasking brush :D. If I had to have only one face brush this would be it :D.
Shading brush is another excellent brush. Definitive must have.
Powder brush is a very nice brush as well.
I tried blush brush, but it was to big for me and stippling brush, which I loved untill I got expert face brush. Fine liner brush is great for more creamy, softer cream/gel liners, and all use are rather dry ones so it didn't work for me.
I plan to get the rest of the collection with time, because I like them a lot and I think they're great brushes and recommend them to everyone I know :D.
Girls and boys outside US and Canada, you can get RT brushes at www.iherb.com at the US prices.
I got the stippling brush per your suggestion (and love it), I got the blush brush and the fine liner brush too. The stippling and blush brush are my favorite! The next one will be the expert face brush, I just haven't been able to find it in my local Ulta store.
ReplyDeleteThese brushes are unbelieveable, I absolutely love them. I was a little surprised at some of the ways you mentioned you use them since the Real Techniques videos show exactly how to use each one.
ReplyDeleteThe buffing brush is my #1 liquid foundation brush, I like Sigma but this is pretty dang good.
I own them all and don't have a single complaint! I always recommend them to people and its a good deal getting them b1g1 and then using a coupon on top.
ReplyDeleteGreat info! I'm a new follower, would love if you would please follow me on my blog aswell! : )
ReplyDeletehttp://myprettynailz.blogspot.com
I love these brushes too. Recently they were Buy one get one for 50% off at Ulta. And I had a 20% off your purchase coupon. Yay! Gotta love the deals on makeup and brushes.
ReplyDeleteJust checked out the Flower line from Drew Barrymore after seeing your video. Some of that packaging is very clunky and some of it is very cute and looks more high-end. I may try some soon. Intrigued by that stick foundation. Thanks for the info!
Hey !!!!
ReplyDeleteI just wanna tell you first that I watch your videos since I learned English !! =) and I just love it ( I'm Brazilian) and I would like you to make a video with tips to not get the foundation with cake effect... I always see everybody's face so beautiful and I don't know what I'm doing wrong because mine is always weird, you can see that I have the foundation on and always look so havy...
Thanks !!!
You've probably got the wrong colour foundation, I used to have the same problem because I have very fair skin and could never find a foundation pale enough for me. I switched to BB cream and the problem was solved with almost as much coverage :)
DeleteI have the Core Collection, Starter Set, Basic Shadow Brush, Expert Face Brush, and Powder Brush.
ReplyDeleteI use the Expert Face brush for foundation, the Buffing Brush for blush, the Powder Brush for powder, the Contour brush for contouring/bronzer, and the big domed Crease Brush from the Starter Set for blending concealer. I use the Detail Brush from the Starter Set for applying lipsticks.
I think the tapered shadow brush in the Starter Set is an amazing crease brush. I use the Concealer Brush from the Core Collection for packing glitters on my eyes. The Basic Shadow Brush is my go-to eyeshadow brush.
I don't much care for the Angle/Brow brush, pixel liner brush, or the Foundation Brush; they've been tossed aside with all my other brushes that have been replaced with the Real Techniques brushes mentioned above.
I've supplemented my Real Techniques collection with just a couple other brushes- the shadow brush from Urban Decay that came with the Naked 1 palette, a Revlon double-ended angle brush/detail brush, the Everyday Minerals Eye Kabuki Junior (replaced my Mac 227), and the ELF Pro bent liner brush.
Once I finally get the Real Techniques Stippling Brush my set will be complete!
Thank you so much for this review! I was debating on buying some of the eye brushes or going with Sigma, and now I think I'll make the Sigma investment.
ReplyDeleteMy first brush was the expert face and loved it so much i picked up a couple more. Some of my favs are stippling ( for liquid foundation and cream blush), blush brush, and setting brush. Along with the crease brush and powder brush. Great quality and easy on the wallet!!
ReplyDeleteI had a problem with the pixel brush. But I got the smaller eyeliner brush and love it! I really like these brushes.
ReplyDeleteEmily
eageremily.blogspot.com
Great review, Emily! I have the Stippling Brush, Setting Brush and Blush Brush and I'm thrilled with all of them. I feel like they are really fabulous quality for a pretty reasonable price. (Especially since Ulta sells them Buy One, get One Half Off most of the time).
ReplyDeleteI loooove all my RT brushes, but my favorite is the buffing brush. Wish they sold it seperately... I use it for buffing out my foundation after appying it with my fingers, and for cream blush, and for powder foundation... I even use it to blend out my eye shadow for a super no makeup look... Hi from Honduras!! :)
ReplyDeleteI love these brushes. That setting brush is so great with Bare Minerals Well- Rested.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the Real Techniques brushes but the blusher brush is definitely a firm favourite of mine, it's so incredibly soft! :-)
ReplyDeleteAnyone please feel free to follow my blog for all things make-up and beauty related: beautycentralx.blogspot.co.uk
xoxo
Molly's recipe sounds delish!
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ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I enjoy & look forward to Watching & reading your blogs. Quick question; How do you clean the brushes?
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Love these brushes, and their price! I also like the Eco Tools brushes very much. I have Sigma brushes they're good but the new prices are ridiculous considering that Sigma claims they are "affordable" brushes, their prices are close to Mac Brushes prices, and Mac Brushes are NOT affordable!!
ReplyDeleteI have the Expert Face Brush and I love it! It's just a shame they're quite expenisive, but I think they're worth it for the quality:)I actually included it in my March/April Favourites! You can check it out here if you'd like http://bathbombsandbubblegum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/march-favourites.html <3
ReplyDeleteLove your review!! I have also accumulating a fair amount of Real Technique brushes and so far I can't think of anything bad to say about them!! They are awesome. Please check out my reviews!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I have been using the RT brushed for almost a year. I do enjoy the starter set (I have 3 of them) - I use the pixel point for shadow as a liner. the brow actually does a good job at a smudgy lid liner (with shadow) - the crease works well for me but them I have large eyes. The pointed foundation works well with under eye concealer. And they clean easily by swishing them in 91% alcohol (per Wayne Goss)- and are almost immediately ready for another use.
ReplyDeleteLovely review. I love them!!! I got my Real Techniques brush sets from iHerb.com and used a discount code and got free shipping! You can use discount code QIH951 (no expiration!) and get $10 off your entire purchase!=)
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ReplyDeleteI really love these brushes but they sell it here in the Philippines twice the price in dollar. :( i wish they could make an authorize retailer here in the Philippines. btw I appreciate your review.
ReplyDeletehttp://lieghscorner.blogspot.com/
I purchased my RT brushes from iHerb.com. much-much way cheaper..save a lot of money when you include the coupon code. You can use discount code JGS688 (no expiration!) and get $10 off your entire purchase!=)
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU for showing the difference between the Pixel Perfect Liner brush and the Fine Lining brush! I hadn't been able to figure out if it truly WAS smaller and finer than the one that came in the starter, but YOU CAME THROUGH! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteLove these! This may help some of you, you can get the full range of real technique brushes at iherb.com for only $17.99/ £11.60, and i have a code for upto $10 off!!! : HWT011 : use it at the checkout and theres no tax etc only $4/ £2.50 worldwide delivery!!! Hope this helps, they end up being like super cheap! :) .
ReplyDeleteThe cheapest RT brush you can get ladies!!!! I got my Real Techniques brush sets from iHerb.com and used a discount code! You can use my discount code JGS688 (no expiration!) and get $10 off your entire purchase! They do ship worldwide for only $4 =)
ReplyDeleteWhich of these do you like best for applying foundation?
ReplyDeleteAwesome guide! Here is mine if you wanna check it out
ReplyDeletehow to apply eyeshadow
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAmazing! I found these Real Techniques brushes online at iherb, this page has it all http://www.iherb.com/real-techniques-by-samantha-chapman?rcode=PPT610 They ship almost everywhere! And you will get $5-$10 off your first order with this code PPT610
ReplyDeleteGreat post Emily :) Which brush would you recommend for applying powder foundation? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteYour blog provided us with valuable information to work with. every tips of your post are awesome. Thanks a lot for sharing. Keep blogging, iherb code
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I love the real technique brushes and review. I've got more information here and it is very useful thanks :)
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Great review! Im excited to try this makeup brushes ..thanks :)
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"Oh my god, that post was so detailed and thorough but helpful. Who has that kind of time!? Who is this chick?" *reads the 'about me' section, sees emilynoel83* "Oooh, no wonder!"
ReplyDeleteYou are always super thorough in your YouTube reviews and I'm thrilled that translated to blog format. I don't know how you have the time but you are awesome for the time you commit. I'm not sure how I'm just stumbling upon your blog after all these years but I had to follow. I've learned so much from your reviews. Thanks!
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