MAC 239 Brush Vs The Body Shop Eyeshadow Brush

 

When it comes to my makeup brush collection, the vast majority contains Real Techniques brushes. I think Real Techniques are amazing quality and the value for money is unbelievable in comparison to higher end makeup brushes which can often come at a jaw-droppingly expensive cost. The only higher end brush I own to date is my MAC 239 brush, it was a brush that I had wanted for ages and finally picked it up this summer. Prior to MAC 239 I had been using an eyeshadow brush from The Body Shop and today I'm going to be talking about why I think this is the high street alternative to the 239 brush. 



Visually the two brushes are pretty darn similar, both coming with smooth black handles and silver coloured brass towards the ends by the bristles. Although I love the vibrancy of my RT Brushes I do think that these black brushes do have that slightly more sophisticated, smart feel to them.  I have read some reviews that claimed the MAC 239 signature comes off the brush, I'm not entirely sure but on mine it feels like it has been engraved in to the handle - possibly a new feature? So hopefully the MAC sign shouldn't wear off anytime soon whereas the wording on The Body Shop handle is beginning to wear away slightly on mine.
 
The Body Shop brush is slightly shorter in comparison to the Mac brush (about half an inch) but to be honest I would say that I prefer this about it as I do find it slightly easier to use for this reason. In terms of the bristles I'm not 100% on the individual materials used in the two brushes, however one obvious difference is that TBS brush has dark bristles compared to the lighter bristles in the Mac brush. I think this is something that comes down to personal preference but I do think I prefer the lighter coloured bristles on the Mac brush as you know when its time to give it a good cleaning, whereas you can't really tell when its wash time with darker bristles. Both the brushes have very similar shaped bristles with the tapered edges, however there are some differences as I will discuss below.

The Mac brush, in my opinion is the perfect shape for packing eyeshadow onto the lid quickly and effortlessly thanks to its wide, short bristles - it just fits so well onto the area of your eye. Because the bristles are firm its easy to build up a decent amount of colour, it applies eyeshadow like nothing I've used before and I'm constantly amazed at how this transfers the product onto the eyelid so well. You can also use the tapered edge to blend should you want to, but its best job is in its application of the eyeshadow product.

 

Moving on to TBS eyeshadow brush you may be able to tell that this is slightly thinner in comparison. The bristles are also that tiny bit longer than the Mac brush and although this is still a decent shape for applying eyeshadow it does mean that it doesn't cover as much area on the eyelid so you have to do a little more work with this brush. On saying that this is still more than efficient in getting a decent colour pay off onto the eyelids, see the swatches below for a comparison.



Swatches taken in natural day light.

The swatches here are both two layers of eyeshadow and as you can see both brushes provide decent colour pay off, although the Mac one does give a slightly more intense colour I would say. From the swatch you can also see how much more eyeshadow you can pack on with the Mac brush, which really enables for that effortless application of product. For a high street item The Body Shop's offering is more than adequate and definitely a good option for a budget buy.

 

At half the price of the MAC 239 brush (currently retailing £21) The Body Shop's eyeshadow brush (currently retailing £9) is definitely the high street answer and a good duplicate for its higher end Mac equivalent. In terms of preferance I do have to say I prefer the Mac brush because it does just give that slightly better application although I wouldn't say that the difference between the two is too huge - apart from the price perhaps?!

 

 QOTD: Have you tried either of these eyeshadow brushes?

 



Real Techniques Nic's Picks Brush Set Review

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Real Techniques seriously know how to do makeup brushes. Most of my collection consists of RT brushes as the quality is amazing and they are just so affordable. Now it goes without saying that the beauty world was going to swoon over the latest, silver limited edition release of makeup brushes Nic's Picks, but I swooned pretty hard and couldn't even wait for these to make their way to Boots so made a cheeky Escentual order a couple of weeks ago. These arrived super quickly and I even got them in time for my holiday which made me very happy indeed. The set includes five brushes and three of which are exclusive to the set and the brush which excited me most had to be the cheek brush, however after using these solidly for a few weeks now I can honestly say that I'm massively impressed by every single one.

The duo-fibre face brush designed for the application of lighter products just didn't really work for me with powder - I didn't get on with it for some reason but when used with my Nars Tinted Moisturiser it was an absolute dream, the soft bristles effortlessly sweep the product across my face so evenly and flawlessly. I know the brush is meant for powder but honestly try it with a BB cream or tinted moisturiser and you will see exactly what I mean! The first set exclusive is the cheek brush, which as I mentioned above was the brush I was most looking forward to using and it didn't disappoint - its honestly the perfect sized brush for blush and I can see it replacing my RT blush brush already.

Another exclusive to the set is the angled shadow brush, which is another brush I've been loving as its the most perfect size to fit into the crease of your eye and because its so soft it blends product beautifully. I know that I'm going to get so much use out of this brush as I don't have anything remotely similar. I've been enjoying the base shadow brush used with concealer and then the last set exclusive the eyeliner brush I've actually been using to soften the look of my eyebrows as I'm not really a big eyeliner wearer but still want to get use out of it.

The set is easily one of my favourites from RT so far, I absolutely love the silver handles although my one and only grumble has to be that I've noticed that the wording is already starting to rub off on a couple of brushes which is a bit annoying. I can see past the wording rubbing off the brush handles purely because the brushes are so lovely to use and as always make applying products so much easier and give you that flawless finish.

QOTD: Will you be purchasing Nic's Picks?

 

 

Real Techniques Marvellous Mini Brush Trio Review

Are these just the cutest makeup brushes you've ever clapped your eyes on or what? Relatively new in to the Real Techniques line is this marvellous mini trio of brushes. Now I should probably begin by adding that I am a complete sucker for anything 'mini' - just say the word miniature and I'm pretty much sold. However don't be fooled into thinking that I didn't give these brushes a fair trial before writing this post because I was actually a little sceptical about these when I first looked at them in the packet. My first thoughts were that these looked too tiny to grip and apply makeup with properly. Some miniature products are just gimmicky versions of the real things and I hoped and prayed that it wouldn't be the same for these little cuties. Let me say now that I should have known better than to question RT, after all they haven't failed us yet have they ladies? I am besotted with this trio. So lets talk about these in a bit more detail shall we.

So I thought I'd start off by actually talking about the size of them because that is what is so unique and different about this trio after all. They really are pretty small compared to your standard RT brush, I've included this picture above as it compares just how tiny these brushes are as they sit neatly in the palm of my hand. As I mentioned before, my initial concern was that these would be a little too small to actually work with, however they still feel really comfortable to work with as the actual piece that you hold is a decent enough size to manage all your tasks with - they don't feel like they are slipping out your hand or anything like that.

The set includes a mini face brush, a mini foundation brush and a mini shading brush however as with all RT brushes, their functions really can be very multi purpose. Now I think that the idea of these little brushes is to provide a neat and compact alternative to your everyday brushes for the avid travellers out there. As we all know, makeup brushes can take up quite a lot of space in your makeup bags - but alas not these. Not only are these miniatures obviously shorter than your normal brush but the bristles are also more closely packed together meaning that these fit perfectly in a makeup bag without bulking it up like a conventional brush would. Somehow these brushes are shorter and more compact but still manage to perform their jobs brilliantly.

With my upcoming holiday in mind and for the sake of this review I wanted to find out: can I get by using just these three brushes? And by that I mean would this trio cover you brush wise for the duration of say a weeks holiday? My honest opinion is that if you wanted to be quite minimal with your makeup and brush packing, that this trio is an awesome addition to have. I know that when I go away in September I have a 15kg allowance so I have to go fairly easy on the amount I'm taking and I know that these are going to be amazing!

Firstly, the face brush (the pink one) is quite literally like the baby version of our beloved expert face brush. The bristles are quite dense meaning that you can use this to apply your liquid foundation with and it will give you excellent coverage. This blends foundation like a dream and produces a flawless finish. The expert face brush is my favourite brush to apply foundation with, and so having a cute mini version of it is so awesome. But this mini face brush can also do so much more, for example I have been using this to apply powder and blush with too - its actually a really good size for blush as it glides excellently against the apples of your cheek. Perfect.

The mini foundation brush is great for applying concealer and highlighter, I think out of the three this one is my least favourite and the least multifunctional brush. To be honest the only thing I would use this for would be to highlight the underneath of my eye or my brow bone, however its still quite a necessary job and I'm glad its part of the set. Last but not least we have the tiniest brush of the three and that is the mini shading brush. I think I actually prefer the mini version of this to the full size, the bristles are quite dense but still fluffy so you can get away with using this to both pack on shadow and also blend it out. Other things you could use this brush for would be to cover little blemishes with concealer and also if push came to shove it could probably be used on the lips too to apply lipstick! Talk about multifunctional products ?

 Here the brushes are lined up next to their big sisters - aren't they just so cute?! As you can see they are very similar in shape but just on a much smaller scale. I know that the mini face brush is supposedly the smaller version of the expert face brush but I also think it is similar in shape to the multi-task brush in the way it subtly tapers round the sides, plus they are both pink!

Overall I am completely in love with this mini trio, they are cute but most importantly they deliver that excellent standard that we have learned to expect from the Real Techniques brand. If you really wanted to be minimal on packing you could totally get away with just these three brushes in your makeup bag for a holiday. To be honest I doubt I will really take too many more brushes on my holiday when I go away as these do serve a whole array of purposes and will also save me a hell of a lot of space! And if you're not going on holiday I think these would make a perfect addition to keep in your everyday makeup bag for touch ups on the go.

Once again, nice job Real Techniques!

 

Will you be trying this set from RT? What are your thoughts on 'mini' brushes?

Real Techniques Retractable Lip Brush Review

 

Retractable Lipstick Brush | Real Techniques | £7.99 | Link
 

In the ever popular world of makeup brushes I think that lipstick brushes are a bit of an unsung hero. Right from the beginning of my love affair with lipstick I have used a brush to help apply it, so when I heard about a RT one I was very excited to try it out. If you caught my recent beauty haul you will have seen that I picked this brush up in Boots with their 3 for 2 offer.

 

 Real Techniques just know how to get makeup brushes perfectly right, don't they? The fact that this brush is pink instantly adds to the appeal for me, visually its gorgeous and stands out from any other plain black lipstick brushes I have ever tried and plus this means you can find it in an instant in your makeup bag. Another marvellous quality of this brush is that there is no mess thanks to the clever little retractable cover that all three of the new RT brushes have been released with. The brush itself does a fantastic job in helping you apply lipstick perfectly, the tapered bristles are firm enough so that you can line your lips but also smoothly cover larger areas as well. This creates a perfect application of lipstick so quickly and once your done simply pop the lid on and your safe from any unexpected lipstick marks.

 

Obviously there are some formula's of lipstick that are very quick and easy to apply without the use of a lipstick brush for example lustre lipsticks from MAC that just glide effortlessly across your lips, however for those that are a little more high maintenance like satin or matte lipsticks, this retractable lip brush is so, so handy to create a gorgeous definition of the lips. The RT lipstick brush helps produce a smooth and defined application of lipstick to the mouth and should be a must have tool for the avid lipstick lover, in my opinion.

 

If you haven't used a lipstick brush before I definitely recommend picking up this one from RT, it will transform the way you put on lipstick by defining your lips and generally providing a neat and precise application. You can see how much I adore these brushes as I've already got two ;)

 

Will you be picking this new brush up from RT?