I’ve been wanting to tell you about the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush for a while now, but kept putting it off. Recently, when I shared the super efficient liquid foundation application tutorial, quite a few of you expressed an interest in using or owning a face brush, and specifically, in the Shiseido Perfect Foundation brush which I had been raving about before. If I’m to be honest, its not the most expensive brush you’ll buy, at just RM95 and it’ll last you a long long time.
But I know some of you operate on a budget, so here’s a good alternative for a face/foundation brush – the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. Before I send you on a wild goose chase (because I do like this brush a lot too!) I must tell you that I have no idea where its available locally or if its available at Shins where some other Real Techniques brushes have been spotted. I’ll tell you below where its available online but if you know whether it can be found here, please share the info!
Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman is a range of makeup brushes created with one half of the sisters running the Youtube/beauty blogger/makeup artists channel, Pixiwoo. I don’t personally watch Youtube beauty videos but I have watched some Pixiwoo videos and they are easy to follow and understand. None of the rambling you get with some other vloggers. If I were to do video, I’d ramble on so long, I’d forget what the subject matter was. Rather like what my posts are like :P But I digress! (as usual) What is it about the RT Expert Face Brush then?
At the height of the raves when the Real Techniques line was first launched, I purchased a set of Real Techniques Core Collection brushes which come as a set of 4 face brushes. The yellow aluminium bodies tell you at a glance that these brushes are face brushes. Very helpful colour coordination, that!
The only brush from the Core Collection that I ever really used or liked, was the Buffing Brush. Its why I never blogged about the Core Collection. I wasn’t terribly impressed despite all the raves.
The Buffing Brush was meant for powder foundation or mineral foundation and as the name implies, is to be used in a buffing motion, to give a flawless, full coverage finish. I however, would use it to apply liquid foundation, or to buff or blend liquid foundation and it works well!
The synthetic bristles are soft against the skin and the head is dense enough yet pliable enough to give a smooth, even finish to any foundation you apply on skin.
So, when I came upon the stand alone Expert Face Brush, I was a little curious if it was similar. It did look rather similar. At the princely sum of US$9 I just had to pick it up and give it a go.
Well, colour me impressed!
The Expert Face Brush is nothing like the Buffing Brush so if you are thinking of owning both, go right ahead. The head of the brush is more dense and tightly packed, it is structured to be a little more flat, and the shorter bristles mean that there is less give and its less pliable. The slightly flatter structure mean its easier to buff and blend product and to get into the crevices around the nose and eyes etc.
The synthetic bristles are soft and dense and it doesn’t hurt your skin even if you buff product in. I have tried the 5-line liquid foundation application technique with this brush and it works a treat and here’s the deal, is even quicker than using a flat paddle brush! So far, this is my favourite brush to use alongside the flat top foundation brushes that I own.
Here are some comparison photographs to show you the differences between the Expert Face Brush and the Buffing Brush. You can see that the Buffing Brush is rounder and the bristles are longer. It is also less dense and works well for liquid or powder foundation, giving a lovely flawless finish.
The Expert Face Brush doesn’t work as well for powder foundation, but it works very well for liquid or creamy foundation, similarly giving an even, flawless finish to skin. Used with the application technique I showed you before, this, its quick and quite flawless.
The upside of these brushes, price aside, is that I find them much easier to clean than the Shiseido Perfect Foundation brush, which is a pain in the @$$ :P For me, I find that as the brush isn’t as dense as the Shiseido one, its easier to get into the bristles and clean them. The smooth synthetic bristles are also easy to wash and dry.
One more difference between the Expert Face Brush and the Buffing Brush lies in the base. The Expert Face Brush is a standalone brush and quite literally, can stand alone. The base is widened so you can stand it unassisted on your dresser. Not quite sure why you’d do so, but you can if you want. The brushes that come in the set don’t have this widened base and therefore are not stand alone (hur hur :P )
So in a nutshell, get this if you’re on a budget. Or even if you’re not on a budget. Its a good brush to have in your arsenal :)
In a nutshell
The Real Techniques Expert Face Brush is a synthetic brush made for application of liquid or cream foundation. The dense slightly domed brush head makes it easy to apply and blend foundation in a buffing motion, and the soft dense bristles give skin a flawless appearance with minimal to no streaking if you do it right. Its an excellent brush, both in terms of use, application and price and worthy to have in anyone’s brush arsenal. Some people have mentioned that their brushes shed but I didn’t experience any shedding despite having washed it numerous times. Maybe I got lucky.
Pros: Bristles and soft against skin, Light handle yet well weighted when held, Bright body colour makes the brush easy to spot in your collection, Dense bristles buff product well giving a smooth, flawless appearance, Affordable
Cons: Not easily available
Who will like this: Anyone who needs a liquid/cream foundation brush, Anyone on a budget
Now for the $64,000 question. Where is this available?
As I said, I don’t know about local availability. If it is, please let us know where you’ve seen it. Some other RT brushes including the sets are available in Shins (I know only of a store in MidValley Megamall). Depending on where you are in the world, you can find a list of places to buy Real Techniques brushes here. Not listed, is iherb.com where you can pick up a brush or two while shopping for your health supplements (You can use my iherb code MPW213 to get 5% off your order) :) Also note that I’ve realised that Real Techniques brushes sold on UK websites are substantially more expensive than on iherb so if you can, buy off iherb. I bought mine from HQHair which I no longer recommend for shipping to Malaysia because shipping used to be reasonably priced and even free but they now charge an astronomical wallet-busting sum of £18.99! So avoid at all costs.
Do you own the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush? Have you used any other Real Techniques brushes and do you like them?
I have the Core Collection (which I find meh) and the Blush Brush (also meh because its far too big) and this Expert Face Brush and the last one is the best of all I’ve tried so far. Definitely hits or misses with the brand. Let me know if you want an overview of the other Real Techniques brushes I have :)
Paris B
Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Expert Face Brush Price: RRP US$9 Availability: List of websites here and also iherb.com (Use code MPW213 to get 5% off your order!) and locally possibly in Shins
Oooh, I got this brush a couple of weeks back but have yet to test it out properly as I couldn’t make up my mind whether to use it with foundations or liquid/cream blushes! Now after reading your review, I can’t wait to try it out with liquid/cream foundations. ;)
Btw, why do you say it doesn’t work well with powder foundation? I used it briefly with a powder foundation once (for touch up) and thought it fared ok. When you use with liquid/cream foundation, how do you blend with this brush? Swipe outwards as with paddle brushes?
I find it a little too dense for powder foundations so I prefer the lighter Buffing brush for powder. I haven’t used brushes for powder foundation in a while because I usually just use the sponge that comes in the compact :) I use the 5 stripe method to apply all my liquid foundations these days so I’d first blend outwards and then buff in a circular motion. Hope this helps and if you haven’t seen it, the foundation application tutorial and the accompanying text will be able to show you what I mean :)
I have the core collection,blush brush,setting brush,shading brush and the expert face brush! My favorites are the expert face brush (for applying my hg EL double wear ligh,shading brush(perfect for my shiseido natural finish concealer) and the setting brush(for undereye powder and highlighter) ! I heard great reviews about the stippling brush and the powder brush.maybe i should give them a try! Btw,i finally purchased hervana thanks to u!i apply it with the RT blush brush rather than the brush it came with,and its perfect!
Woohoo! An RT Fan in the house! ;) Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the brushes you have and how you use them! Oh and you got Hervana! Did it give you Good Karma? ;)
I want to have that brush too! Unfortunately, just like Malaysia it is not locally available here in the Philippines.. Though I’ve seen a few online shops sell them, it is often sold out (proof that those are really good quality) I saw in one of Emily’s (beautybroadcast) vids an eyeliner brush that she recommended and is not the same to the one that is in the core collection.. It’s a teeny tiny standalone eyeliner brush but I’m not sure if it can stand alone too.. lol :-D
Get it from iherb, Jen :D Its so much more affordable there, they ship internationally and there are some discount coupons available around – some readers have shared too! :D
This RT expert face brush is my first foray into brush application for foundation and I feel that it is easy to use (but not entirely streak proof) and cleaning it is effortless. Also it really is multi tasking. In my frazzled state, I forgot to bring my blush brush to a friend’s wedding (I was one of the bridesmaids) and only realised this when I was halfway re-doing my makeup. So I used this to apply blush and it worked well! However I couldn’t resist the lure of Sigma flat kabuki F80 after reading all the online raves and found that I like it better for the flawless airbrush finish though it’s quite a pain to clean.
Those based in Singapore can consider buying RT brushes from http://www.under-twenty20.com or http://www.shopping-district.net or from http://www.realtechniques.com.sg
I’ll agree with you Mandy. Its not streakfree and does need some buffing to get it right especially with certain foundations. I have been using it lately with a few foundations that just don’t cut it, and I find it streaks a bit more with lighter foundations where more buffing is needed. Thanks for sharing that its useful for blush application too! Others have mentioned how helpful it is for contouring so I’m going to try both your suggestions :D Thanks!
I love my RT brushes. They are so good and affordable. Best part is no shredding after so many washes. I hardly use brushes for foundation. I only use the buffing brush for my blusher and it goes wonderfully on me. Now that say I used my buffing brush everyday for almost a year now and it still look great.
Now that you mention it, I haven’t experienced any shedding from my brushes either! Some of the lengths of the bristles are a bit uneven I find so that does bug me a little but for those prices, I guess we can’t really complain ;)
This is a very in-depth review, I wish you can review other RT brushes you have also. I swear by RT’s stippling brush in giving me flawless BB cream/tinted moisturizer application. I also have their powder brush which I love to use with finishing powder and the blush brush for highlighting, which is yes too big for blush but perfect for highlighting. :)
Hi Jel, I will try to remember to talk about the other RT brushes I own some time :) I have the stippling brush but I’m not in love with it the way everyone else seems to be. I don’t know if its just me or just me and stippling brushes – none work for me LOL! :D
Thanks for the great review! Such an affordable brush. Not like I need any more, but I want to try this one!! Haha
I use a Ecotools Buffing brush (a flat top) right now. I like it for the 5-line foundation technique, but I still get some streaks with that brush. I wonder if the RT brush is better.
I have the Shiseido Perfect Foundation Brush too, but I haven’t used it in a while… such a pain to clean. x3
You’re welcome, An :) I haven’t tried the Ecotools brush, but have you tried using it in circular motions with a lighter hand? Some brushes don’t give as good a finish, I agree and for that, you really need the Shiseido for flawless perfection :) I use the Daiso cleaner and clean it as often as I can to prevent product build up and its a lot easier to clean that way. If I leave it for a while, then its a pain :P
Actually shins got sell real techniques brushes but not all
Yep, last I checked, they sell some sets and a few individual ones but I just think the mark up is too much. Still a lot cheaper to buy them online ;)
yup, quite true. its very overprice. even the ecotools are also way too overprice. so far i have the travel essential, stippling brush n shading brush n i like the ones that i have. i feel the stippling brush is quite dense compare to the ones i own (elf studio, coastal scents n skinfood). i feel the starter kit is a total failure frm the real technique line. the structure of the brushes r just too weird.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the starter kit, Gerrine! I don’t think the shape of the brushes in that set are right either! I think their face brushes are pretty good but I haven’t tried their eyebrushes (and have no intention to) so I probably can’t really comment. I’ll take your word for it! ;)
I really like the eye brush frm the travel essential set. can apply and blend eyeshadow. the base shadow brush n deluxe crease brush frm the starter kit is way too big for our eye shape.
I love RT brushes! The quality is superb! I think for liquid or creamy base, Expert Face Brush and Buffing Brush give the same result. But Expert Face Brush can work sooo much faster though. I also own the Blush Brush, yes I agree it’s not a good blush brush, but I think it works great for setting powder, just the right amount of fluffiness. I would recommend you getting the stippling brush if you don’t already own it. It works soo amazingly for cream blushes, it’s not bad for powder ones just doesn’t stand out to me.
You’re right about that Emma – I too think the Expert Face Brush is much faster because its more dense and just works better. I do have the stippling brush but I haven’t found out how best to work it LOL I’ll have to play around with it a lot more, it seems :P
Hi Paris!
I just got my buffing brush (along with the rest of the Core set and the stippling brush) from iHerb after one month of wait (I am cheap so I opted for the $4 flat rate shipping :P), and I already owned the expert face brush.
After using both, I think I prefer the expert face brush too! As you put it so well, it is denser, shorter and stiffer compared to the more pliable buffing brush (so does that make it more toing-toing or less toing-toing?). I described the expert face brush to my friend as giving such a perfect finish that I don’t use it everyday – the world can’t handle such perfection on a daily basis. :D But that’s for evening or special occasion make-up. I do find that the buffing brush works faster as it is bigger, less stiff and as such spread foundation much faster. I mix the Revlon Colourstay with MAC Strobe Cream as my daily base (weekly quota mixed and stored in a small pot as otherwise it is too fiddly for daily morning MAD-RUSH routine). For evening make-up, I would wear the Colourstay foundation alone and buffed in with the expert face brush. Truly, truly PERFECT base.
Hi Irene, Yay for getting your brushes and yay for liking the Expert Face Brush too! :D I think it being denser makes it more toing toing on our skin haha… The Buffing Brush is much faster to use of course. I love your description to your friend “the world can’t handle such perfection on a daily basis” LOL! I’m sure it can… it might even get used to it haha :D Thanks for sharing your experience with the brush too!
i love these brushes!! :)
One of the best and most affordable around, for sure! :D
I’ve just place my order at iherb.com,
can’t wait to have my own RT brushes…
for those interested… you guys can use discount code WRH767