Real Techniques Archives | My Women Stuff

Save & Splurge: Comparing the Hakuhodo and Chanel Retractable brushes and affordable Mini Travel-sized face brushes

May 15, 2019 Paris B 8 Comments

After my rant about the retractable (but not) brush from Guerlain a few days ago, I was reminded of a reader request. Someone had requested my thoughts on the Chanel Les Pinceaux de Chanel Retractable Highlighter Brush as compared to the Hakuhodo Retractable Brush that I bought as a souvenir from Japan last year.

hakuhodo retractable brush, chanel les pinceaux de Chanel retractable highlighter brush

I’d kept the post at the back of my mind, intending to write about it, but never quite getting round to it for various reasons. Well, let us remedy that today! 😀

As these brushes also make good travel brushes, I will also show you a few other small/mini brushes that I use for travel purposes, or that are portable. They are affordable so stop cringing! LOL! 😀

Step-by-step tutorial on how to achieve flawless base makeup, with expert tips by Felix Nguyen of Bobbi Brown

April 10, 2017 Paris B 20 Comments

If there’s one thing I particularly love about blogging and what I do, is the incredible opportunities I’ve had to meet with, talk to, and pick the brains of makeup artists, skincare founders and experts in the industry. It never gets old for me, and there’s always something new to learn.

It’s no secret that I love prying behind and digging deep into the different aspects of beauty, makeup and skincare, and I love it when some brands recognise that and give me the opportunity to do so (for better or for worse).

Recently, during the official launch of the new Bobbi Brown store at Pavilion KL (now on the 3rd Floor) I had the opportunity to catch up with one of my favourite makeup artists out there – Felix Nguyen, Regional Education & Artistry Manager of Bobbi Brown Asia-Pacific, who I unfortunately ambushed with a few hard questions about the brand. Oops! To his credit, he didn’t get flustered, and was quite open to share. The other pro makeup artist I love is Junior Cedeño of Dior, who single-handedly changed and cemented my foundation application technique for life.

It helps that they’re both hot (eye-candy helps you concentrate 😛 ). Unlike many makeup artists I’ve met, who are a little more distant and sometimes more aloof, Felix is friendly, and as generous with his makeup and skincare tips as he is with his boyish grins. Ok, I promise I’ll stop simpering after this 😛

So, while I was there, Felix did a little base makeup demonstration and I love learning new things about base makeup, so I was taking down copious notes. Since some of you on Instagram were so kind to compliment me on my generosity with sharing knowledge, I decided I’d be generous again this time. Ahem 😛

But here’s the rub. As a friend and I observed, while being back-benchers for the day, hiding behind the crowd who were there, mostly to get up close with the cute makeup artist (oops! there I go again!), the model had great skin to start with. Naturally, the thin layers of makeup, as Felix was explaining should be used, combined with his expert skills, would render her flawless without too much effort. How about picking one of us mortals, who have blemishes and all, instead? 😛

I was thinking about that, as I was writing up my post about the base makeup tips I’d picked up. So I decided I’d do you a step-by-step, to show you how he demonstrated how you can get a flawless base, but I’d use me – imperfections and all, and my rudimentary non-makeup artist skills. I really wanted to see if his tips would work for those of us at home, so I only attempted this once as you see here – without a lot of expectations 😀 It could have gone remarkably wrong.

The Makeup Brush Collective Part 1 : Brushes I use for the face – Liquid Foundation and Powder

January 9, 2017 Paris B 22 Comments

I received some eagle-eyed queries not long ago about makeup brushes and why I’d stopped writing about them. Well, it’s not for want of owning them. I am still mad about my makeup brushes, in particular Japanese made natural hair brushes, but I’ve reached my optimum satisfaction point – anything after this would be diminishing utility <- economics! argh! LOL

So, I’ve stopped buying and ogling the beautifully crafted Japanese makeup brushes (my wallet thanks me profusely), and am quite content with what I own. Also, I own A LOT. It’s embarrassing for someone who isn’t even a makeup artist, nor wears that much makeup daily. So, instead of pulling them out one by one to feature here on the blog, I’m going to talk about makeup brushes as a collective.

For this week, I’ll be featuring makeup brushes I use most often for face, eyes and cheeks. I’ll show you the type of brush, so you can find other options out there if you like, to see if the type of brush suits your makeup style. I’ll also tell you in gist how I work with these makeup brushes and why I use them and why I like them, if course.

We’ll kick off with makeup brushes for the face and lest I’m left to do all the talking, please let me know what your favourites are in this category too! 🙂

Contemplating if the Real Techniques Bold Metals brushes are Essentials or just hype

February 15, 2016 Paris B 12 Comments

Real Techniques makeup brushes are among the most popular brushes among beauty buffs, primarily because they are affordable and more importantly, function very well. While I don’t own nor use any of their eye brushes, I do enjoy using their face brushes for blush and foundation. They’re soft and dense and do a good job, while being fairly easy on the pocket.

I suppose it was a matter of time before a new luxe line appeared. I remember the buzz when the new Real Techniques Bold Metals range of brushes was launched. They were pretty to look at, but much to everyone’s surprise, not light on the pocket. That resulted in a rather polarised opinion on these brushes.

While some loved them, and how pretty they looked, others felt that they weren’t up to mark and were too expensive.

I was curious about them for a while, but as with everything from Real Techniques, I had to wait until they were available on iHerb before I would buy, as I’ve found them to be more affordable than buying locally. I believe I might have gotten them when iHerb has their regular discounts on beauty products, but I can’t remember for sure, because it was a while ago. I do remember that I got free shipping by regular post, which takes up to a month to arrive to me in Kuala Lumpur from the USA, but I’m usually not fussed because regular airmail post usually escapes Customs’ scrutiny, unlike the faster DHL option, and that is more important to me. Besides, I was in no hurry. They were brushes – I have drawers full of brushes! LOL 😛

I happened to come across the Real Techniques Bold Metals Essentials collection, which is a set of 3 brushes – #103 Angled Powder brush, #200 Oval Shadow brush and #300 Tapered Blush brush. I thought it would be a good way to test out the brushes from this collection, and to see if they were worth spending money on. So, are they? 😀

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