Tooling up with Real Techniques Duo-Fiber Collection Brushes

When you are looking for the flawless, streak-free finish, you need to invest in proper makeup brushes as the application of a product  is often only as good as the tool used. It used to be that you have to look high-end brands to get good quality brushes but there are now value-for-money options that does equally as good if not sometime better job.

Take the latest brush set from Real Techniques. Created by a make-up artist and you-tube beauty guru, Samantha Chapman (or Pixiwoo as we've endearingly known her), who knows tools of the trade can make or break a job sometimes so it's fantastic that she has created a line of great value duo-fibre brush set of three that makes achieving a flawless air-brushed look easy and fool-proof.

Made by synthetic duo fibres of thicker and short black to add density to the brush with longer and finer hair optic hairs to give to make blending light work. The hair on the products did not shed on me, unlike real animal hair duo fibre brushes that I own from MAC and Hakuhodo, which sheds when used with liquid products. They are also slightly firmer, but not scratchy (at least not the set I have as I've seen online comments that the eye brush bristles can be too stiff), making it easier to blend liquid and cream based products to achieve that airbrushed look.

The face brush is a flattened round shape that is tapered at the tip to create a dome shape. It is perfect for very light weight application of pigmented powders – think bright coloured blushes.  On liquid foundations, I  dot the product on skin and then stipple it in so that the results  like it was achieved with an airbrush– ie, even and diffused, giving me that perfect coverage that looks good even under a magnified mirror.
On cream based foundation I apply the product on my hand and the finish off the final blending with the duo fibre face brush to achieve the airbrushed look.

The contour brush is great for working in tricky areas like around the nose and near the eyes where the face brush would be too big for precise work.  It is also perfect for contouring with a matte bronzer to create that killer high-cheekbones look.

Using the duo-fibre brush with a Bobbi Brown shimmer brick to create the diffused glow on the face

The eye shadow brush is amazing for blending and crease work and it helps me to achieve an amazing smokey eye look every time, I even use it to smoke out my under eye area using the very tip of the brush.

I’ve now incorporated these brushes into my everyday routine and it is now a welcomed addition to my family of makeup brushes.  If you don’t yet have duo brushes in your beauty ‘toolbox’ then I highly recommend you look into these versatile and value-for-money brushes

Real Techniques Duo Fibre Collection – RRP A$49.95 is limited Edition and available at Priceline and online at the Beauty Office. Those in the US can try the Real techniques online store here.

Cleaning Makeup Brushes

If you haven't noticed, I'm quite a bit of a makeup brush fanatic and have over the years, amassed a sizable collection of brushes.

I still add to that collection on a periodic basis just so I can have many of the same type of brush and I don't have to spot clean it every time I use the brush for different colours. But at the end of the day, brushes need to be properly cleaned to remove from it, the product build up and the oil and sebum that gets transferred from the skin to the brush during use.

As I have a lot of brushes to wash, I tend to give them a deep cleanse every fortnight if I've used them frequently and have run out of clean brushes during that time. If I haven't (or am a bit lazy and don't have the time), I'd clean them every 3 weeks in bulk and the whole process of washing and towel drying can take up to an hour.

Freshly washed brushes on a towel

I use all 3 of the below products to do the actual washing of my brushes.

(1) - Clairols Herbal Essence Replenishing Shampoo for coloured/dry/damaged hair. I find that this shampoo doesn't have the silicones that many other shampoos contains, instead it has natural oils to help soften and condition the natural bristles of the brushes. Its something I use on my hair already so I don't need to go out and buy another shampoo for my brushes.

(2) - B&C AHA Cleansing Oil. I use this facial cleanser to help cut through the grease in brushes used with emollient products like foundations and creme blushes. The oil cleansing theory for your skin works the same for the brush bristles and are particularly effective with synthetic brushes which tend to contain foundation and concealers product build ups. 

(3) - Dove Cleansing Bar. I only use this for white bristled brushes where even though clean, the hairs are still stained. I would wipe the wet brushes on the cleansing bar and work it into a nice lather in my palm before rinsing out. This seems to get rid of any stains 99% of the time. I find the MAC fibre optic hairs (eg. the MAC 187 or 131 brush) and white hair facial brushes are the hardest to get back to the pristine white conditions.

 

How I clean my brushes

• Wet brush hairs with water and avoiding wetting the metal ferrule, squirt some #1 to clean the brush. If it is a foundation or concealer brush, squirt a pump of product #1 & product #2 liquid on brush and then brush the hairs up and down the palm of my hand to work up a lather. 
• Squeeze out the excess water from the bristles to remove the product build up. Wash it with a bit more water and repeat with more cleansing liquid again if required until when the brush runs clear when rinsed under running water. If the bristles are still looking stained at this stage, this is where I give it another lather using product #3. 
• Place brush bristles down on a basin/tub lined with a bath towel to soak up extra water. Continue washing other brushes. 

As you can see, my deep cleansing method is quite intensive but it is the most thorough way and it definitely gets all the brushes looking and feeling brand new again. Face brushes generally take the longest to clean whilst the smaller eye brushes can be cleaned very quickly and don't need repeated washes. 

After all my brushes are washed, I take each one and wipe it back and forth across the towel to remove excess moisture and wipe the ferrule down before lying them flat on top of another dry towel to air dry. Because excess moisture is removed with the towel drying process, the smaller brushes are usually dried and can be used again in less than 6 hours time whereas the larger denser brushes (the Sigma HD brushes or kabuki brushes) can take up to 2 days before being completely dry. 

I usually don't use brush guards when drying my brushes because I find that it slows down the drying process but I do use them to reshape the brush when the brushes are almost dried.

So that's how I deep cleanse my brushes. If you have any questions about cleansing makeup brushes or you would like to see a review on a particular brush soon, please send in your requests.

B&C AHA Oil Cleanser can be purchased online at Sasa.com for US$10.70

Review: Shu Uemura 18G Foundation Brush

For the past 3 years I've been a mineral foundation girl and have been a MAC kabuki brush fan. But in the last 8 or so months, I've stop using powdered mineral foundation and have reverted back to liquids.

Why, I hear you ask?
The reason was simple, I was getting really flakey skin with use of prescriptive Retin-A to fade scars and mineral foundations was just making my flakes more obvious and pretty much giving me downright grief so I gave up using it all together one day.

These days you'll find on me slapping on Revlon Colorstay, Bobbi Brown Luminous Moisturising foundation or the cream based Cover Creme from Dermablend depending on my mood and the coverage I'm looking for. The thing that doesn't change though when I'm using liquids is my foundation brush.

Now most makeup artists rave on and on about flat synthetic foundation brushes like the MAC 190 brush for foundation application. I honestly don't know what they are on about because I find unless you are using with a light and fluid foundation, these foundation brushes leave streaks all over the face and don't make it the easiest job to do blending work.

Then there was the MAC 187 stippling brush craze which was all the rage 2 years ago for achieving the flawless airbrush look. Sure it does give you that result, but the stippling motion is very time consuming and when you're not in luck, you may find yourself having to pick up all the hair fibres that fall onto your face afterwards.

These days,  flatop brushes like the previously reviewed Sigma F80 or MAC 130 are the bees knees and are getting all the air time on Youtube and beauty blogs everywhere.

Today I want to rave on about another brush that does an even better and faster job of liquid foundation blending work; honestly - I don't know how I survived all those years without it.


Shu Uemura 18 Goat Foundation Brush

Hair close up

• The first thing that surprises me is the size and shape of the brush. Seriously it is no more than 3cm wide and 2.5cm high, looks more like flattened mini blush brush, is quite thick from the side view and looks like no foundation brush I've ever used before. 
• Handmade from superfine uncut white goat hair which is quite densely packed, it feels ah-mazingly soft on skin - like seriously, it was as if I was being caressed by angel kisses when I'm using this brush. 
• Don't underestimate this little baby just because of its size, it takes me less time to blend my whole face with it than using the Sigma F80 brush. This brush gave me poreless airbrushed perfection skin in about 1 minute flat - for real! I would dot foundation all over my face with my finger and then use quick side to side wiping motion to blend the product into my face. I attribute the amazing results to its wonderful natural fibres being able to spread the liquid products around in a better manner than synthetic fibres.
• Being made of white goat hair, I was thinking this thing would stain like hell after use, but the amazing thing was washing it was so easy, it was like washing off powdered products rather than liquids and each time after washing, my brush would appear brand new. Even my MAC white brushes don't come anywhere close to looking this new after a wash (they tend to have this light yellow stain after being washed) 
• The other great thing is that it's quick drying and holds its shape well; I would wash it late in the evening and it would be ready for me to use again the early next morning. 
• I have experienced very minimal shedding during use and in washes. On rare occasions, (like every 10th time I'm using the brush), I will get a single stray hair on my face and very rarely do I see any fallout during washes.

Foundation brushes side by side - 18G and F80 are dirty as I haven't washed them

Top view to show brush fibres and head sizes

close up of brush head - added in MAC 187 for size comparison purposes

I don't really use any other brushes for foundation any more after trying out the Shu Uemura brush. I still use the F80 for cream based foundation as the hairs are much denser, so spreads the thicker cream products better than Shu Uemura. Other than that, this powerful little thing has pretty much made all my other foundation brushes redundant.

For those of you who haven't invested in a foundation brush, I say skip everything and jump straight to this. It is an investment no doubt, but a very worthy one.

Rating: 10/10. RRP US$39. Available in Australia at selected David Jones stores at higher prices. I purchased mine online from the US.

Review: Sigma F80 (ss197) synthetic flatop kabuki & buffer brush comparisons

Having the right tools can enhance the joy of makeup applications emotionally and and improve your skills technically. The good ones can tame even some of the most difficult-to-work-with products and make them look good (or at least decent) on your skin.

Makeup brushes are one of the most essential makeup tools, particularly foundation brushes as they are used to create a flawless canvas base for your face and and sets up the application of colours over it. Get your base application wrong and you may well end up with blotchy cheek colours and uneven bronzer applications which accentuates imperfections rather than blending them out.

Always on the hunt for a good tool, I recently purchased the Sigma flat top synthetic kabuki: F80 (aka ss197, it's previous name) face brush to compare with my other buffer brushes.

hairs slightly dis-coloured as I have been using it

Star Qualities

• feels uber soft on skin - the best feature of synthetic brushes. It also means this brush will not soak up liquids so you use less product during application.
• circular head of dense short hair gives a full yet slightly stiff brush which gives the great buffing qualities on liquids and powders. 
• does a stellar job in applying and buffing liquids for a flawless natural finish.
• foundation looks bonded to skin in the most seamless way. It does an ok job with powder application as it is too dense to apply sheerly but is great for finishing jobs to buff and polish out the powdery cakey look.
• Makes hard-to-blend products spread with ease.
• weight of long wooden lacquered handle feels comfortable on hand and gives good control with buffing products onto skin.
• Does not shed.

Gripes

• Takes a long time to dry after washing due to density of hair. You might need to buy 2 if you plan to use it everyday and want to wash it regularly.
• flat head surface can deposit powders too heavily and so can create a cakey look without a lot of product buffing. To avoid this, swirl the product into the head of the brush and tap of excess so that no visible powder particles shows up on brush.
• tends to lose its circular shape easily and needs regular re-shaping - does not affect brush application though.

Comparisons with other buffing brushes

with EDM flatop kabuki: the Everyday Minerals (EDM) brush is very similar in shape and head size, and although EDM is a dense synthetic brush, the Sigma one is denser. The bristles are longer on the EDM so it is slightly more floppy and more suited for powdered products (my HG for loose mineral foundations). EDM's handle is also shorter, which lends it more for use like a traditional kabuki brush.

with Bare Escentuals heavenly face brush: this is the most similar to the Sigma F80 brush, in terms of shape, hair length and density. B.E is however, slightly bigger in size (the heavenly blush brush is more comparable in size) and made of natural hairs so it's not as soft as synthetic hairs (it's not scratchy either). It works well with both powder and liquid applications and for blending/buffing especially if you have over-applied your coloured products. This is a far superior brush to the Sigma brush for its versatility and would be my desert island brush.

with the MAC 130 duo fibre buffer brush: this is a much smaller brush and is made with goat hair and longer synthetic hairs. This brush does an excellent job with both powder and liquids and gives a seamless blended look. This brush would also allow you to build your coverage up slowly without it looking too cakey. Due to its small brush size, it does take longer and more effort to use for the whole face and is probably better suited for use around contours of  the nose, mouth and around eyes.

top view for different brush head sizes. Sigma is 3cm across

with the MAC 109 brush: this is again a small contour brush with a slightly dome head. Made of soft dyed black goat hair, it is great for contouring and highlighting given its size. Unless you want to spend extra time picking out hairs off your face, it is best left for use with powdered or creme products as it becomes a crazy shedding animal when used with liquids.

with MAC 182 buffer brush: this is a larger dome shaped brush so already would give a different application effect than a flat top brush. Like the 109, it is made of dyed natural goat hair so is better at grabbing powder products than synthetic brushes for buildable applications. It does a good job with loose and pressed powders but tends to shed when used with liquid products. I reserve this for powder uses only as it gives a very diffused finish that is easy to build up to the coverage I want. A better comparison would be with the MAC 180 white goat hair flat top buffer brush but I don't own that so cannot do a direct comparison.

top view showing fibre texture and size

All brushes stood up well against shedding. Other than the stray hairs from manufacture, I've not experience any hair loss on the Sigma or the EDM (and I've owned that for over 2 years now). B.E did shed a hair or two occasionally but nothing that other natural hair brushes don't do and is not a issue. MAC brushes I have found to be a hit or miss with shedding - the same type brush can shed for one and hardly at all for another (MAC really need to get their quality control under order) - fortunately, my MAC 182 and 130 do not shed (sadly the same can't be said for the 109).

Final Thoughts
The Sigma brush is a great addition to my already vast makeup brush collection and it gets a lot of love from me. It's fast becoming my favourite and only go-to liquid/cream foundation brush for application and polishing work. It puts the MAC 109 brush to shame for liquids. For powders, I would use other brushes just because I have other better tools at my disposal but if I were not to have other options, I wouldn't complain too much about having to use it for powders.

Rating: 9/10.  I ♥ this brush for liquid/cream foundations.
RRP US$16 at Sigma Makeup Online