Back in July I was lucky enough to attend the Melbourne launch event for the Real Techniques bold metals collection.

It may seem fairly late that I am only just doing my review of the brushes now, but I wanted to wait until they were available in Priceline and when I used them a bit. I can’t really do a review if I haven’t tried them out for myself!

Real Techniques brushes are great quality brushes that are moderately priced, but with the bold Metals collection the price is more what you expect to pay for brushes from a high-end brand. The overall quality and craftsmanship reflects this.

The synthetic brush fibers are not only glued into the ferrule, but also hand tied with string, making sure the brushes will last longer and have minimal, or no shedding (I haven’t used them long enough to see if they will shed at all). The handles are heavier than regular brushes and have flat edges, so you are able to put them down on a table/vanity without worrying about them rolling off onto the floor.

The brushes are colour coded depending on their intended use. Gold: Base (triangle foundation & arched powder), Rose Gold: Finish (flat contour & tapered blush), Silver: Eyes (oval shadow, pointed crease & angled liner).

Base:
*100 Arched Powder- This brush was designed to use with pressed or loose powder. I have used this brush with loose translucent powder to set my make up. It is so soft and holds product well, I like to tap off excess powder before applying it to my face, so it doesn’t appear too caked on.

*101 Triangle Foundation- Designed with flat sides to cover large areas of the face and angled edges to contour around eyes and nose. This was my least favourite brush from the collection. I tried using it to apply my foundation, but I normally buff in or stipple my foundation with a rounded brush. It was great for applying where round brushes have trouble reaching around my nose and eyes though.

Eyes:

*200 Oval Shadow- Designed for all-over lid application and blending. This brush applies shadow well and picks up product well, I used it to blend my crease too.

*201 Pointed Crease- Designed for achieving the perfect smoky eye and applying shadow to the crease of your eye lids. I haven’t tried creating a smoky eye look with this brush yet, but I have used it to apply a darker eye shadow shade to the outer crease, to create some definition. I like that it’s pointed because you can get right in the crease without the shadow getting all over your lids. With it’s small tip, it would also be great to use with concealer to cover any blemishes you may have.

*202 Angled Liner- designed to apply liner close to lash line. Most of the time I use liquid liners, but I do like to sometimes use gel liner also. This brush is great for getting in close to your last line and for applying a little gel liner between each lash to make your lashes appear fuller. It could also be used to add highlighter to your cupid’s bow (above the middle of your lips)…obviously you would clean it thoroughly before using it near your lips.

Finish:

*300 Tapered Blush- Designed for highlighting cheeks. I intend on trying this with highlighter, but so far I have just used it for blending my blush. This was a great brush to buff out my blush so it wasn’t so harsh after applying it.

*301 Flat Contour- Designed to contour and shade, with it’s flat and narrow head. I have never actually contoured my face before, apart from some highlighter. I have used this with highlighter on the top of my cheek bones and it’s great for applying blush (before blending with the Tapered Blush brush)…I will definitely give contouring/shading a go with it soon! To be honest, I’m scared my face will end up looking like I have mud on it! Haha

Overall I am pleased with the quality of the brushes. However if I had purchased them myself, I would have only invested in the brushes that are different to what I already own or need. My picks are the pointed crease brush, tapered blush brush and the arched powder brush.

The Real Techniques bold metals collection is quite pricey in Australia, RRP $39-$65 so I suggest only buying brushes that you will think you will get the most use out of. They can be purchased from the Aussie Real Techniques site or from Priceline. (Priceline sometimes has a sale on RT)

Have you tried any of the Real Techniques Bold Metals brushes? what do you think?

XO XO
Evelyn

* products marked with an asterisk have been provided for review. All opinions expressed are honest and unbiased. Please refer to my disclosure/terms of use tab above for more info.