Brush-craze: Collective Real Techniques Brush Review

Quite some time ago I went a little nuts on the Real Techniques department of Lookfantastic. I’m always in for trying new brushes and I was feeling it that day. I ended up looking around for ages and finally I decided to order four different eye-brushes of theirs. I’ve had these brushes for a while now and I’ve been using them a ton lately. So I figured it is definitely about time for me to review them. So, today I’m going to talk about these four Real Techniques makeup brushes. So, if you’re interested in finding out whether or not these four brushes are any good or not and knowing what I like about them and what I don’t, make sure you continue reading this post!

The first brush we’re going to discuss in today’s post is the Real Techniques Concealer Brush. This isn’t necessarily an eye-brush, but I did still think it fits in this post because it’s for an area around the eye. Mostly. Anyway, by the colour of the handle you can tell from which collection the brush is. The orangy ones are from the base makeup brushes. In other words, the brushes you can use to apply foundation, powder, concealer and whatever else you could do as a base. I do really like the orange colour. This is actually one of my favourite colours in the entire Real Techniques collection because it’s such a bright and fun colour. Aside from that it’s also easy to find in my brush holder, so that’s a big plus too.

Aside from the colour of the handle this brush has some more things about it that are worth mentioning. For example the bottom part. This is made out of this rubberised plastic material. I really like the feel and the look of it. However, it does get dirty pretty easily. Mine is already covered in glitter. I tried to clean it off for the picture, but well, it’s still there.

Another thing about the brush I think is unique, is the fact that it doesn’t have that little metal thing around the top. The thing in which the brush is attached to the handle. It’s just a detail, but it is pretty unique and therefore I thought it might be worth mentioning. This creates a very sleek and smooth look and I like that.

Real Techniques Concealer Brush – €8,45

The shape of the brush isn’t exactly what you’d expect if you’re buying a concealer brush. It’s a flat brush with a slanted tip. It’s not really thick, but thick enough to use like the white part of the brush only. I do think the shape of the brush is very well thought out. I think the idea is that because it’s slightly pointy at the top, you can easily use it to blend your concealer into the inner corner of your eyes. It also makes it really easy to apply concealer around your nose-area. So even though this brush did look a little odd to me in the first place, I do think the shape of it is very unique and handy. And for me it does actually work.

However, when it comes to applying concealer I do still prefer using my fingers or my beautyblender. Especially when it comes to areas where I want it to have enough coverage. For the nose-area I do like grabbing this brush to blend it in because there it’s just about evening it out a little more. But for blending in the concealer underneath my eyes I do definitely prefer an alternative method. I feel like this brush will move the product more than a beautyblender would and I feel like it sucks up a lot of product. The beautyblender does that too, but because you use a dabbing motion you won’t move the concealer as much, which will result in better coverage.

Overall I do think that the Real Techniques Concealer Brush is a really nice brush. The quality is great and I love the colour of the handle. However, I don’t really use it for applying concealer on blemishes or underneath my eyes. It however is great for applying concealer around your nose.

Moving on to the second brush of the bunch. This is the Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush. Just like the last brush this one comes with a long handle with a rubberised plastic bottom part. The only difference in terms of looks between this brush and the Concealer brush is the fact that this one has a purple handle. Like I said, the colours are based on the range, or the purpose of the brush. And eye brushes are usually purple in Real Techniques.

I don’t think the purple is as pretty and as vibrant as the orange colour is. But I still think that it looks really pretty. It’s unique and different compared to most brushes out there, so they are definitely recognisable in your collection.

One thing I don’t like about the design of this brush specifically, is the fact that somehow the bottom part keeps getting more and more detached from the rest of the brush. I actually have this brush twice, and the other one does it even more. It’s not because I let it soak in water or whatever, it just happened over time and it got worse and worse throughout the weeks I’ve used it. I don’t know if this is just me or if this happens with everyone’s brush, but I don’t like that about it.

Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush – €10,45 (set price)

The shape of this brush does, in a way, remind me of the Zoeva Soft Definer brush and a MAC 217 kind of brush. This is a very popular brush-shape in the makeup world and I do definitely get why. It’s just a great multi-purpose brush. You could use it to apply eyeshadow all over the lid, but it also works great when you use it to apply eyeshadows in the crease with. It blends and it softens the shadows while you’re applying them. It does it all. I do actually think that if you have a like a couple of these, you don’t need anything else.

What does set this apart from the regular 217 like brushes, is the fact that this has a little duo-fibre thing going on. With that I mean that it has black hair on the bottom and more sparse, white hairs on the top part. This causes it to apply the shadow in a softer and more natural way, since it’s not as fully packed. Especially when it comes to applying shadows to the crease I think that’s a great thing.

Quality wise I do like this brush. The bristles feel nice and soft, it picks up enough colour and it doesn’t really like lose a lot of hairs in the proces. I think that it’s definitely a staple brush of mine and I do think that it’s worth looking at if you’re willing to try out some Real Techniques brushes. This is the best of the bunch if you ask me.

Next up is the Deluxe Crease Brush. If you just look at it, and compare it to the Zoeva Concealer Buffer, you’d almost think that this isn’t an eyeshadow brush. Like I explained before, the eye brushes from Real Techniques come with a purple handle. So that confirms the fact that this is, in fact, an eyeshadow brush. But it’s quite a large one if you ask me.

The handle on this brush is quite a bit thicker than the handles on other eyeshadow brushes. This does make it really nice to hold. It’s a bit more sturdy and it won’t slip out of your hand as easily. However, it just confuses me. When it comes to the eyes I don’t hate bigger brushes, but I do like to use somewhat smaller ones so I have more control over what I’m actually doing.

Overall I do think that the looks of the brush are pretty decent. I, again, do like the purple and I do think that this brush feels more sturdy than the last one does. It’s a bit thicker and therefore it just has a better feel to it. I also don’t haven’t noticed that the black part is detaching on this brush. So that’s a win too!

Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush – €10,45 (set price)

The shape of the brush is pretty unique. It’s like a rounded buffer brush but than smaller. An eye-buffer I would call it. Just like the other eyeshadow brush we discussed this has that duo-fibre hair thingy going on and I like that. If this brush wouldn’t have had that, I’d think that it would be way too dense to do any eyeshadow related things with. The duo-fibre hairs make it a little more eye-propriate (see what I did there) but still, it’s a weird one.

I do have a duo-fibre blending brush from Zoeva but that’s way less thick. The thickness of it just bothers me. I personally do have rather big eyes and therefore my eyelids are quite large. But if you do have slightly smaller eyes I think this brush it way too bulky to do anything with. I don’t think it’s great for actually applying eyeshadow. I’d definitely wouldn’t do that with this. But it’s also not great for blending out shadow in my opinion. It’s not precise enough and it’s too thick to really reach the areas towards inside of your eyes.

Overall I’m not all that impressed by the Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush. I don’t really get what the idea behind it was and it just doesn’t really work for me. I do like it to apply or blend concealer with. But when it comes to its purpose, I just don’t get it.

Moving on to the very last brush. This is the Real Techniques Shading Brush. This is a brush I wanted to try for so long, but for different reasons that it should be used for. But before I start talking about that, I wanted to say that I like the design of it. It’s a very small and slim brush. Therefore it’s not as sturdy as the Deluxe Crease Brush, but I do like the aesthetics of it a little better. The quality of the handle is also great, since in this one the black part also doesn’t detach from the brush. So I really think that’s just a problem specifically in the Base Shadow Brush.

Having said that, let’s go back to talking about why I wanted to try this brush for so long. Back in the days, when I was a lot younger and didn’t have a lot of money. I liked trying out these Real Techniques look-a-like brushes from Ebay. One day I ordered one which I believe was aiming to be this specific brush. I didn’t really know what its purpose was, since it was smaller than I expected it to be and it didn’t say what it should do on the handle. So I ended up using it to spot conceal. I didn’t have a great brush for that just yet and that one seemed to get the job done pretty well.

However, at some point I decided I didn’t really want to use these ‘fake’ brushes anymore. I grew older and realised that it isn’t okay for people to copy the hard work of brands and to sell it for less. So that’s why I ended up wanting to get the ‘real’ version of it and see if it would be just as amazing.

Real Techniques Shading Brush – €8,45

And let me tell you, it is. I know that this is meant to apply eyeshadow with and it’s definitely capable of that. It’s quite small but that does mean that you get a lot of precision. If I use it for eyeshadow, I like to apply my inner corner highlight with it or a lighter shadow in the middle of my eyelid to lighten it up a little. But more often than not, I still use it to spot conceal. This brush is a bit more fluffy than the fake one was, but it still does an amazing job at it.

It’s great because it’s tiny and therefore you can be very precise with where you want your concealer to be. Because it’s a bit fluffy you could also blend the concealer with it. And it does it in a really natural way. It doesn’t move the product too much or take it away. It just blends it a little. Because it’s a little bit rounded it can reach every nook and cranny of your face. So it’s even great for applying concealer around your nose for example or areas like that. Thanks to its fluffiness it does that in a way better way than an actual flat concealer brush.

Overall I just think that this is an amazing brush. I do think that it’s a bit of a hidden gem since it’s not that appealing looking. If it wasn’t for the fake version that I tried earlier on in life this brush wouldn’t really have made an impression on me. However, it is great and therefore I really want to share that with you guys. If you are looking for the perfect concealer brush, here it is!

Overall I am very impressed by all of these Real Techniques Makeup Brushes. The quality of them is really nice. From the way they look to the quality of the hairs and the way they work. Everything about them is very well thought out. I also really like the fact that you can use them for lots of purposes and that they have rather unique shapes. The only one that didn’t really make an impression on me is the Deluxe Crease Brush. But all of the others are just amazing!

And that concludes today’s post. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and be sure to let me know what you think of the Real Techniques makeup brushes and also let me know which one is your favourite!