Veracious Product Review: Real Techniques Core Collection Kit

If you saw my Facebook Page yesterday, you will have gathered that I've been on a bit of a brush-buying spree of late. Luckily, they've all been from rather affordable drugstore brands, so my wallet isn't hurting too much! One of my recent purchases, which I was beyond psyched about (and also featured in my recent Haul Post), was the Real Techniques Core Collection brush kit.

As I mentioned earlier, Real Techniques brushes have just hit Toronto shelves and I couldn't be happier that they've finally made an appearance. For those of you who aren't familiar with Real Techniques (have you been living under a makeup-less rock?), the brand is essentially awesome in my books because:

• The line was developed by Samantha Chapman, better known as "Sam" of Pixiwoo fame. If you haven't checked out their YouTube Channel (again, makeup-less rock?) you must! The girls are incredibly talented and seriously charming.
• The brushes are professional quality with a brush for literally every purpose.
• The bristles are made of incredibly soft, hand-cut taklon fibers, which makes them a pleasure to use and completely cruelty-free!
• They are extremely affordable. I bought the Core Collection for $19 CAD, which is approximately half the price of a single MAC 217. 'Nuff said.

Now onto the review at hand! My local Wal-Mart is now stocking three different brush sets, but I opted for the Core Collection because I was dying to try out the face brushes in particular. Here's what the set looks like:

Real Techniques Core Collection Kit

As you can see, the kit includes 4 face brushes of varying shapes and sizes. A closeup:

And the back of the box...

... which features a photo of Sam and her intro to the products...

Sam, babe, of Pixiwoo fame :)

... and photos of each brush, labelled:

So as the labels suggest, the kit contains the Detailer Brush, the Pointed Foundation Brush, the Buffing Brush, and the Contour Brush. Here's a view of them as a group, outside the packaging. 

(L-R): Contour Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush, Detailer Brush, Buffing Brush

As you can see from the photo, the set also comes with a super sleek and functional brush roll/carrying case, which is such a handy touch!

Now a quick review of each individual brush. I've only been using them for a few days, so my thoughts are somewhat preliminary. But I'll do my best to describe them!

Buffing Brush

The Buffing Brush is a densely-packed, slightly rounded duo-fiber brush designed for buffing powder products (e.g., setting powder, bronzer, mineral foundation) into the skin. I've heard it's also great for liquid foundation, which I haven't tried yet!

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

Overall, I find the brush to be incredibly soft on the skin. Not only is it a pleasure to use because of this, it also allows powder to glide on smoothly without disrupting the foundation underneath, which is a huge bonus in my books. So far it has worked wonderfully with pressed powder and bronzer. Can't wait to use it for foundation!

Here are a few more photos:

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

Pay no attention to the messy bedroom in the background. Eek.

Real Techniques Buffing Brush, bristles close-up

Contour Brush

The Contour Brush as a tapered, rounded, less densely-packed brush designed to apply cream or powder formulas to the contours of the face (particularly the hollows of the cheeks) with ease.

Real Techniques Contour Brush

I've only used this with powder products so far and I have to say it's excellent for a subtle application. When I first used it with bronzer to contour my cheeks, I thought "wow, this doesn't apply a lot of product at once." As if it were a bad thing. Then I realized "that's the point!". Because the brush is rounded and fluffy, it's perfect for goof-proof contouring, making it nearly impossible to over-do it. I've also used it with some super pigmented blushes, and it's been great for a sheer application of these too!

A couple more photos:

Real Techniques Contour Brush

Real Techniques Contour Brush, bristles close-up

Pointed Foundation Brush

The Pointed Foundation Brush was designed for use with liquid foundations. Its tapered, pointed shape is meant to glide smoothly over the skin and fit neatly into smaller corners of the face, like under the eyes and around the nose.

Real Techniques Pointed Foundation Brush

I used this a couple days ago with my liquid foundation and I have to say I wasn't wowed. I found the application to be slightly streaky when I smoothed the brush over my face. To remedy this, I used the brush in patting motions instead and this evened things out a bit. Granted, most foundation brushes tend not to work well for me, so I wasn't totally shocked that I didn't instantly love this. Looking forward to testing it out with different formulas to see if I can make it work!

A couple more photos:

Real Techniques Pointed Foundation Brush

Real Techniques Pointed Foundation Brush, bristles close-up

Detailer Brush

The Detailer brush is the tiniest of the kit, designed to paint the smallest parts of the face. It is meant for use with concealer on localized imperfections and can also double as a handy lip brush.

Real Techniques Detailer Brush

I used the brush to apply my concealer a couple days ago and it worked just fine for this purpose. Didn't wow me, but didn't disappoint either. Looking forward to using this to apply lipstick! Think the shape and texture would be perfect for lip colour.

A couple more photos:

Real Techniques Detailer Brush

Wow, that ended up being a long post! But as you can tell, I'm pretty jazzed about this new kit and look forward to using these brushes more extensively and for various purposes. I'm especially smitten with the Buffing Brush and the Contour Brush and can see them being regulars in my daily routine.

Hope you found the review to be helpful! Anyone else out there loving the Core Collection lately? What other Real Techniques brushes do I totally need in my collection?

Thanks for reading! :)