Sigma Buffer F45 Brush** is actually a kabuki brush. It’s a bit bigger than other kabuki brushes I have, except for the BIPA white-pink kabuki. I use F45 to apply blush on my cheeks though I’ve used it for applying powder too (loose, compact, mineral foundation). When I first got this brush it was more narrow than it is now. After I washed it for the 1st time, hair became more fluffier and wider in diameter. But, to be honest, that doesn’t bothers me since I like such brushes in general, and especially kabuki brushes. But, if you don’t like that then this might be an issue for you.

Keeping this brush clean is an easy job. It washes easily and dries fairly quickly for a kabuki brush. I like to wash my brushes in the evening, before going to bed, so in the morning I can use them again. When I wash it I have one trickhow to maintain its shape – I wrap it up in a cotton napkin (I hope I explained this well). And that really helps. I do that with all larger brushes to maintain their shape. In 95% it helps. :)

All in all, I’m happy with this brush and I’ve been using it for almost 2 months now. As I said, I use it to apply my blush and it’s excellent for that since at the same time it blends my blush very well and buffs it onto my cheeks. The hair is somewhere in between when it comes to softness – not rough, not fluffy.

Where to buy

This brush retails for $19 and you can get it at Sigma website**, but keep in mind that their is shipping cost too – $7 for one brush which seems a lot actually. I’d recommend you placing an order for several brushes or with your friends. That way it isn’t expensive.

Giveaway! (CLOSED!)

One (1) person can win this brush! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and tell me anything you want me to know.

You can comment until Friday 16.09. at 23:59 GMT +1! I’ll pick a winner on Saturday and contact her/him by e-mail so be sure to leave good e-mail address while commenting!

Open international!
One comment per person!

Vesna

*this brush was sent to me by Sigma (affiliate program)
**affiliate link

More than a month ago I received my first MAC brushes – 217 i 239. And to put it short – people don’t rave about these for nothing! I picked 217 & 239 because there’s nothing like too much of eye makeup brushes (and I do have plenty of foundation/blush brushes, I’d say) and because I really wanted to try them and to see if there’s any significant difference compared to other makeup brushes I use.

MAC 217 – is a blending brush. It’s quite different from my other blending brushes I owe. This one isn’t fluffy, it’s oval, dense and firm. Because it’s so dense and firmer it picks color up very well which means it’s enough to lightly touch the eye shadow and the color will stay on the brush. It applies color very well and blends it too – in just a few strokes everything is done properly!
I have to admit that I was surprised when I saw it at first because I didn’t really pay attentionto how it looked on the MAC website and it was unusual that a such brush is actually a blending brush, but now it makes sense to me because the shape of it + hair density is what makes it an excellent blending brush.

MAC 239 – this brush is perfect for applying your shadow onto the lid, but beside that it can be used for blending and precise shadow applying into eye socket. This brush is also dense, but it’s very, very soft. Also, it has a round shape at the top. I think that this brush is perfect for someone with small lids because it os a bit smaller than my regular brushes I use, and when it comes to quality of it – it’s equal to MAC 217 brush – excellent! If you look at it from above, it seems quite narrow and flat which I think makes it so perfect to pic up color as well and to apply it all over the lid.

Price?
MAC brushes are expensive ones – in $, and especially in €. I really can’t believe that they are THAT much expensive in Europe, and to be honest, I refuse to buy them in Europe.
MAC 217 costs $22.50 + tax = $24.50 (130kn / 17,47€), while in Europe it costs €23 (170kn /  $32).
MAC 239 costs $24.50 + tax =$26.50 (140kn / 18,80€), while in Europe it costs €27 (200kn /  $38). I can easily get one more MAC brush for the price difference in $.

Now, the question is - is it really necessary to get expensive brushes? Well, I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily, but I’d say it’s desirable. Of course, it doesn’t mean that the brushes I used so far and still use are bad – not at all, but I’d say that there certainly is a difference. Also, I think that it’s not necessarily to get brushes which are more expensive than MAC because MAC brushes give you all you need. Okay, at least I’m not planning to get anything expensive beside MAC brushes.

If you’re interested in getting MAC brushes online, I recommend you this store. My friend purchased from them in the past and they do sell authentic MAC. I don’t recommend you getting them on eBay since there are a lot sellers who have 100% positive feedback but who sell fakes, but people who buy them aren’t aware of that and they think that they purchased authentic items.

Have you tried MAC brushes? What are your impressions and do you have your favorite MAC brushes? I do plan to get more MAC brushes and definitely at least one more 217 and 239, but slowly, because it is an expensive hobby. ;)

Vesna

I was planning on filming a video review for this brush set but then it all got complicated – I can’t find anywhere mini dvd’s for my camcorder and my photo camera is poor when it comes to filming good sound so I have to figure something out and I hope I’ll do that by Sunday. So, I didn’t really had any choice but to write a review.

Anyway, I’ve received this set almost a month and a half ago, it’s called – Synthetic Face Kit* – and it contains three brushes:

• F80 – Flat Top Kabuki
• F82 – Round Top Kabuki
• F84 – Angled Top Kabuki

Common features:

• all 3 brushes have synthetic hair called Sigmax HD fibers made especially for them – they don’t absorb any product;
• very dense,
• no shedding,
• when it comes to washing them – that’s really simple and easy, but it takes a bit longer for them to completely dry (1 day for me, but depending on where do you dry your brushes it could take up to 2 days);
• solid and thicker handle,
• very soft brushes.

Here’s how I received them:

I really like Sigma brushes and I think that this particular set is on a higher level than the other ones. It doesn’t mean that those aren’t good, but it just means that these are so AMAZING, like no other Sigma brushes! They just left me speechless, and to be honest, it’s not easy to leave me speechless. :D

These are, as you know, face brushes and they’re made in such way that applying any product goes just smooth and easy. They will give you, especially the F80, so called, Photoshop effect. The thing is, they’re dense and by buffing in the product it becomes flawless on your skin.  And don’t we all want and love our skin to look flawless? :)

F80 – Flat Top Kabuki

I’m sure you’ve all read/heard about this brush and how good it is. Well, it’s true. It’s excellent! After trying it for the 1st time I couldn’t believe HOW good it was! I :D

By the way, flat top brushes are my favorite brushes when it comes to applying any kind of powder/foundation cause there aren’t any other brushes who could apply those product SO well. I just love to buff in my foundation and F80 is perfect for that. it’s easy to use it – basically you have to put your foundation (with fingers, like your moisturizer, just a few dots of it) and after that you have to take the brush and make easy circular motions by buffing your foundation into your skin. That way it will look flawless after a minute or two. Of course, your shade must be right for your skin tone. :D

It can be used with any liquid, powder or loose product.

F82 – Round Top Kabuki

It reminds me of Sephora #45 but they’re quite different actually. F82 is more dense and it has shorter hair. It’s perfect for details like applying products around your nose area or under your eyes, but you can also use it for contouring or for applying your blush. Again, use it by making circular motions, don’t press to hard and be careful how much product you pick with it. You don’t wanna end up looking like a clown. :D

I use it for applying my blush, I found it to be perfect for that. :)

F84 – Angled Top Kabuki

This brush is so-so. Actually, it’s really good when it comes to hair-quality and everything, but I do have an issue with the size of it. Simply – it’s too big. And my face isn’t small, lol. :D I’ve used it for applying blush, but this is the brush I don’t go for too often. It’s really a shame since it’s good, I love how soft it is and it does apply good my blush, but it’s just too large for my taste. :)

Price / Where to buy

You can purchase each brush separately for $16, but you can get the in a set like this for $42 – you save $6!

You can buy it here*!

Recommendation

If you’ve been lurking this set, let me help you by recommending:

• F80 is a must have if you use any kind of foundation. It’s just more than a good brush and it’s a small price for such a high-quality brush.;
• F82 is useful if you don’t owe any contouring brush or if you want to use ti for details mentioned above OR if you need a blush brush :D Actually, it’s multi-use brush so it is worth getting;
• F84 isn’t something I would go for since it’s, as I said, too large which makes.

Have you been checking out this brush set? I hope this review will help you to decide what to get if you’re on the fence with it. :)

More photos!

F80 – Flat Top Kabuki

F82 – Round Top Kabuki

F84 – Angled Top Kabuki

Vesna

*affiliate link

**PR sample

This brush pretty quickly become one of those products I can’t live without and here’s why. I’ve noticed this brush few months ago in Sephora but at that time I was really on the fance about buying this brush so I decided not to. Then, I visited Sephora again, a month ago or so, and I was checking out this brusg AGAIN and then I finally decided to buy it. Soon after that I went to Sephora to get 2 more brushes. :D

Though this is a mineral powder brush, I use it to apply blush and also to contour my face. It turns out – this brush is perfect for that, especially for applying blush! Perhaps you may think this brush doesn’t seem like a good choice for blush application since it has quite dense and short hair (unlike regular blush brushes), but that’s exactly what it makes it so good!

Sephora mineral powder brush #45 vs. ecotools blush brush

The difference between using Sephora brush #45 and, for example, ecotools blush brush when applying blush is that I apply blush by making light circular motion on top of my cheekbones and that way I actually buff my blush into skin which makes it look smoother and I also think that’s the reason why it lasts much longer on me.

When contouring my face I again make light (even lighter) circular motions cause I don’t want to over do my contouring but since this brush is dense but soft it’s easy to control each application. When it comes to size of the brush, this one is indeed good for contouring, at least for my face.

And when it comes to applying mineral powder – I have to be honest and tell you that I haven’t used this brush for that since I find it too small, though it should be good for applying powder around nose area. To apply powder, I use this brush. There isn’t any other brush which could compare to buffer and flat top brushes when it comes to applying powder. Those are the best!

The total length of this brush is 15,7 cm / 6,18″ while only brushes measure 1,18″ x 1,37″. Handle of the brush is firm and good, it reminds me of Sigma Synthetic Face brushes, especially the F82 brush. When it comes to washing it – it’s really easy and simple and I haven’t noticed any shedding from any of these 3 brushes I have. Drying might be a bit slower but I wash all my brushes before going to bed and the next morning they’re all dry. And so is this one. :)

This brush retails for $10 in our Sephora, which is interesting since the price in the US is $26! What a difference, huh! Anyway, it isn’t expensive here so it’s worth getting. And I hope they won’t increase its price. :/

Overall rating:

What’s your product of the week?

Vesna

I picked up this brush few months ago (don’t remember when exactly but it has been a while now), and few weeks ago I got another one so I decided to write a review. Unfortunately, there isn’t a great choice of ecotools brushes in our drugstores, but the ones that are available are good ones. :)

This eyeshadow brush is different from other eyeshadow brushes I own – it has a slightly fan-alike shape which allows me to apply eyeshadow all over my eye lid in 2 strokes. I also like about it that it’s really soft but still firm and that I’m able to blend with it but at the same time it picks up color very well. It has synthetic hair, like all ecotools brushes. As I said, I’ve been using it for months now and there was no shedding at all, and I’ve been washing it often! Beside not losing a single hair, I must also add that it dries pretty quickly. The total length of the brush is 16cm / 6,30″, and the length/diameter of hair is 0,59″. :)

The retail price of this brush is approx. $5 / 3,60€ which is pretty budget friendly! Especially for such quality! Anyway, if you’re looking for some budget friendly synthetic eyeshadow brushes- check out this one! :)

Do you own any ecotools brushes? Are you satisfied with them?

Overall rating:

Check out more photos!

Vesna

Note: sorry for poor photos but the weather wasn’t on my side that day I took them :(

Some time ago, month or so, I wrote about Sigma affiliate program and how I decided to join that program and what that meant for me and my blog so please read that post if you haven’t yet. As a result of that I received a brush set – Travel Kit Naughty in Black – and after testing those brushes for almost 2 months here’s my review!

Keep in mind: if you purchase this brush set, as a gift you’ll receive F50 travel brush (stippling brush). :) I won’t be reviewing F50 in this post, I’ll write a separate review for that brush. :)

Let me start with its brush roll – I love it! It’s made out of some soft  (fake) skin material, well made (yes, I notice such things since that’s what I do as well – I sew :) ) and beside everything it’s portable since it fits everywhere. :) The think I like very much about it is how you close it – it actually has a magnet inside of it and you practically just fold it and it’s already closed! Simple as that!

All brushes come with extra protection – larger brushes have brush guard while the smaller ones come in nylon. I threw that nylon away, but I kept those brush guards since they’re useful.

from left: F30, F40, F60, E55, E40, E30, F70

* E30 – Pencil Brush *

Let me start this brush review with my favorite brush – E30 pencil brush. To be honest, I don’t know how I managed to live without this brush so far! I know it might sound ridiculous but really, this brush is just AMAZING and I love it!  The thing is, this brush is perfect for so many things – precise smudging, applying eyeshadow on the crease/outer eye area, etc.

This brush is soft but has a firm shape, it washes easily and dries quickly. Length: 13cm/5,11″. Hair length:  1,1cm/0,43″. Natural hair.

* E55 – Eye Shading Brush *

This brush is quite interesting – it has shorter and dense hair, but still nicely soft. It picks up everything very good, but I love to use it, beside of regular eye shadows, for loose eye shadows and pigments. I had minimum of fall outs with this brush.

This brush has a bit thicker handle than other eye brushes. The total length of this brush is 13,3cm/5,23″ and the length of brushes is 1,1cm/0,43″. When it comes to cleaning this brush I found it being easy and though it’s dense it dries quite quickly. No shedding.

* E40 – Blending Brush *

I don’t have a pro blending brush so this is my first blending brush and I can’t compare it to any other brush. But, regardless of that, I’m very satisfied with how it performed and I had no problems during blending whether I used light or dark eye shadows. I also noticed I prefer to pick a small amount of eye shadow and then pick some more if I need too.

It’s soft, didn’t shed at all, dries quickly when washed. Brush length: 14,1cm/5,51″. Hair length: 2cm/0,78″.

* F40 – Large Angled Contour Brush *

I was really looking forward to trying this brush since this is my first contour brush though I did use other brushes for that purpose but I always felt something was missing. This brush actually looks like a blush brush but, for me, its a bit too narrow and too firm. But, you can use it for that too if you like it that way. :)

Anyway, at first I thought it was a bit too large for contouring but after using it for some time I found it to be perfect. It’s actually quite precise and as I already mentioned, this is a bit firmer brush which means it perfectly picks any color so you have to be careful not too look like you’ve applied too much of bronzer onto your face (like I looked the first few times, lol :D ). Along with E30 Pencil brush, this is my favorite brush from this set.

When it comes to keeping this brush clean – it might seem that wouldn’t be easy since it has white hair but actually everything comes off. You have to rub a bit longer than with other brushes. Brush length: 15,5cm/6,10″; hair length: 3,5cm/1,38″.

* F30 – Large Powder Brush *

This is the only brush in this set which has some shedding problem. And that’s weird since it didn’t shed while I washed it, but it started to shed later. It’s a real shame. When compared to my ecotools brush, this brush is smaller and the hair is more dense. I like to use it for some final touch-ups. I’m satisfied with how this brush performs but it is a shame it sheds.

I had no problem during washing it and it dries fairly quickly. Brush length:  16cm/6,30″; hair length: 4cm/1,57″.

* F60 – Foundation Brush *

Though I find this brush to be good for applying liquid foundations, unfortunately, it has a flaw – it pricks. :( It’s nothing unbearable but it does bug me when using it and it makes me feel uncomfortable. I don’t know if this brush is usually like this, but this might be a bad batch (and I hope it’s the problem). Everything else is really good about this brush. Also, this brush along with concealer brush has synthetic hair while other brushes have natural hair.

This brush dries quickly, washes easily and doesn’t shed. Brush length: 15,2cm/5,98″; hair length: 1,18″.

* F70 – Concealer Brush *

This brush looks like a smaller foundation brush but this brush doesn’t prick – it’s soft and gentle. I found it to be very useful for precise concealer application – for some smaller skin imperfections and that’s what I’m using it for. If I need to cover some larger area I still use my fingers. As foundation brush, this one also has synthetic hair.

Brush length: 13,4cm/5,27″; hair length: 1,2cm/0,47″.

Price

This brush set retails for $49 / 37€.

Overall impressions

After using this brush set daily for almost 2 months I can say that I’m really satisfied with the quality of these brushes. These are the first Sigma brushes I’ve tried but I know those aren’t the last one :D This set is really affordable and the best thing is – you do get good quality brushes for $49! If you decide to get it – I’m sure you won’t regret it! Also, I like that you get all brushes you need in one brush roll. :)

Have you tried Sigma brushes? If you have, what’s your opinion? Any recommendations? :)

Vesna

You could’ve noticed how recently I added Sigma banner on the right side of this post and that’s because I joined Sigma Affiliate program which basically means – when you click on that banner you’re visiting Sigma pages through my blog which they’ll record and if you purchase something  then I’ll receive 10% of your order. Now, I don’t want you to think that I’ll be earning who knows how much money, but I want you to be aware of that and I want to explain why I joined this program. The thing is – all you see on this blog and blog it self (domain, hosting, etc.) isn’t free.  Someone a.k.a. me had to pay for all of this and I wanted to get at least something back since I’ve been trying so hard with this blog. I really hope you don’t mind that. :)

So, when I joined the program I realized I can receive something for review purposes based on my twitter/facebook fans so I applied for that and I received Travel Kit Naughty in Black. Here in the end of the page you can see their table and how exactly can you receive anything at all. After 10 days or so, I received this kit so here are my photos!

I can say I’m really happy with how everything was packaged – brushes cam in gift bags which came in a larger box. I also received cleaning instructions and description of each brush.:)

You’ll read my review in my next post, after I try all brushes since at the moment they’re drying since I washed them earlier today. My first impression is that the brushes are really soft but still have that necessary firmness. The only brush that did shed a bit was F30. The water was also colored while I washed it but nothing to be worried about. :)

And here are my photos!

how everything was packaged

description of each brush

all larger brushes have brush guard which I like!

from left: F30, F40, F60, E55, E40, E30, F70

extra brush – F50

I’m really excited about trying these brushes:

• F40 Large Angled Contour
• E40 Tapered Blending
• E30 Pencil

How do you like this brush set? Have you tried their brushes? If not – are you going to? :)

Vesna

I’ve been using this blush brush for some time so I decided to write a review about it. :) I got this on abbamart.com and my order arrived really fast (7 days or so)!

This brush is the same size (length) as ecotools blush brush but the handle is a bit winder and this is a angled blush brush (and lately I am in love with angled brushes for some reason!). Hair is *really* soft, it’s sheep hair. I have to admit that I wasn’t really so thrilled with this brush at the beginning for some reason, but I forced myself to use it a bit longer and then I just started to like it a lot because somehow it turned out to be a really good brush. It  applies my blush so nicely and at the same time it blends it the way it’s supposed to. There was only a small problem with some shedding (just a few hair) but that was just at the very beginning and I didn’t have any problem with that later.

You can get this price for $4.50 which is pretty much a good deal when it comes to a blush brush. I definitely think this is worth getting!

Overall rating:

What kind of blush brushes do you prefer?

Vesna

At the end of August I ordered few brushes from Abbamart.com and I think it was about time to write a review! This brush is called Browbone Contour Brush and though it says ‘browbone’ I still use it to apply my eyeshadow and I can only say that it’s excellent at that! And I used it to create this look too.  I can’t say I was ever so thrilled with a makeup brush though I do love all my brushes, but this one is really special!

This brush is made with sable hair so if you don’t buy such brushes, you’ll have to skip this one too, but if this doesn’t matter to you – I honestly recommend to get it! It’s soft, dense, picks up color very well and applies eyeshadow amazingly nice! It’s like my eye shadows turn a bit silky when using it. Can’t really explain it better. :D But trust me! The thing that’s also awesome about it is it’s retail price – $2.10.Wow! Great deal, isn’t it?

I don’t know about you, but I’ll get few of these with my next order, just in case. :D For now, I’m waiting to receive this set from Abbamart.

Rating:

Check out more photos!

Vesna

Since I’ve posted few looks these days, I received few e-mails in which you ask me to write a post about makeup brushes I use, but this time for my eye makeup so, here it is!

At this moment, I use 6 eyeshadow brushes and 1 angled brush for applying gel liner. Unfortunately, a can’t afford to spend minimum $20 per brush (and I’m not even sure  would even if I could because I’m a bit tight to spend that money on just one single makeup brush) so I chose something cheaper – Coastal Scents and ecotools brushes and those which I have for now are really enough for my needs.

I’m there are plenty better brushes than these, but if you’re not willing to spend too much money, I think this is a good choice and that these brushes would satisfy your needs. :)

Brushes:

1. CS Italian Badger Pencil Brush ($3.29) – link – it’s perfect for applying eyeshadow in the crease area;
2. CS Black Shadow brush ($1.95) – link – I use it to apply eyeshadows a bit heavier, it picks any eyeshadow excellent and though it it soft it’s at the same time firm as well;
3. CS Italian Badger Round Crease Brush ($2.89) – link – I have 2 of these and I use them to apply any eyeshadow all over my eye lid;
4. CS Italian Badger Blender Brush ($2.95) – link – I use it to blend everything;
5. ecotools Concealer Brush (approx. $5) – though it isn’t for eyeshadow application, I use it for that anyway and I like it;
6. CS Chisel Detail Mini brush ($1.99) – link – this brush is really teeny tiny brush :D and I use it to apply my eyeshadow in the inner corners and on my bottom eyelash line;

Read more about their quality and check out few other photos!

Brush Quality

I’m really satisfied! I washed them many times and I’ve lost only 1-2 hair on my CS brushes which really isn’t even worth mentioning. :D They’re all very soft, they don’t scratch which is also very important.

The bottom line is – I honestly recommend these brushes because I use them myself, they’re available at budget friendly prices and I really doubt that this cheap brushes that are this quality are available anywhere else (not in Croatia at least). :)

If you have more questions feel free to ask me anything in the comments on this post or by e-mailing me.

Vesna