Real Techniques Brushes

Hi and welcome to this week's review , thankyou so much for taking time to read!
Today's review is going to be on my FAVOURITE face brushes to ever have existed. I have tried Morphe, Zoeva and other brush brands but I always come to back to my cutessy little Real Techniques brushes!!!

These are found in the US at Ulta or on RealTechniques.com , their website and various drugstores around you. I got mine mainly from Amazon and at Priceline , the local drugstore here in Australia. So starting off with a little background , I will later go on to describe each brush I own from the brand and how I use it. So the line was created by the pixiwoo girls on youtube , they are two sisters who run a youtube channel by the name of pixiwoo : Samantha and Nic Chapman. First of all , it's so great to see women doing so amazing in business especially in the beauty industry so props to them! I have used RT for over 3 years now so it's not a first impressions or just a raw review. It will be a tried and tested one. The brushes from this line are 100% synthetic and the brand is cruelty free, which is great. Usually synthetic brushes tend to be a little on the stiffer side as compared to brushes like goat hair or real animal fur which is naturally softer. But one thing to know here is that synthetic bristles are the best for liquid or cream products as they don't soak up any of your product and are easy to clean and wash. Whereas natural bristles are softer and tend to soak up foundations , creams or anything you use them for. So for liquid products , synthetic bristles work best. These brushes are the softest brushes Ive used personally and I have very sensitive skin, so believe me when I say these are incredibly soft. Most of the brushes mentioned will be for cream or liquids with an exception of one or two , as I tend to use those more due to my dry skin. But RT is coming out or has come out with a collection of cruelty free synthetic brushes made especially for powder products just in case you want to check it out! The brushes come colour coordinated with yellow or golden being the base , pink ones for finishing products like blush , highlight , setting and purple ones for the eye. Below are my favourite brushes that I use every single day of my existence. I use these and they are beaten to death basically so don't mind if they're just a tad bit too loved. I am planning to complete my collection by buying a few more that are missing but even if I do , these sre enough for my full face of makeup and they are excellent , multi purpose and durable brushes. I have washed them a lot of times because they're heavily used and they have not shed on me so yay!

I will have links below each brush to Priceline's website to buy it in Australia and for people in India , links to the amazon as well! I hope you find the reviews helpful. The prices tend to be higher in Australia because beauty products are bloody expensive I don't understand for what reason.
Also , prices in India for RealTechniques are somewhat in between okay to high ranging from Rs 800-4000 depending on the brush! But I do recommend checking other websites before buying.


Ok enough rambling!

I'll start off with a set of brushes that compiles 4 brushes that are good enough to do a full face with!

The Real Techniques Core Collection comes with 4 brushes for the face in a travel friendly packaging.

 

It comes with 4 brushes inside colour coordinated according to the face brush color i.e. orange/golden.

Where to buy :
Amazon India  : http://www.amazon.in/real-Techniques-Core-Collection-Set/dp/B004TSFBNK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500892908&sr=8-1&keywords=real+techniques+core+collection+set

Priceline does not carry this set unfortunately. You can however find this on RealTechniques website.

The first brush inside this is the Buffing Brush :

The brush is said to be great for mineral or powder foundations and for any other powder face products but it is also great for liquid products being a synthetic brush. I use this to get a nice sheer to medium coverage in foundations when I don't want a full beat high coverage look. It tones down the cakeyness of heavy foundations and is an amazing foundation brush in the flat kabuki style. It reminds me somewhat of Morphe gilded Y6 brush but this is honestly such good quality! I also use it for my blush if I'm not using my blush brush.

Then comes the second brush in the collection , the flat foundation brush :

It has a nice thin pointed top for precision areas and accurate application. I don't use this for foundation but it can be a great option as it is very soft and bendable great to go over the contours of the face due to its portable size. I can easily blend out my undereye concealer with this and even spot conceal with precision!

Next is contour brush :

This little gem is a great great multi tasking brush. I use it for it's original purpose of contouring, I also LOVE to use it as an under-eye setting powder brush and for blending out my concealer. It is a great brush for contour as it leaves no harsh lines but also isn't too thick and fluffy where it's too hard to get a precise application. Love this one! You could also use this for applying highlighter btw! It's good stuff.

 Next up is the detailer brush :

This is not used as much by me but it is a good brush to have in your collection. It is meant to spot conceal or blend in hard to reach areas like around the nose or near the tear duct. I use it the most for lipstick application when I overline my lips and this comes handy to fill in precisely. Also , it is an excellent brush for spot concealing. I use it to highlight my brow bone and inner corner of the eyes the most. It's the perfect size for it. It can also be used for cream shadows like MAC paint pots and Maybelline colour tattoos, and to do cut crease looks!

That is it for the core collection! I will now go into the individual brushes I own from Real Techniques :

My first brush will be the expert face brush :

This is my favourite foundation brush hands down. I love love love this for my full coverage concentrated foundations. I have used and abused this to the extent that the RT label has come off ! Yup. I use this everyday for my base makeup. It works excellently and does not soak up any product. It is very densely packed and works better for liquid foundations as compared to the buffing brush in giving a flawless full coverage effect , in my opinion. If you had to pick one brush for base , I would say this!

Amazon India : http://www.amazon.in/Real-Techniques-Expert-Face-Brush/dp/B06XYJXDLB/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1500893001&sr=8-3&keywords=real+techniques+expert+face+brush

Priceline AU : https://www.priceline.com.au/brand/real-techniques/real-techniques-expert-face-brush-1-ea



Next up is another one of my favourites for foundation application although it is meant for something else.

The sculpting brush : 

This is so heavily used by me as you can see. It is basically meant for blending out cream contours and really work the product into your skin but I only do powder contours and this one applies powders too overwhelmingly! Instead I use this one for my , ( take a wild guess ) foundation application! It's so densely packed and just has the right density to it for liquid products as it doesn't soak up any and because of its angled top , you can get into the contours of the nose and under eyes perfectly while blending. It's my second favourite foundation brush to use after the expert face brush. If you do cream contour , definitely pick this up!

Amazon India : http://www.amazon.in/Real-Techniques-Sculpting-Brush/dp/B071D13L91/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1500893087&sr=8-8&keywords=real+techniques+sculpting+brush



Next is my powder brush :

This as the name suggests is a big old fluffy powder brush. It is supposed to be used after finishing your base makeup with a loose or compact powder to set and lock everything in. I use this with my Rimmel stay matte and with my translucent powder to set the face. It works great as it is loosely packed and picks up just the right amount of product and has an amazing size to make the job quicker. I have made the mistake earlier to powder my face with a densely packed brush and it is a true nightmare. Please people , just get a powder brush for that purpose. It works great as a bronzer brush too but I use it as a setting brush and it works amazing!

Amazon India : http://www.amazon.in/Real-Techniques-Powder-Brush/dp/B06XYK2P48/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1500893225&sr=8-5&keywords=real+techniques+powder+brush

Priceline AU : https://www.priceline.com.au/real-techniques-your-base-flawless-powder-brush-1-ea


The last brush I have to show you is my least favourite among my Real Techniques ones! It is the good old foundation brush :

The reason I don't like it is because I tend to use kabuki or flat top brushes for my liquid foundations and this one even if I do use tends to soak up a lot of product and makes my foundation go on streaky and thin. I don't like flat foundation brushes anyway so it ain't the brush's fault. It is a good brush for beginners and I did use this when I first started wearing makeup but I prefer other brushes over this.

 Amazon India :http://www.amazon.in/Real-Techniques-Foundation-Brush/dp/B071CHJYR6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1500893320&sr=8-7&keywords=real+techniques+foundation+brush

Priceline AU : https://www.priceline.com.au/real-techniques-your-base-flawless-foundation-brush-1-ea



That's it for my Real Techniques brushes brush collection for face! I'd love to do a dedicated post for the eye brushes I use and also other brushes apart from this brand! let me know x

Thankyou for reading!

Prab

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette

Hello lovelies! Welcome to a new review exclusively on the much loved Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Eyeshadow Palette. I would start off by saying that out of all the eyeshadow palettes I own , including the berry-toned and the basic everyday neutral ones , this one is my favourite , which is why I decided to talk about this first! 

The Hudabeauty Rose Gold is a close second and I'm planning to do a review on it soon as well.
So I got this palette back in February early this year after my Tartiest Pro , which has been reviewed earlier. This palette comes from my favourite high-end brand for brow, highlight and eye products : ABH. She makes the most blendable , top notch quality shadows ranging from the singles to the palettes that have been out in collaboration with Amrezy and Tamanna MUA. It was very difficult to get my hands on this one as it was ALWAYS sold out on Australia's Sephora website and never in stock here in Melbourne stores. I received this one as a present so I was bound to love it! But before my review I want to state how this is so up my alley as I'm a warn tone eyeshadow lover, the colours go with my golden toned skin and you'll always see me rocking a berry toned eye 💅

Jumping straight into the review , let's first talk about the packaging. This was one sector where people either loved it or hated it straight up! It comes encased in a gorgeous dusty-rose mauve velvet magnetic closure case and personally , I don't have complains. I think it's beautiful and truly reflects the shades it has inside. It gets dirty very very easily but I have this thing of keeping my palettes encased in their cardboard boxes so that doesn't trouble me as much as some others. 

The colour selection is inspired greatly from the Renaissance period and it's authentic art and forms with vivid colours and imagery. It has been designed , put together and assorted by @norvina who is Anastasia's daughter and she took inspiration from the Renaissance era of art and created this gem of a palette. It broke the internet the moment it launched and ABH , Sephora , Ulta could NOT keep it in stock. It would remain in stock and go off the shelves in literally minutes. Never to be found in Sephora stores here in Australia. If you can get your hands on it though , you will thoroughly understand the hype surrounding this is so real. They are the best shadows I've used in terms of colour pay-off and blendability. Apart from my Tartiest Pro mattes , the mattes in here are SO good. They are not flat dry mattes and tend to have a slightly noticeable sheen to them just to add more life to the colours and to keep up with the theme! 

The inside of the palette houses 14 shades and a dual ended brush which we will come to later. 
The shades are all warm toned except Buon Fresco ( which I still don't know how to pronounce though)..It's a cool toned dusty pink in matte finish. The pans are square and smaller than your average MAC pans or even MakeupGeek pans. I will put down the cost breakdown per shadow and per gram towards the end. It follows this beautiful ombre' light to dark trend in the shades and I feel like she did such a beautiful job at putting the palette together in terms of shade selection. It lacks a solid matte white to set eyeshadow primer as the only cream shadow in here has a satin finish although it is described as ultra matte by ABH. 
Sephora Australia describe the product as :
A present-day take on Renaissance colours, this comprehensive eyeshadow palette presents a collection of 14 essential shades from neutral tones to berry hues. Each highly pigmented eyeshadow resists fading and creasing, bringing long-lasting modern elegance to your eye looks.

The 14 shades are : 

• Tempera: velvety beige with an ultra-matte finish.

• Golden Ochre: earthy yellow with an ultra-matte finish.

• Vermeer: iridescent shell with a metallic finish.

• Buon Fresco: antique lavender with an ultra-matte finish:

• Antique Bronze: metallic sable with a satin finish.

• Love Letter: raspberry with an ultra-matte finish.

• Cyprus Umber: dark coffee with an ultra-matte finish.

• Raw Sienna: neutral amber with an ultra-matte finish.

• Burnt Orange: deep orange with an ultra-matte finish.

• Primavera: shimmery gold with an ultra-matte finish.

• Red Ochre: sienna with an ultra-matte finish.

• Venetian Red: crimson with an ultra-matte finish.

• Warm Taupe: earthy gray with an ultra-matte finish.

• Realgar: brick with an ultra-matte finish. 

 The only little complaint that I do have however is that some of the shades particularly Raw Sienna and Burnt Orange perform just the same on my eyes. I have warm undertones and very yellow skin however these 2 shades give the same colour pay off once blended in the crease on top of an eye primer. 

These are both transition shades and I would have liked one maybe to be a lighter cream matte to set the eye primer or concealer as stated earlier.

My favourites in the palette are Venetian Red and Love Letter. The quality of the eyeshadows is through the roof. These are the creamiest eyeshadows you'll ever use. They blend like a dream with any fluffy blending brush , work beautifully in the crease and on the lid and are buildable. If you haven't ever tried Anastasia shadows , this one has the best of the best picked out in a palette. The singles offer some gorgeous colours as well! I won't talk much about the quality as it's all over youtube and everyone raves about it. I can't find one bad review on this and it's for a good reason. The shadows do have fallout as most pigmented buttery ones do but I always do my eyes first and then my base which saves time and is a good tip if you're a beginner just like I am! :) 

I will link 2 videos down below for reference. One is Stephanie Nicole , a beauty youtuber who gave this a stellar review and is truly honest to her words and doesn't hold back on negative ones. Definitely check her out. The other one is an informative one about how to spot a fake ABH Modern Renaissance Palette because eBay and Aliexpress sell knock-offs that are not the same quality and are cheaper but not safe for your eyes. So I would recommend checking it out to be sure you're not being cheated. 

The palette comes with a dual ended brush , black in colour made of plastic and has the logo on it. I am not the most huge fan of it. One one side you get a fluffy blending brush which is the part I'm not obsessed with because my Real Techniques blending brush is a softer version and blends better. The ABH one is a little bit stiffer in comparison but gets the job done if you want to use it. The other side has a smaller , more compact brush for crease application or outer V smoking or just to smoke colour on the lower lashline. This is the better counterpart and I use it for the latter purpose as I don't necessarily use tightly packed brushes for my crease because I have hooded eyes so my eyeshadow usually creases pretty badly if I go heavy handed with a darker colour. 

Rounding up on the quality of the palette , I can't find one bad thing to say about this. I love the packaging , the mirror is great , the brush is doable , the colours are to die for and It truly is your everyday neutral warm palette. You cannot go wrong with this. The shadows do the job basically and it has great colour selection through and through.

However , it could include a matte black in here to complete the palette but the brown shade called Cyprus Umber sortof gets that job done. Having a matte black in a palette is upto personal preference and it's nice to have it in a basic neutral palette. However, this one has a dark brown to do it and no amount of amazing reviews can do this justice. It's gorgeous!
Below are some looks I've created with the palette and they are mostly Berry-toned / Pink! :) 

The palette's shelf life is 6 months which is kind of a bummer as the colour payoff does not remain the same but you can keep using it as the colours are very buildable and don't get patchy even upto 3 layers of shadow which is always a sign of a good quality shadow. It is free of parabens and sulfates.

The ingredients of the palette are listed on Sephora and are mostly same for every shadow with a few exceptions. They are mostly mica and dimethicone with very less to no talc at all, which explains why the shadows are smoother than most formulas that contain talc. These do contain carmine so they aren't vegan.

Coming to the cost breakdown , it retails for $75 Australian which makes it around $5.35 per shadow given you get 14 shades. They are made in USA and weigh in at 0.02 oz each for a total weight of 0.28 oz. This is by far the most expensive palette ABH has created. 

It is often compared to the Hudabeauty Rose Gold palette so I thought I would throw it in here!

The hudabeauty one contains 2 colours - Maneater and moondust that are similar to the 2 shades in the MR. Overall they are 2 different palettes but if you have one , you can really get away with using that to create a berry tones or a neutral eye. I prefer MR for quality and blendability but I do like the Hudabeauty for more selection of shades and a matte black thrown in there. 

You can buy it on Sephora Australia's website. It is currently out of stock but I'm linking it down below so you can sign up for emails and get notified when it returns! they do restock very often and I recommend following Sephora on IG for notifications! Alternatively you can find it on Anastasia's website where it is always in stock but you'll pay shipping to Australia which I'm not certain of as I always order from Sephora.

Sephora : https://www.sephora.com.au/products/anastasia-beverly-hills-modern-renaissance-eye-shadow-palette?q=mode

Anastasia Beverly Hills : http://www.anastasiabeverlyhills.com/modern-renaissance-palette/ABH01-18170.html

Videos :

Stephanie Nicole : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqWSSlGDhbg&t=171s

Real Vs Fake : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s72sMPocwCw

Thankyou for reading! hope it was informative and helpful!

- Prab

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Soft And Gentle

Hi Loves! Welcome to another review on my blog. I first planned on writing about the Too Faced Chocolate Bar but i figured this would be a more apt review as it's a shorter more precise and aims to suit audience more widely as a lot of people consider the product their holy grail! I'm talking about the cult favourite used and abused MAC mineralise skinfinish in Soft and Gentle. If you aren't familiar with my love for MAC cosmetics in general , well Hello. I absolutely LOVE the aura of the brand and I love the whole vibe surrounding the line in itself . It's  sleek , classic ,trusted and there's not one thing that could go wrong with this brand in my perspective. Starting off with the company , MAC is an internationally acclaimed brand and has a lot in their bag of achievements ranging from fun collaborations to never seen before colours and ideas in action. It was originally known for creating out of the box , not your typical everyday colour selections in Lipsticks as well as blushes and colour pigments at a time when colour was only limited to theatre and professional stage or ramp artistry. But since colour has been more widely accepted as a source of self expression , MAC has made a strong base of what their line stands for in the world of modern cosmetic art.

I might be one of the many people to tell you that makeup is very personal and is a form of art and self expression and there are no rights and wrongs or dos and don'ts in expression of self with colour and patterns. You do you , and this brand stands for all that and it was the pioneer brand along with Bobbi Brown to introduce makeup for People of Colour which is a revolutionary step to introduce more acceptance and love in the world! These facts might be important for someone who would like to know the background of the brand of makeup line that they wish to support or try products from. MAC , because it sells in China is unfortunately not cruelty free. It is a matter of choice however MAC has their biggest market value and sales coming from China which is not a defence against their decision to support animal testing but is a reason as to why they are not cruelty free. Long story short , any brand that SELLS in China irrespective of whether it's manufactured in China or not has to legally undertake animal testing in order to create their market in the country.

Jumping into the actual review ( lol my bad I ramble too much) , MAC has a line of specific range of products named Mineralise Skinfinish - with infused mineral pigments and a formula to create a natural sheen for an overall glow or specific highlighting. MAC describes it as  "A luxurious, slow-baked, velvety soft, domed face powder with a radiant finish. Strategically buff on to add highlights to the high points of the face, or blend all over for a sheer luminous polish to the skin. Features our 77-Mineral Complex and vitamin E."
It is a baked product with vitamin E infusions and mineral complexes.

This was proooobably my first high end highlighter purchase and kicked off my love for highlighters in general. It honestly falls in the subtle and soft spectrum of the range as it is baked and tends to be a glow from within type of stuff. The formula is soft and smooth in texture and gives off a champagne-y glow to the face and appears to be a very subdued version of Champagne Pop , and is in true sense a beige toned warm soft highlighter. 

The packaging is classic matte black and has been changed since it originally launched which was back in the day when highlighting was not really a thing tbh! It started the trend and was the OG in the fam at that point. It comes with a clear top that showcases the beautiful pattern on the product and has a magnetic closure encased in a matte black disc. It doesn't come with a mirror , just throwing it out there. 

So now that you know about it , just touching on some science behind the art of highlighting the face and matching it upto the claims of this product for reference here:
Highlighting basically is the idea of accentuating features of the face where the light naturally hits from the top of the head or upfront , which would be tops of the cheeks, brow bone , chin , cupid's bow atop the lip and down the bridge of the nose. I typically stress on the nose part a little too much because nearly 59% of my face is my nose.. no kidding.

The product is designed to be used in multiple ways : as a traditional highlighter on selective parts of the face or an overall light dusting over the face , on top of base products. I don't recommend doing the latter unless you want to look like a disco ball out and about in the light , which is a cute look to go for but not so much in practicality..
I use this baby as I would any other highlighter for my natural barely made an effort to look presentable days which are more often than not mondays. SO it does kick the blues to the curb... My point is that it works amazingly well as a peachy gold highlight which is true to it's name : Soft and Gentle. Even if you are not into subtle highlighting I recommend picking this up as it really is probably the most wearable , flattering and just gorgeous formulas that I've tried. It's not outrageous or tacky looking nor is it too flat on the face. It's a must have in every sense. I have used this the most , along with my other MAC highlighter in the same finish line but this one would suit so many different skintones without exaggerating texture and lines on the skin! It is a baked formula which makes it perfect for oily skin as it adheres beautifully. For my dry skin girls out there , I would wear a cream formula under this as it does tend to sometimes look unnatural due to the fact that dry skin is often dull and it gives the illusion of a stripe on the cheek, not blending well into the skin that defeats the purpose. So I would wear this very lightly on it's own but it looks stunning paired with a cream base under it ' anything from Becca cream highlighters or Shell by MAC or even Maybelline Strobing Sticks. 

It retails for AUD 48 here in Australia at MAC counters and online! In India it retails for Rs 2600 at MAC counters or stores and online exclusively at Nykaa.com 

Australia : 
http://www.maccosmetics.com.au/product/13849/30735/products/makeup/face/powder/mineralize-skinfinish#/shade/Soft_%26_Gentle

India :
http://www.nykaa.com/m-a-c-mineralize-skinfinish-soft-gentle.html?skuId=88776#Meganav-brand-h



Thankyou for reading! Lots of love x