Real Techniques Core Collection Review

Hello lovelies,

It seems ages ago now that I told you I'd finally bought the RT Core Collection set. Before buying it I read several reviews (thank you blog land) and couldn't find a bad word said about it, so here's another by someone who's been won over by these brilliant brushes.

L-R: Buffing, Pointed Foundation, Detailer and Contour brush.

The Core Collection Set

The set is one of a few by Real Techniques and consists of four brushes which are designed to help you achieve a flawless base. The brushes themselves are all made from synthetic taklon bristles that feel incredibly smooth and very soft on skin. They're also very light to hold because of their aluminium handles. The brushes come in a black case (great for travelling) which doubles as a stand.

Contour Brush
At the moment I don't pay much attention to contouring (although I should because I know it can make such a huge difference) but I do use this to sweep highlighter in a few places and it's really good. It picks up a lot of product so I have to remember not to be heavy handed and to blend.

Pointed Foundation Brush
I don't use this brush much, purely because I prefer to apply my foundation with the buffer to really blend it in. If you like to use a proper foundation brush then this one is excellent quality and it's definitely a fall back for me.

Detailer Brush
This is quite a small brush that looks like your typical eye shadow brush. I hate the doe foot applicator that comes with my concealer so I use this instead for slapping a good amount on under my eyes or over spots.
This gives me a lot more control over how much concealer I want to apply and where I want it. I often feel like I'm painting with this brush. Being a detailer, it's just the right size for under eye patch ups and for covering pesky bits of blemished skin. Rather than just blobbing the product on in a thick lump, this allows you to spread it thinly or build it up.

Buffing Brush
This was the one that drew me to the collection, I was after a brush that I could use to apply liquid foundation and I'd narrowed it down to the expert face brush or this one, which is only available as part of the set. I weighed up my options and decided that spending a bit extra to get 3 more brushes was too tempting not to do.
This is the main brush I use. I put a few blobs of foundation on my face (cheeks, chin and forehead). Starting with my cheeks I start spreading the foundation around using circular motion and just do this repeatedly on the different areas of my face until it's all covered.
I also use this after applying my blusher. I like to just give a quick couple of sweeps over the blushed area to ensure that it's blended in well.
I can honestly say I don't know what I did before I had this. It just makes it so much quicker and easier to apply my foundation and the effect is excellent. I never used to feel like my make up was applied well but now I have this I don't even need great light to do my make up as I can be totally sure that it's all blended in well and I've not got the dreaded streaky make up look!

Overall
As I've said I was only really after the buffing brush, but now that I've got this set I'm really impressed with the general quality of the brushes and how well they work. I definitely get the most use out of the buffer and detailer, with the least used being the foundation brush.

There's more info about how to use the brushes on the Real Techniques website.

I bought my brushes from Amazon for just under £20 but they're also available at Boots and several other online retailers.

Lauren x