zoeva rose golden luxury brush set

At long last I have jumped aboard the Zoeva brush bandwagon. Besides trying out a Sigma set when I first started blogging (6 years ago!), and investing in the odd Mac and Real Techniques brush, I've never owned a proper brush set as such. Although brush sets are a considerable investment, I truly do believe that they are the basis of building up a decent makeup collection. All the better if they're rose gold too.

After giving each and every brush a good test out, I can confirm that they are well worth the hype surrounding them. My award of favourite brush has to go to the 104 Buffer simply because it's such a great allrounder at applying liquid, cream and powder foundation. I'm going to put it out there and go as far as to say that it's without a doubt the best foundation brush that I've ever used. Second best is 109 Luxe Face Paint (the fanned out looking one) as it's perfect to create a precise contour on the cheeks without loading on too much product. There truly isn't one single brush in the whole set that I won't be using on a regular basis and that has been anything less than the standard of even Mac brushes. I also love how the handles are slightly shorter than most brushes, meaning that they don't end up taking up more than their fair share of space in a makeup bag. 

Although I'm hugely impressed by the set, I'm not such a fan of the clutch case that is included and think they look a million times prettier in a Mac clear case. If you've spent a decent amount of money on a brush set you want to be able to show them off right?

The set without a doubt gets my *buy it, you won't regret it* stamp of approval and in the way of value for money I'd say they are spot on for price!

ZOEVA ROSE GOLDEN VOL 2 LUXURY BRUSH SET - £56.95

real techniques duo-fiber collection

My love from Real Techniques brushes has been growing at a rapid pace as of late, they have such a luxury feel but are set at just the right price-point meaning it's easy to quickly build up a collection of great brushes. The duo-fiber versions are perfect to gently buff powders into the skin with, I much prefer using these over regular powder brushes as I find they give a much more natural finish and don't cake the skin in product. The eye brush does a great job at blending harsh lines if you are creating a smokey eye, the contour brush allows you to create a chiseled cheekbone effect without the fear of applying too much product and finally the face brush which is ideal for a adding a sweep of face powder. I also find the contour brush really good for applying highlighter too as it ensures you don't end up looking like a glittery disco ball. If you are a fan of gently blended and soft looking make up (who isn't?) these are well worth adding to your brush collection.

REAL TECHNIQUES DUO-FIBER COLLECTION - £23.99 

sigma brushes reviews

The lovely people at Sigma have sent me a few more brushes to review. The brushes that were sent to me a few months ago have all held up really well and still work just as good. Here is what I got sent..

Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki - F80
$16.00 (£10.11)

A lot of people describe this as their 'holy grail' foundation brush and to be honest they are right on the money. If you want a brush that you can use for liquid foundation, cream foundation and powders then this is perfect and extremely versatile. I find that it works flawlessly along with maybelline dream matte mousse and they are literally a match made in heaven. It works equally as well with liquid foundation and blends it into the skin perfectly. The only issue that I have with the brush is that it is difficult to clean as it is so dense, it takes forever to get all the product out of the bristles and to dry off. However, if you aren't willing to pay for lots of different brushes for your different foundations then this brush is ideal for you.

Tapered Highlighter - F35
$16.00 (£10.11)

I use this brush for contouring, and I swear, it is amazing. I am far from a pro when it comes to complicated things like contouring and for years I have been trying to perfect the skill, but as soon as I got this brush I have been getting my contouring on my cheeks just right every time. Used with a light hand and the correct bronzer colour (sleek contour palette) it is as easy as pie. It also works just as well with highlighter and applies just the right amount.

Blending - E25
$9.00 (£5.69)

Yet again, a perfect brush. It does the job of blending out eyeshadow to create a smokey eye or to smudge eyeliner brilliantly. It is slightly dense so is really easy to work with and takes half the time to blend eyeshadow compared to a normal blending brush. I've been using this every day since it arrived to smudge my eyeliner and I can't fault it.

Buffer - F45
$19.00 (£12.01)

I have been forever wanting to splurge on a Mac kabuki brush but never quite managed to go through with the purchase as they cost £31.50 each! So the sigma buffer brush seemed like the best option. I also use this everyday to apply my Mac face powder and it does the job well. It's very soft and buffs the powder into my skin really well. The only downside is that, as you can see, it has slightly lost it's shape.

I would seriously recommend you to make an order with Sigma, if you are a complete beginner to make up or fairly experienced. You really can't go wrong by ordering some of their brushes as they are most definitely the best option on the market, both for price and quality. They deliver to the UK and shipping is quick, so go for it!

Click here to head straight to the Sigma website. 

My previous review of the Sigma professional brushes complete kit and comparison to Mac brushes. 

sigma professional brushes complete kit vs mac brushes

Last week I received a very exciting package from Sigma! The brushes came roughly one week after I had an email from Sigma confirming they had been shipped, which was great. I have been lusting after a brush set by them for what seems like forever, and finally I have my hands on them. I was sent the brushes for reviewing purposes and have managed to keep schtum about it on twitter so that I could wait to do a blog post about them. I know that they are very popular as a cheaper alternative to Mac brushes, but for some reason I never expected the quality of the brushes to be 'that good' as people were saying. It just seemed to me that brushes so inexpensive surely couldn't be compared to Mac brushes. Well I was so wrong as actually some of the brushes are better than a few of my similar Mac brushes. I have no idea why anyone would buy loads of Mac brushes these days when you can easily buy just as good if not better brushes from Sigma for less than half the price. Don't get me wrong, there are a few Mac brushes that I haven't seen dupes for, which are worth buying, but for the main part, buy Sigma! I was kicking myself that I had ever spent that money on Mac brushes in the first place instead of getting Sigma brushes. I obviously am not going to do an in depth review of each brush, if there isn't any review for the brush, then there isn't anything to say, apart from it does exactly what it was made for!

SIGMA PROFESSIONAL BRUSHES COMPLETE KIT

Left to right:

Powder Brush, Duo Fibre Brush, Foundation Brush, Large Angled Contour Brush, Large Shader Brush, Concealer Brush, Tapered Blending Brush, Eye Shading Brush, Medium Angled Shading Brush, Pencil Brush, Small Angle Brush, Eyeliner Brush.

LARGE POWDER BRUSH

This brush is super super soft and amazing at applying face powder. You can literally put all your face powder on in just a few strokes using this brush. It glides over the skin beautifully and it is one of the softest make up brushes I have ever felt.

DUO FIBRE BRUSH

It is pretty much an exact dupe of the Mac 187 brush. I do slightly prefer the Mac brush though because of the shape. As you can see in the pictures, the Mac brush is slightly more rounded and the brissles are much firmer making it easier to blend in foundation. However, the Sigma brush is a very good dupe and for the price its well worth skipping the Mac brush for it.

Top - Mac 187

Bottom - Sigma Duo Fibre Brush

Left - Sigma

Right - Mac

FOUNDATION BRUSH

I am completely in love with this brush! I have been using it for about a week now and it makes my liquid foundation blend into my skin perfectly and flawlessly. My Mac 190 is really old so I can't compare them as it needs chucking out. But you can see they look very similar and probably perform exactly the same. I would repurchase the Sigma foundation brush again & again without a doubt. It is just perfect!

Left - Sigma Foundation Brush

Right - Mac 190 Foundation Brush

LARGE ANGLED CONTOUR BRUSH

This brush is really good for adding a touch of blusher to the cheeks but I much prefer the Mac 168 contour brush. The Mac brush is much firmer which gives you a lot more control over the brush, whereas the Sigma brush is too floppy for my liking. But again, it is worth buying if you don't want such a 'professional' finish.

LARGE SHADER BRUSH

CONCEALER BRUSH

This works perfectly at pushing concealer into the skin. Again, it is an all round great brush and works really well.

Top - Mac 224 Blending Brush

Bottom - Sigma Blending Brush

In my opinion, the Sigma brush is much better than the Mac Blending Brush. It is slightly more firm than the Mac brush which makes it much better for blending eyeshadow as you get more control.

Left - Eye Shading Brush

Right - 213 Mac Fluff Brush

They pretty much do the same thing but the Sigma brush lays down more eyeshadow on the lid as it is wider, so therefore it is better.

MEDIUM ANGLED SHADING BRUSH

PENCIL BRUSH

SMALL ANGLE BRUSH

The Mac eyeliner brush is much more precise than the sigma one. I wouldn't really recommend buying the Sigma as doesn't apply the eyeliner in a thin enough line, for me.

I purchased these little plastic beads on ebay for less than £3 including postage, it means that you can find your favourite vase or jug to put your brushes in, and they will all stand up straight!

A few of the brushes had plastic brush protecters sent with them which is great for stopping them from being shaped funnily while they are in my make up bag.

Here is the manual that was sent with the brush set, it has all the brushes in it and describes what the use for each one is really well.

Overall, I would highly recommend this brush set to everyone. It would make such a great investment, and it really transforms the way you put on make up. You can buy the brush set on the Sigma website here for roughly £47.68/$69, it is well worth it, trust me! I will definitely be re-purchasing Sigma brushes in the future. I just hope that more people invest in these beauties!