QUO ***LIMITED EDITION*** BUTTERFLY BRUSH COLLECTION

HI ALL,

Today's post is about a brush set that I fell in love with, but opted to wait for it to go on sale before buying it. So luckily I did manage to get myself a set for half price today.

So let's not delay and take a look.

Obviously the first big selling point here for me is the butterfly design on the handles. This is so beautiful and as some of you may see in my pictures on Instagram I have a large butterfly tattoo on my chest, so that is something I love and is close to my heart.

 

 

I love how most times Quo also offers a cute accessory with their sets. In this case it's a nice bright summer turquoise clutch. This is intended to be used as a makeup bag or one could carry a small wallet, keys and a favorite lip gloss for on the go. I think I am actually going to use it for that purpose.

 

 

Again I am loving the small gold metal butterfly toggle attached to the zipper pull. Cute yet functional.

 

So the first brush is the FOUNDATION BRUSH which will apparently provide a seamless application, I will have to follow up on this claim. The brushes are all incredibly soft and this one is very nicely packed and dense. The one thing I find with applying makeup with a foundation brush is most times it does streak no matter the brush. So you must buff out your foundation after application to make it flawless or close to it.

 

 

Then we have the CONCEALER BRUSH, which essentially is just a smaller version of the foundation brush and obviously not as thick. My first impression is that it seems like it will get into smaller area's well, will shall see.

 

 

Following that is a beautiful bushy super soft BLUSH BRUSH. I for one like something smaller for blush and I don't use blush all the time, so I will probably tend to use this more for face powder or all over bronzer.

 

 

My only one small complaint about this particular brush is that for the amount of money these sets cost I feel that every single brush should be lovingly manicured. You should not have any splaying bristle's off the sides ( if you can see them in the pic).

 

The next brush in the set is the SHADOW DEFINER BRUSH. This is a very nice small but thick brush that you will be able to pack a lot of colour on to the eye with and get that super saturated look. As well you will be able to get in to the crease well with it because it's a perfect size even for those with hooded lids.

 

 

Next up is the CREASE BLENDER BRUSH. This brush is very nicely tapered at the top and the bristles hold together well when doing the circular motion when your blending out your eyeshadow. 

 

 

It also seems this will work well blending out small areas of the eye that can often be more tedious to get at.

 

Then we have this odd GEL LINER BRUSH. I say odd because it is not actually a brush but a small pointed silicone or rubber nib. I just tested this with my Essence gel liner and it seems to get it started in a smooth line is tricky. I will have to play with it more before I give a final conclusion. As of right now it's not the most favorable brush of the bunch.

 

 

Then there is the LINER/BROW DEFINER BRUSH which seems pretty standard with other definer's I have. This brush is slightly smaller and would seem it's a little bit more rigid which will give a very definite line and fill. When trying it on the back of my hand it feels like it might have a very tiny bit of drag to it. I decided to try it with a bit of brow pencil on my brow and it seems pretty good, but that's just my first impression, only time will tell.

 

 

If you want to use it to push liner between your lashes beware that it does feel a bit abrasive.

 

Lastly is the LIP BRUSH which to me I don't see anything super extraordinary about it. I find it is like many other's I have or have had. I don't often use lip brushes to apply lip colour so it's not a big concern. Many times I find other makeup applications to use those brushes for so either way it's a win/win situation for me.

 

 

My over all first impression of this set is that it is a decent set for the amount I paid. I probably would not pay full price for this set regardless of it's aesthetics. I love the butterfly printed handles and the weightiness of each brush. I think the brushed gold ferrules with the embossed Quo insignia is a strong highlight. The cute clutch is just an added bonus.

 

I do look forward to trying out these brushes for my next makeup application and within the month I hope to do a follow up on my final thoughts about the set as a whole.

 

This set is 8 brushes with the clutch and it's regular price is $50, however I paid $25.

This is limited edition, so if it tickles your fancy to give it a go head to a Shopper's Drug Mart near you as they will soon be gone for good.

Once QUO collections go on sale they don't get them again. First come, first serve.

 

www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca

to find your nearest location.

 

If you have been saving Optimum points you can get this item now with 22,000 points.

 

ENJOY THE SUN SHINE EVERYONE, WEAR SUNSCREEN and

 

STAY BEAUTIFUL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

********REAL TECHNIQUES MAKE-UP BRUSHES************

Hope your all having a lovely last week end of April. The sun is shining and it's a nice 20 degrees outside and its been the best week end we have had yet here in the GTA.

So here it is one of the most sought after sets of brushes available at this time and they are being reviewed here today. REAL TECHNIQUES created by Samantha Chapman and if you don't know who she is she and sister Nicola are known as Pixiwoo who have taken the YouTube world by storm.

Many of the YouTube beauty guru's started talking about these brushes and one of the first people I noticed using them was none other then Nicole Guerriero the recent winner of Ryan Seacrest's favorite makeup guru contest and she actually beat out Pixiwoo.

I was a little skeptical about purchasing these as I know many YouTube makeup guru's do make money from endorsing certain products even if they per say were maybe not even that great. However I finally broke down a couple of weeks ago and bought two of the sets which is the CORE SET and the STARTER EYE SET. Each set cost me $21 Canadian at my local Walmart which is the best price I have seen for them.

So I am going to now post the pictures and then give you my thoughts on these brushes over all.

                                       CORE SET WITH ORANGE METALLIC HANDLES

                                       STARTER EYE SET WITH PURPLE METALLIC HANDLES

The base of the handle on these brushes have a silicone grip which is good for a person like me who is always dropping things. The one thing you will notice about these brushes is that they don't actually have a ferrule which kind of makes me question if this is why some people have posted pics of the bristles/hairs coming out. I for one have not encountered this problem and also hope that I don't. However I also have not tried washing these brushes as of yet which seems to be when others are facing this problem. Only time will tell.

 

 

The "Core Set" consists of four brushes so starting from the top picture is the DETAILER BRUSH and the next one is the POINTED FOUNDATION BRUSH followed by the CONTOUR BRUSH and lastly the BUFFING BRUSH.

The second set which is the "Starter Eye Set" offers five brushes again starting at the top is the PIXEL-POINT EYELINER BRUSH then there is the ACCENT BRUSH third is the BROW BRUSH and then the BASE SHADOW BRUSH and rounded out with the DELUXE CREASE BRUSH.

So here are my thoughts about "Real Techniques" or any brush for that matter. A brush is only as good as the hand that holds it. Yes you may have a stunning brush, but if you don't know the basic foundations of makeup application no brush is going to help you it only might make it less of a nightmare.

However I have tried many brushes over the past twenty years and "Real Techniques" for the price are a great starting point for anyone looking to get a decent set together for a minimal price. Out of all the brushes I would say the BUFFING BRUSH is my favorite it does a nice job cleaning up your foundation. I have heard rave reviews about the MULTI-TASK BRUSH that comes in the travel essentials kit. I probably will pick this up too as I do like the fact that the brush handles are made of light weight aluminum and seem to be just the right size in terms of length. The only other down side I noticed is with the smaller brushes like the pixel point eyeliner it is so tiny in terms of the circumference that it is harder for a person with bigger hands to hang on to.
The brushes are quite soft especially being that they are made from synthetics which is often a difficult task to accomplish, but certainly not the softest brushes I have ever felt.
I really like the brush handle colors and look forward to seeing what will come of these brushes in the future. Obviously by reviewing brushes and getting feed back this can only help Samantha Chapman in the future for tweaking the "Real Technique" brushes and maybe even coming back with something near to perfect. You can't please everyone all the time and for some this maybe the perfect brush right now, but if you have a long history of using cosmetics and brushes you will notice any makeup tools short comings right from the get go.

 

 

I do like these brushes and will continue to use them, but it won't stop me from buying and trying many other types and brands. Its like a painter, you can never have to many brushes.

Good Luck "Real Techniques" for a bright future.

 

 

You can purchase "Real Techniques" at Walmart stores across Canada

or you can visit the Real Techniques website at

http://realtechniques.com/

OR

http://phoenixbeautylounge.com/

 

 

So grab yourself some Real Techniques brushes today it will help you to

STAY BEAUTIFUL XO