So I'm a little late with the 'what I got for Christmas' post - I like reading other people's, but I don't particularly like splashing mine over the internet. That and I'm too busy playing with my new goodies to photograph them right away!
However, if there's a gift relevant to my blog and worthy of a post, it's this. My boyfriend went out on a limb and decided that what I needed for Christmas was a set of makeup brushes. Little did he know that's exactly what I wanted! Based on his own research, on Christmas Day I was the proud new owner of the ELF Studio Brush Collection, and I haven't looked back.
While ELF have several ranges of cosmetic brushes, these are the professional set, and you can definitely feel the difference in quality. It's an eleven piece set with a range of brushes that are all useful, something which I've found is difficult to come across in most sets available online (I mean, who needs four eyeshadow brushes anyway?!). While I haven't used all of them yet, the majority of the brushes have been used every day since Christmas.
The set includes a large, fluffy complexion blush, a flat-topped powder brush, an angled blusher brush, angled foundation brush, fan-shaped blending brush, a contouring brush, a tiny precision brush for spots and pores, a fluffy eye shadow brush and an ever fluffier shadow blending brush and two smudging brushes (one angled, one precise). To fill it out and make sure I had everything I needed, my boy added in a foundation stippling brush, a lash comb and a brow wand.
The brushes are presented in a sleek black zip-up case, small and flat and perfect for throwing in your bag for travelling. The brushes themselves are also incredibly sleek, all in black with the purpose of each brush stencilled into their handles. The brushes are very full and thick, and extremely soft to touch. I've found that this makes for very easy application and blending, with no dragging of the skin, no smudging and no need to keep going over the same area.
All brushes can be used wet or dry and are multipurpose; I, however, prefer to have one for each use and know where I stand with them. I may be persuaded to experiment, after seeing Gem Fatale using the flat-topped powder brush for liquid foundation (I imagine it would be much like the Sigma F80, a beauty blogger's favourite), but for now it works wonders with loose powder. I like to use the large complexion brush for highlighter, as it creates a soft glow, with no chance of any sparkle being focused in a particular place.
If you've shopped online at ELF before, you'll know they're renowned for their budget prices as well as their quality, so you may be surprised to hear the price of the Studio Brush Collection. It currently retails for £38.50, which may seem a little extreme on a budget site. However, if you think about it, Real Techniques sets retail for around £20 for 4 brushes, and the Sigma F80 retails for a whopping £18, so it's actually a bargain! If you need more convincing, think about it like this: each brush will cost you £3.50. For the quality of these brushes, and the results you get from them, I'd say that's well worth the investment!
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