Review: Crown Brush New Syntho Series *

Ello lovelies!

I have a very exciting review for you lovely lot today and just a little warning, its a long one! I've been testing out the new Crown Brush Syntho Series brushes for a couple of weeks now and thought it was about time i shared my thoughts on them. I'd just like to say although i was sent these for review, as always my opinion will be 100% honest any my own. I've picked up quite a few Crown Brushes over the last year or so and I've got a couple of reviews up on the brushes I've purchased, so if you'd like to check those out, click here or here. 

My first experience with Crown was nearly a year and a half ago at IMATS London 2012, i picked up quite a few brushes which have become staples in my daily routine since. Considering the switch up with IMATS dates this year i just got too impatient and couldn't wait any longer. I picked up a few more brushes including their HD Set, again you can check out the review of that here. 

Their Syntho range are 100% vegan, synthetic brushes and Crown have recently added some exciting new additions to the range and I'll be sharing some of these with you today. All of these are absolutely beautifully soft and I've not experienced shedding with any of them at all, which is great! They all feature matte black handles that do not absorb product or oils. I just wish they had the names of each brush printed on the handle, that really is my only real small problem with the range. But that really is a such a minor complaint.

Syntho Pointed Kabuki - £15.99

This was probably the brush i was most excited to try out as i own nothing like it in my collection. I own a few regular kabuki brushes but those are more suited to powder application and i always have my trusty one in my makeup bag for touches on the go. But this beauty is a little different and is designed for use with cream or liquid products. 

I've mentioned before that i have a love / hate relationship with my Nars Sheer Glow Foundation, well this brush has eliminated the hate part... I'd always had issues working out the best application method but this brush applies it like an absolute dream. The shape and the fact it is tapered makes application around the harder the reach areas of the face like around the nose just so simple. I use circular movements like suggested and it just blends and melts the foundation into the skin so effortlessly. I absolutely adore it! Needless to say, I've been wearing my Sheer Glow nearly every since day since. If you have application issues with any of your foundations i really suggest giving this brush a try, I can't wait to hook out some of my more problematic foundations.

Syntho Deluxe Fan - £13.99

Another brush i own absolutely nothing like in my collection! This is probably one of the largest, softest Fan brushes I've ever seen. I suffer with quite dry skin and have a tendency to over powder so I've now switched up my regular powder brush for this little gem. Crown suggest using this brush to sweet over set makeup and remove any excess powder, but I've been using it apply a light dusting of powder to set my makeup! I find that it applies just enough and removes any chance of my over powdering my face to death. I've also been doubling up its uses to apply a light dusting of highlighter too, such a handy brush!

Syntho Precision Powder - £11.99

A true multitasker. Tapered brushes are my absolutely favourite for applying contour or blush and this gem works fabulously for both. This might be larger than your average contour brush for some people, but its no secret i prefer a bigger brush for that purpose. Its tapered shape makes blending colour a breeze and ass the brush is so soft its very hard to pick up too much product which is great if you're heavy handed like me.

Syntho Angled Shader - £4.99

I've been using this primarily to set my under eye concealer as it just blends to beautifully but I've also been doubling it up to apply a quick wash of colour on the lids on my lazy days. Crown suggest using this for both cream or liquid products and is a great shape and size for contouring the nose which is something I'm eager to try out.

Syntho DLX Blending Crease - £4.99

I picked up a couple of their C441 Pro Blending Crease brushes in my last Crown haul and this to me, is the Syntho equivalent. Its slightly softer than the Pro brush and is slightly more pinched at the ferrule, but both are corkers for blending. I've been using my Naked Basics to do a more subtle, matte, neutral eye and this brush is absolutely perfect for it!

Syntho Blending Fluff - £4.99

An absolute gem of a blending brush. I'm really regretting my pricey 217 purchase from a few months back now as there are really some extremely comparable brushes available fro brands including Crown and this one is one of my favourites. Its wonderful for blending shadow and I will 100% be picking up a back up or two of this at IMATS next month.

Syntho Angled Fluff - £3.49

My go-to for applying and blending highlight to the brow bone, or if I'm feeling really lazy even a quick sweep in the inner corner too.

Syntho Mini Concealer - £3.49

Ignoring the name, this is a great simple lay down brush and is fab for applying paint pots or cream shadows. Like with any brush, you can use it for absolutely anything you want and I do love playing around with brushes for different purposes.

Syntho Chisel Shader - £4.49

I've been making a conscious effort to get out of using plain black liquid liner with every look. I've been trying to use pencil / gel liners a lot more frequently and this brush is absolutely perfect for smudging, setting and blending them out for me.

Syntho Brow Duo - £3.99

I'm going to say something a little controversial here, but i don't actually own a spoolie... How did i go so long without one?! This brush is a fab brow combo and I've been using this without fail every day. If I'm leaving the house without a full face of makeup i will generally slap on some mascara and make sure my brows are done. The angled side is sense but not too stiff which makes it my favourite type of brow brush as I prefer softer lines.

This has been a bit of a rave review hasn't it? If i wasn't a Crown convert before, i really am now. I picked up a few pricier brushes from MAC a while ago which i haven't featured on the blog because i just really wasn't that overwhelmed by them. But for great quality at a fraction of the price i will definitely be picking up more Crown brushes in the future. I'm sure a few of these will pop up in my next favourites video too.

You can check out the Crown Brush Syntho Series here.

Have you tried any Crown brushes? Which are your favourites?

Let me know!

xox

My Top 5 Eye Brushes

 

Hello Lovelies!

So today I've got the next instalment of my "Top 5" series! Like i mentioned in the first post i wasn't really keen on doing a "Collection" post, so i decided to do a Top 5 of all the things i love, which seemed like a much better idea than me! Although i may do a post on my storage, when i can finally manage to get it all tidy!

I'm not too fussy when it comes to eye brushes, I'm much more likely to spend a bit more on face brushes since shadow isn't something i wear every day. But even so I've got some firm favourites in my collection and i don't see these changing any time soon!

Crown Brush C433 Pro Blending Fluff
Now its not the particular brand of brush i like on this one, its the shape. As you're probably all aware its very similar to a popular Mac blending brush and there are plenty of copies or dupes available. I have similar brushes from Sigma and Bdellium Tools and love them all pretty much equally! I love the fact its multipurpose, i can use it for concealer, i can use it for blending or I've even used it for an entire lazy smokey eye in the past just using both sides of the brush. Personally, i think this type of brush is a collection staple, everyone should own one!

Sigma Small Angle E65

Again i have a Crown brush that works just as well as this one, but this is my brow staple! Its the only thing it gets used for as I'm not fond of gel liner. Its firm enough to be precise but not too firm its scratchy. Not too much to say about this one really.

Elf Professional Blending Eye Brush

This brush gets a LOT of love, and for good reason too! Okay so its not the softest brush in the world and it has shed slightly but i absolutely LOVE it for blending / crease work. I have 5 or 6 of these beauties as i went a little mad at the last 50% off sale but i don't regret buying them one bit. I have smaller eyes so this makes blending a dream and fits perfectly into my crease. For people with smaller eyes, or for more detailed work they do a crease brush that works wonders too. Its not fancy, but at £1.50 you can't complain!

Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush

 This is a little bit of a cheat brush for this category. Its designed as an eye brush, but i mainly use it for concealer. But that's under the eye, so that counts, right? It blends concealer like a dream, better than i dare say the crown brush does. Real Techniques have brought out some corkers when it comes to brushes and although the face ones are my favourites, this one does not disappoint! I also love it for applying highlight to the brow bone.

Elf Professional Eye Shadow Brush

 Another great, no frills, bargain brush from Elf. Again i have about 5 or 6 of these and i wouldn't be without them. Yes they shed slightly, but for a basic lay down brush, they do the job! If you're after fancy brushes, this one isn't for you but if your after a bargain I'd go check their website!

So thats it for Eye Brushes! I did have a little trouble narrowing these down to 5 brushes, but if i had an extra I'd certainly pop in a pencil brush! Next in the series, Lipsticks!

Are these any of your favourites? What do you recommend?

 

xox

My Top 5 Face Brushes

Heya lovelies!

I thought I'd start a little series today, "My Top Five...", starting with my favourite face brushes!

Thinking back to a few years ago i actually only owned one brush, an Avon Kabuki that i used for powder and blush and was a bit lapse on cleaning (ewww). But now I've got quite a small collection of different brushes so i thought I'd share some of my favourites. Most of these are relatively budget friendly, i don't own Mac brushes because i am just too stingy to part with that much money. But the ones i have, i love, and they do the job!

Real Techniques Contour Brush

I've got into highlighter in a big way recently, and this little beauty has probably been half the reason so. I personally find it too small for its suggested purpose but i adore it for highlighting. If I'd of done this post a month or so ago it'd be 60% different. Real Techniques brushes are my new love. Okay, so some of the sets have a few less great brushes but the couple of gems in the face set more than make up for it! This brush is a tapered, gorgeously soft beauty that just works perfectly for powder highlighters!

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

There's a good reason why this brush is so hyped about! Works perfectly for most of my liquid foundations and tinted moisturisers and leaves a beautifully blended, airbrushed finish. Again, a month or so ago i would of sworn by my Sigma F80, as i guess a lot of people would of been before discovering this brush. Like all the others its wonderfully soft, and just applies liquid foundation like a dream. Its not overly dense which i think is actually a good thing, since this drys a hell of a lot faster than other brushes. I'm SO glad i purchased this!

Real Techniques Powder Brush
So now I'm starting to sound repetitive, right? This is probably my favourite brush right now. I'd been trying so hard to keep loving my Sigma F20, but the dye had started to run whilst it was washed and it shed so much it looked like i had facial hair! Seriously, it was that bad! So this brush was a welcome addition to my collection. I've been wearing less powder recently but I've been loving this for a quick, less precise application of bronzer.

Crown C141 Small Chisel Blush
I picked this beauty up at IMATS earlier in the year and has been a staple in my makeup bag ever since. Its great for contouring and precise application of blush. I've had this almost constantly in my handbag for blush touch ups while I'm out as its small enough to shove in a small makeup bag. I think i only payed around £5 for it too, bargain!

Sigma F40 Large Angled Contour

Whilst having a love / hate relationship with a lot of my other Sigma brushes this one has remained a firm favourite. My only slight niggle is that it does slightly splay at the edges and stains particularly easy. Other than that its one of my most reached for brushes, perfect for contour and blush.

So i didn't want this post to be essay long but i thought I'd add a few honourable mentions:

Bdellium Tools - 953 Small Duo Fibre
Sigma F05 - Small Contour

Elf- Complexion Brush
Elf - Powder Brush
Sigma F80 - Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki

I'm really looking forward to writing this series, as I'd never really wanted to do a collection post but this gives me the opportunity to share more of my favourite products in different categories. Up next, eye brushes and lipsticks!

What are your favourite face brushes?


xox