Don’t get me wrong, Crown do great brushes for teeny tiny prices – but for just a few quid more (at IMATS anyway), it appears that Royal make even more beautiful, sturdy feeling brushes. This is the SILK Greenline set – a spin-off of their SILK Pro line that boasts eco-friendly features including bamboo handles, a cork case, chrome plated nickel ferrules and all synthetic fibres. It features 12 absolutely wonderful brushes, which I’ll show you individually now:
:: Powder GL-1 – This might be one of the softest brushes I’ve EVER used, no word of a lie! It’s a nice big size with quite a rounded belly. The bristles have plenty of give, but aren’t floppy – and it has the perfect density for distributing powder evenly over the face. Dipping or swirling this into your face powder once and giving it a quick tap ensures you won’t look caked.
:: Blush GL-2 – My new favourite blush brush! Wonderfully soft and pliable. Quite a bit more so than my usual blush brushes, which are often denser. It’s hard to overdo even the most pigmented blushes with this.
:: Foundation GL-7 – Got to be honest, haven’t used this one as I’m not a fan of this style of foundation brush, but if you do like flat foundation brushes I’m sure this would be a winner thanks to it’s soft-but-firmness and synthetic bristles.
:: Concealer GL-11 – I must say, I prefer this as a stiff (but still soft!) eyeshadow brush for packing colour on – I prefer a fluffier brush for concealer.
:: Eyeshadow GL-3 – Again, excellent for packing colour onto the lid, but soft enough to use for just sweeping a wash of colour over the lid. Very densely packed bristles in this one!
:: Eye Fluff GL-6 – Love this one! Rather bendy and pliable, but (as the name implies) fluffy – makes it great for washing colour over the lid or even blending in a pinch. I’ve been using it a lot to apply a brow highlight colour and blend it into my crease colour. The angle on it is great for working around the contour of the eyes.
:: Smudger GL-4 – Possibly my favourite brush out of the whole set. Looove it. Also probably the stiffest brush out of the lot, but it’s absolutely perfect for densely applying colour in a specific shape through the crease before blending it out. I love it!
:: Eyeliner/brow GL-8 – Naturally great for the eyebrows; equally with wax or powder, since it’s synthetic. I have my dedicated brow brushes, though, so I’m loving using this one to apply shadow neatly to my lower lashline.
:: Liner GL-5 – I wouldn’t ever use this as a liner brush in the sense of liquid or cream liner, anything that requires precision. But it works nicely to apply and blend out a smoky liner look with eyeshadow. Like a thinner, more flexible version of the Smudger.
:: Flat Liner GL-9 – Again, not my sort of brush for applying eyeliner but not bad for blending it out, although I do prefer an angled edge or a domed tip for that. Like the eyebrow brush, I’m using this more under the lower lashline.
:: Lip GL-12 – Well… it’s a lip brush. There’s not much you can say, is there? A nice medium stiffness with a pretty small head so very apt for lip products that require absolute precision, like OCC lip tars or anything super bright.
:: Brow/Lash GL-10 – Ahh, this is the one thing that always feels like a waste of a space in a brush set. The infernal bloody brow/lash comb! This one’s double ended, with a spoolie on one side (best for combing through brows in my opinion) and a metal lash comb, which is more welcome than those nasty bristled ones. Even so, I always begrudge seeing these in brush sets knowing that there could be another fabulous brush in there instead!
Overall, this is a really lovely quality brush set. They all feel nice and weighty in the hand, and not one of them has shed even a single hair. Now, the RRP on this is $119. I certainly don’t feel that’s bad value for the quality, in fact it’s GOOD value. But if you’re interested in giving Royal brushes a try, I do suggest waiting until IMATS 2013 because the prices are MUCH cheaper. This set was up for £20 at IMATS this year. So it’s definitely worth waiting!
Royal & Langnickel also gave me another similar set to this to give away to you guys, I’ll be including it in my giveaway which is definitely coming soon – I’m holding out until my 500th post for it! :)
