Review: essence of | BEAUTY Deluxe Duo Set

I saw these brushes in makeup videos by Michelle Phan and DulceCandy87 and thought to my self, those would be great to use as travel brushes.

These essence of BEAUTY brushes are available from CVS (similar to Guardian or Watsons) but for us in Malaysia, we can get these either via eBay or spree-ers.  I'll be doing sprees soon so do let me know what kind of products (clothes & cosmetics/beauty products) from the US would you be interested in.

The set comes with a card/leaflet with tips on brush usage and a resealable plastic case.  A brief guide to what each brush end is for is also printed on the back of the plastic case.  Handles seems to be wooden with a gorgeous see through glaze and black metal ferules.

First, there's the double ended Foundation & Concealer Brush:

The foundation brush is huge!  Bristles are an inch and half long and nicely tapered at the top and 2cm wide.  Made of synthetic bristles this is perfect for applying liquid foundation or blending out concealer (used together with the concealer brush) as demonstrated in some of Michelle's videos on YouTube.  *smiles*

The concealer end is about 1.5cm in length and 1cm wide with the same type of bristles as the foundation brush.  Bristles are very densely packed into the ferule and has a stiff to flexible feel.  These brushes are super soft with no scratchy feel on the skin.  Works nicely with cream concealer for concealing dark circles, and redness around the sides of the nose and blemishes.

The next combo is the Blush & Powder Brush:

I'm not too sure what fibres make up the bristles for this brush but again, these are extremely soft (and fluffy) and it being an angled brush as well, works well with the contours of the face for natural application of blush and bronzer.

This is most probably the smallest powder brush I've seen.  Looks like a smaller version of a paddle brush and about the same size as elf Studio's Blush Brush.  Bristles are relatively soft and due to it's size, I'd suggest using it for applying highlighting powder on the cheekbones, correcting powder and blush on the apples of the cheeks.  Since I'm using Revlon's ColorStay Mineral Foundation, a face powder brush is not as necessary during travelling because the foundation powder already comes with a swivel brush and I use a powder puff with my Cyber Colors Loose Powder.  *wink*

Last in the set is the Blending & Eye Shadow Brush:

Above is how the blending end looks like.  Bristles are 1.5cm wide and the same lengthwise.  These bristles are soft and fluffy with a flat wider top.  This is a pretty big brush to be used on the eye area but by dipping the flat top into the eyeshadow and used the brush to pack on colour on the lids.  The suggested use of this brush by the manufacturer is for blending concelaer and foundation around the eye area.

Here's the eye shadow brush end.  Looks similar to elianto's angled eye shadow brush only a whole lot softer and non-scratchy.  This is perfect for the crease areas and applying highlighting colour beneath the brows.  Great for adding definition depth to the eyes for a sophisticated and deep look for night time.  With lighter eye shadow shades, this would make a perfect outer corner brush for day.

I'm generally in love with this set and can't wait to bring it with me travelling.  All I need to add to this is a good eye liner (liquid or kohl) and my basic makeup products.