Real Techniques Nic's Picks Brush Set - Pictures and Thoughts

I was happy to receive the Real Techniques Nic's Picks brush set for Christmas from my mom (hi mom!) this year. I'm going to post some pictures and talk a little bit about each of the brushes in the set, but I'm not going to give it a graded review, since brushes can be quite the personal thing, and everyone is looking for something different in a brush. Also, this set is Limited Edition, so it may be hard to track down now.

Real Techniques Duo Fiber brush

The Duo Fiber brush has longer, somewhat stipple like bristles, and is somewhat floppy. According to Real Techniques, it is "for lightweight application + blending of face powder or pigments." Lightweight is right - with how long and not very dense the brush is, you don't pick up much product at all. I used it to apply my finishing powder (Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused) and I barely noticed how much was on the brush, or how much was on my face. I honestly don't think it would be a very good blending brush, just because you'd end up bending half the bristles onto your face when you applied pressure. I can see this being used for very light application of a loose powder or a finishing powder.

Real Techniques Cheek brush

The Cheek  brush that comes with the set looks like a larger, more elongated version of the Expert Face Brush in the Real Techniques line. It's dense, a little denser than my Hakuhodo J210 brush that I also use for blush. I've been using this brush for blush application only, as I feel it's a bit too large, round, and dense for anything like contour or highlighter application - at least for my face. The brush picks up a decent amount of product, and you can also use it to blend out the edges of your blush. This brush is exclusive to the Nic's Picks set, but I hope they make it available to buy as a single brush, as it's something a lot of people could definitely make use of.

Real Techniques Base Shadow brush

The Base Shadow brush that comes in the set is really only good for just that - base shadow. It's great for putting down a nice wash of a shade, but other than that...it isn't really that great. It definitely isn't the brush you'd want to pack color on, or to get something to look vibrant. I've been using it to place my base shadow, and it gets the job done quick. This brush is pretty soft, and distributes eyeshadow nicely. It can also be used to blend out edges, but I would want something that's a little more dense at the tip of the brush for that. 

Real Techniques Angled Shadow brush

The Angled Shadow brush is another exclusive to this set. I'm not a fan of angled brushes for my eyeshadow, but I did use it for contouring my nose with great success! This brush is a little more dense than the Base Shadow brush, so it picks up more product, and deposits it in a more bold fashion. I did use this brush with eyeshadow, but since my eyes are small, the brush was too big for sweeping on a nice arc of color, I had to blend it out a bit. 

Real Techniques Eyeliner brush

The Eyeliner brush is another set exclusive - here's hoping they release this one as a single so those wanting a quality angled brush can get their hands on it. I tried using this for eyeliner, but it is too big for what I would normally do with gel liner. The bristles are this are firm, but a little flexible, so you can glide the brush along your lash line. I will probably keep experimenting with this brush, use it with dark eyeshadow for liner, and try it in my brows.