Well this review has been long overdue. I got the Synthetic Face kit from Sigma, as one of my Christmas gifts last year. This kit comes with the three Sigmax high density brushes. Here's what they look like;
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| F80 Flat Top Kabuki F82 Round Top Kabuki F84 Angled Top Kabuki According to Sigmabeauty.com, these brushes are intended for high definition, flawless makeup application. The Sigmax filament is specially designed to apply both powder & liquid products without absorption into the fibers. The shape, density and height of the filaments were carefully engineered to perfectly buff products onto the skin, resulting in a high definition effect. Their description is truly accurate. I have never used such dense brushes before. While they are dense they are all incredibly soft & feel so nice on my skin. I have read that some people find these tougher to clean because they are so dense, but I didn't really find that to be the case. I use baby shampoo diluted with water in the palm of my hand. I swirl the brush around until clean & then rinse, careful not to allow water past the ferule. I do have to be sure to rinse these thoroughly, just to ensure I remove any trace of the soap. I find they take a bit longer to dry, than most of my brushes, but that doesn't bother me...I just have to plan ahead. Breaking them down individually, let's start with the the F84 (F=face in their brush numbering system).  The F84 is the Angled Top Kabuki and the one I have been using to apply my contour bronzer. I typically daub the brush into my bronzer and then turn it on it's side, so I'm applying it using the length of the brush first. I then hold it so that I use the entire span of the brush to blend it in. This works great for me (if you can picture it) and makes blending so much easier. It blends the product in so well that it's easy to remove any obvious lines, even with products that don't blend as easily. I think it might be a little tougher to use when applying blush as you could easily overdo it, but you just have to be aware of that. These brushes can really pack on the product! Next is the F82  The F82 is the Round Top Kabuki. It might be hard to tell from this picture, but you can see from the top photo how small the actual brush is. It is very domed & densely packed. This is the brush I have the most trouble with. First after only a few uses, the ferule came loose & it started to wiggle back and forth-I hate that. I did contact the company and they said they will be sending me a new brush (I'll keep you posted on that). Also I can't quite figure out how to use this properly. I have seen reviews that say they use it to buff foundation around their nose or that they use it for cream blushes. This brush is so densely packed, so in trying to buff my foundation around my nose I ended up removing most of it. The same goes for the cream blusher & I also removed most of the foundation underneath it. I'm going to have to work with this a bit longer to try and figure it out. Finally the F80  The F80 is the Flat Top Kabuki and my absolute favourite brush of the bunch! I do love my flat top brush from ELF, but this is better..hands down. The ELF brush is not nearly as dense & does not buff as well as this brush does, nor is it as soft. The F80 buffs both cream & powder foundations into my skin beautifully, especially the cream ones. I do feel like it gives some of that air brushed effect when I'm done. It's not a miracle worker mind you, you're skin is still your skin. But the product just looks less obvious and seamless on your face. None of these brushes have any issues with shedding. In fact I've barely lost a hair on any of the three, which is impressive. I am happy to own these brushes, but if you could only buy one I would highly recommend the F80, which retails for $16USD on the Sigma beauty website. I will definitely buy more brushes from this site, and have my eye on the small contour F05, the tapered highlighter brush F35..oh and the retractable kabuki, to name a few. I also got the Naughty in Black travel kit as a gift, but I haven't used those brushes enough to give you a full review yet. We all now know my issues with putting nice things aside & keeping them pristine and I'm really wanting to save this kit for actual 'travel'. Sigma really promotes their brushes among the beauty community, so just to be clear I was not sent any of these brushes and I have no affiliation with the company. These opinions are my own. Do you have any Sigma brushes? Which ones are on your wish list? |
