First Impression Friday: Tarte Stroke of Midnight Brush Set
So... this was an impulse buy from Macy's. I didn't even want to include it in a haul, cause I bought 2 tops from American Eagle that I'll do in a Style Saturday and this brush set... and I'll probably have a black friday haul... so I thought I'd do a first impression and Haul of this Tarte Brush Set.
So let me break this down for you.
The Value
I thought that this brush set was a really good value. Its $44, which is a lot of money. I have never bought a brush from a high end brand before. All of my brushes are Real Techniques, Elf, Up and Up, Ecotools, I have an I On Beauty Set that I love... I've tried a beuatyblender sponge... but I'd never pay $20 for a sponge! But I thought this was a good value because it comes with a brush that is in their regular line and its $34. So you're paying $10 more and getting 4 more brushes and a nice carrying case.
Another kind of weird thing about this set, but something that I think makes it a little bit better, is that there are 2 face brushes. And both of these brushes, I think are going to be foundation brushes. There is one thats an airbrush foundation brush and one that is a stipple brush. Stipple brushes can also be good for blush, this one is really dense though and I think it'd be better for foundation. A lot of brands include too many eye brushes in their brush sets I think... and thats not bad... but eye brushes are cheaper anyway and aren't always as useful. Spoolies are cheap and you can buy those in bulk. The lash combs aren't always that useful. Usually there is a smudger brush which is just basically a sponge tip applicator... so when there are lots of those in brush kits... I tend to not think they're the best bang for your buck.
Another thing I like about this is that it looks like these brushes can kind of multi task. The stipple I do think you could use for a cream product. There is a concealer brush in here that would be great for contouring or highlighting. I think it'd be good with the Becca Pour'd highlighters, which are cream. The blush brush looks like it would also be good for highlighting. And the shadow brush could also probably be for concealer, or you could fit it in the crease nicely or use it all over the lid.
And they all have a metallic finish to them, which usually costs a lot extra anyway... and its just something that looks really fancy. These are full size brushes with gold handles, they look very luxurious.
And there is also a nice case that it all comes with. This case is something you can use for jewelry or for makeup or to travel with the brushes in. Its a hard case and its sturdy. Its also just a nice little decor piece. Really pretty design... I like things like that a lot. If there's a case I have a use for, I'm more likely to buy something. Lol.
The Brushes
So as I mentioned, it comes with 5 brushes in the limited edition gold handles. There is an airbrush foundation brush, a concealer brush, eyeshadow brush, complexion brush (must be the stipple brush) and the fluffy brush brush.
All of the brushes are really soft... except the stipple one has kind of a rough feel to it also... but its still soft. Idk how to describe it. If you run your hand through it it kind of sounds like sandpaper... and it feels almost like a soft sandpaper? Lol worst description ever... I think its just all the brush hairs are pointed up and their stiffer and it feels a little weird? That kind of makes sense.
The blush brush is the fluffiest brush ever! Its cruelty free... but I swear this is a rabbit! Lol. No its not, it just feels exactly like my dogs tail. Lol. And I mentioned this would probably work for highlight, but it would also be good for setting the under eyes. I would think this would work well if you use kind of a highlighting setting powder.
And I like the eye brush a lot. I feel like its hard to find an eye brush like this one at the drugstore at least. Its softer than like the Elf Shadow brush that's flat and this is a little bigger than that. This is less fluffy than the real techniques one, so I think it will pat on color a little better.
I'm curious about the Airbrush brush because I've always wondered if the airbrush brush thing was just a gimmick or if it really works. I feel like this won't be as streaky as other brushes I have.
Gifting?
I bought this for myself... but this would make an awesome gift for any makeup lover on your list. Its gorgeous first off, and even if they have a ton of makeup brushes, you can always use more and these are all pretty unique brushes that don't come in a lot of other sets and you don't see them that much. At least I haven't. The blush brush I think in particular would be quite unique for anyone.
First Impression using them
So everything I said before was before I actually used the brushes... so lets get to using them!
Alright so I dotted my foundation on and I used the airbrush brush on one side and the stipple brush on the other... they were both amazing. There were no streaks it just looked nice and natural and they're both such huge brushes it was really easy and quick to use also.
I used the concealer brush for concealer and for contouring... I think I need to use it a bit more with concealer. It wasn't very soft, which made it a little difficult to use. It was good for contouring, but I have to make sure to blend it nicer. I don't think I did the best job of that... but it still came out alright.
The Blush brush was great. I thought it worked really great with the Tarte blushes because those can be tricky to find a brush with. This is so fluffy that it just works really really well.
The eye brush was also really good. Its nothing too special, idk if its as good as a more affordable brush... but it was definitely good and I liked that this included one eye brush also.
So yeah. That is my first impression of them all! I highly recommend this set if you need a new brush set... or even just pick up the airbrush foundation brush if you need a good foundation brush. That is sold on its own and that was probably my favorite of the bunch. I will get a ton of use out of these and as far as brush sets go, as I've mentioned, I'm glad they didn't have any filler brushes that aren't special just to make it cheap for the brush set.
The one down side is you can't really get a full look from just these brushes... unless you cleaned them and used them as multi task brushes... which you could totally do... but that might be a pain also. But I think this is a really good set to have, and its really nice.
Byeee!
-Shannon
So let me break this down for you.
The Value
I thought that this brush set was a really good value. Its $44, which is a lot of money. I have never bought a brush from a high end brand before. All of my brushes are Real Techniques, Elf, Up and Up, Ecotools, I have an I On Beauty Set that I love... I've tried a beuatyblender sponge... but I'd never pay $20 for a sponge! But I thought this was a good value because it comes with a brush that is in their regular line and its $34. So you're paying $10 more and getting 4 more brushes and a nice carrying case.
Another kind of weird thing about this set, but something that I think makes it a little bit better, is that there are 2 face brushes. And both of these brushes, I think are going to be foundation brushes. There is one thats an airbrush foundation brush and one that is a stipple brush. Stipple brushes can also be good for blush, this one is really dense though and I think it'd be better for foundation. A lot of brands include too many eye brushes in their brush sets I think... and thats not bad... but eye brushes are cheaper anyway and aren't always as useful. Spoolies are cheap and you can buy those in bulk. The lash combs aren't always that useful. Usually there is a smudger brush which is just basically a sponge tip applicator... so when there are lots of those in brush kits... I tend to not think they're the best bang for your buck.
Another thing I like about this is that it looks like these brushes can kind of multi task. The stipple I do think you could use for a cream product. There is a concealer brush in here that would be great for contouring or highlighting. I think it'd be good with the Becca Pour'd highlighters, which are cream. The blush brush looks like it would also be good for highlighting. And the shadow brush could also probably be for concealer, or you could fit it in the crease nicely or use it all over the lid.
And they all have a metallic finish to them, which usually costs a lot extra anyway... and its just something that looks really fancy. These are full size brushes with gold handles, they look very luxurious.
And there is also a nice case that it all comes with. This case is something you can use for jewelry or for makeup or to travel with the brushes in. Its a hard case and its sturdy. Its also just a nice little decor piece. Really pretty design... I like things like that a lot. If there's a case I have a use for, I'm more likely to buy something. Lol.
The Brushes
So as I mentioned, it comes with 5 brushes in the limited edition gold handles. There is an airbrush foundation brush, a concealer brush, eyeshadow brush, complexion brush (must be the stipple brush) and the fluffy brush brush.
All of the brushes are really soft... except the stipple one has kind of a rough feel to it also... but its still soft. Idk how to describe it. If you run your hand through it it kind of sounds like sandpaper... and it feels almost like a soft sandpaper? Lol worst description ever... I think its just all the brush hairs are pointed up and their stiffer and it feels a little weird? That kind of makes sense.
The blush brush is the fluffiest brush ever! Its cruelty free... but I swear this is a rabbit! Lol. No its not, it just feels exactly like my dogs tail. Lol. And I mentioned this would probably work for highlight, but it would also be good for setting the under eyes. I would think this would work well if you use kind of a highlighting setting powder.
And I like the eye brush a lot. I feel like its hard to find an eye brush like this one at the drugstore at least. Its softer than like the Elf Shadow brush that's flat and this is a little bigger than that. This is less fluffy than the real techniques one, so I think it will pat on color a little better.
I'm curious about the Airbrush brush because I've always wondered if the airbrush brush thing was just a gimmick or if it really works. I feel like this won't be as streaky as other brushes I have.
Gifting?
I bought this for myself... but this would make an awesome gift for any makeup lover on your list. Its gorgeous first off, and even if they have a ton of makeup brushes, you can always use more and these are all pretty unique brushes that don't come in a lot of other sets and you don't see them that much. At least I haven't. The blush brush I think in particular would be quite unique for anyone.
First Impression using them
So everything I said before was before I actually used the brushes... so lets get to using them!
Alright so I dotted my foundation on and I used the airbrush brush on one side and the stipple brush on the other... they were both amazing. There were no streaks it just looked nice and natural and they're both such huge brushes it was really easy and quick to use also.
I used the concealer brush for concealer and for contouring... I think I need to use it a bit more with concealer. It wasn't very soft, which made it a little difficult to use. It was good for contouring, but I have to make sure to blend it nicer. I don't think I did the best job of that... but it still came out alright.
The Blush brush was great. I thought it worked really great with the Tarte blushes because those can be tricky to find a brush with. This is so fluffy that it just works really really well.
The eye brush was also really good. Its nothing too special, idk if its as good as a more affordable brush... but it was definitely good and I liked that this included one eye brush also.
So yeah. That is my first impression of them all! I highly recommend this set if you need a new brush set... or even just pick up the airbrush foundation brush if you need a good foundation brush. That is sold on its own and that was probably my favorite of the bunch. I will get a ton of use out of these and as far as brush sets go, as I've mentioned, I'm glad they didn't have any filler brushes that aren't special just to make it cheap for the brush set.
The one down side is you can't really get a full look from just these brushes... unless you cleaned them and used them as multi task brushes... which you could totally do... but that might be a pain also. But I think this is a really good set to have, and its really nice.
Byeee!
-Shannon
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