Budget Makeup Brushes: Wilko Makeup Brush (Premium range)

I know I have featured the Wilko Makeup Brushes here and here on this blog but I bought them back in July and I have slowly but surely built up a little collection of these brushes and it took a little while to do so; not necessarily because they were expensive (they are not at all) but mainly because they were always out of stock. All that has changed now (I think) but I bought all these brushes over 3 months on separate occasions. If you are on a budget but you would like to try out some inexpensive brushes apart from the ones on Ebay, I recommend the Wilko Brushes as they are surprisingly good quality and I have been totally besotted with them.  There was not very good lighting so I had to resort to my aritificial lighting which I am still trying to learn how to work it effectively





Packaging
I love the fact that they all come in individual packaging which means they are easy to travel with and their shapes can be retained after it has been washed. It's important to keep the packaging especially if you know you are going to be travelling. Other than that, I don't think there is anything much to say about the packaging as it speaks for itself.

Bristles/Washing/Shedding/Drying
All the bristles are made from synthetic hairs and they are really soft to touch and on the skin. I really like that about the Wilko Brush. Although I would say the consistency and density of the bristles differ, as expected, depending on what kind of brush you are dealing with for example the Blush brush is way fluffier and less dense than the Powder Brush. I have washed them all a few times and I have experienced no shedding whatsoever which is rather impressive. They also wash well which is music to my ears but they don't dry quite as fast as my Real Techniques brushes but they are still much better at drying than many other brands I have tried. They are also well designed (although they copied Real Techniques Core Collection Design) and feel very sturdy which makes handling really easy and you know your brush isn't going to get destroyed if it accidentally falls on the ground or when it is being washed.




Brushes I purchased/Cost/Where to Buy
As mentioner earlier, I bought all of them over a period of 4 months and this was so because they were unavailable so I was lucky to snag anyone I saw any time I popped into Wilko. I picked up the following brushes in no particular order: Wilko Premium Blusher Brush, Wilko Premium Stippler Brush, Wilko Premium Concealer Brush, Wilko Premium Smoky Eye Brush, Wilko Premium Foundation Brush and Wilko Premium Powder Brush. Their prices start from £3 and end at £4..which is a rather small amount to pay for the quality you get. You can purchase them directly in any Wilko store (I have to say their availability has greatly improved) and online in Wilko Beauty Website. I am not sure where else they are sold but I will update this once I find out. They also have the Wilko Premium Lip Brush (retractable) and the Wilko Somkey Eye Duo Brush but I did not need them so they were not purchased. In a way I am really pleased they are sold individually because it gives you a chance to only purchase the brushes you really want!




Wilko Premium Stippler Brush (£4) (link here)
This was the first brush I purchased from the range and I have already reviewed it over here. As you would notice from my review, I was not totally heads over heels in love with it because it was a little bit too fluffy and wide to do its stippling functions excellently but I found a way around it. Sometimes, I slip a small loom band (rubber band) under the bristles to compress it and it honestly makes stippling a dream. I love it so much now. It is actually good for stippling foundation if you want a really light coverage and have some patience to work with the brush. It can be sued to stipple foundation and cream makeup like cream blushes and cream to powder foundations.




Wilko Premium Foundation Brush (£4) (link here)
Despite my aversion to flat foundation brushes, I still picked this up because I liked the way it looked and if felt less fluffy. Well..it has not changed my aversion to flat foundation brushes for applying foundation but I can see myself using this for other makeup application routines. I am not sure but the bristles feel a little different to the others and it feels much more stiffer and I am not sure if I like that or not. If you prefer using flat foundation brushes to layer foundation on the skin, you may like this brush but this is personally my least favourite and used brush out of the lot but I have used it to apply concealer/highlighter and it was pretty good so I am not completely writing this off.




Wilko Premium Blusher Brush (£3) (link here)
Again, I already purchased the non-premium Wilko Blusher Brush reviewed here and I really liked it but I thought it would be nice to add this to my collection and I am really glad I did. It feels so fluffy to touch and on the skin and I find that it really picks up and distributes my blush really well. I have also tried using this with loose powder and it is useful for such light applications. I know it's not the ideal brush for loose powder but I really like the results.




Wilko Premium Concealer Brush (£3) (link here)
I love this brush so much and I know it looks so much smaller than a normal concealer brush but it does the job really well especially for spot/small concealing. I like that the handles are really long so it is relatively easy to use. I use this for concealing any dark blemish I have on my face and I currently have two which are so dark that you would never imagine it is on my skin (if that makes any sense). This brush together with my concealer just covers the spot/blemish really well and it has made the application of my Studio Finish Concealer from MAC , which was previously acting dodgy and difficult to apply, now a dream to use. I have also used this to apply my brow bone eyeshadow and it does this really well mainly because the size just fits perfectly on my brow bone. It's a total winner.




Wilko Premium Smoky Eye Brush (£3) (link here)
This is one of my favourite brushes of the lot because it does what it says on the package and that's to create a smokey eye. Obviously, it can't do that on its own but it is a perfect smudger and I find that it is excellent for the crease. It is just the right size and fits well into my crease either to deposit some eye shadow or to blend out any eye shadow already there either ways, I love it so much and I always use it. The bristles are very fluffy and compact and I guess that's the secret behind why it works so well. There is another version of this brush which is dual ended with an eyeliner brush at the end. It's the same price as this and I guess more of a bargain but I prefer this one because I like my brushes to have a bottom to stand on.




Wilko Premium Powder Brush (£4) (link here)
Ladies and Gents, may I introduce the star of this whole collection? This Powder brush is so amazing and I can't believe it is only £4. Its bristles are so fluffy and have remained fluffy after a couple of washes which is really good in my books although it takes a little longer than the other brushes to get dry. I absolutely love this for applying powder especially my MAC MSF powder. It picks up the product really well and deposits it really well and seamlessly on the face for a flawless finish (yes, the whole sentence kinda rhymes). Although the brushes are fluffy, they are very compact and dense and I love that about it. I compared it with my Real Techniques Powder Brush and it's just slightly longer/taller and the bristles are shaped differently to the RT version. The price difference definitely makes it much easier to pick up the Wilko version and it is £4 well spent , I tell you!



That's it folks and I hope you have enjoyed this review and the pictures as you can imagine I went a lil' bit cray....have you tried any makeup brushes from Wilko?