Real Techniques Collector's Edition Sculpting Set Review

 I am a huge fan of Real Techniques brushes and I have spoken about them several times. I also love majority of  their new collections although I have not tried the Bold Metals Collection because I think it's too expensive. There are also various mixed reviews of the Bold Metals collection so I was a little wary of purchasing them. However, when I saw that they had launched the Collector's Edition Sculpting Set, I hot footed to Superdrug to purchase it. I am beginning to enjoy contouring/highlighting so having a practical set of brushes was all I wanted. I am really pleased that the Pixiwoo duo decided to design these lovely set of brushes which have already become so popular as you can hardly find them in store.



Packaging
It's pretty much the standard Real Techniques packaging which I quite like. This set is pink themed and I think it looks gorgeous. It has some sort of shiny finish to it which I think makes it stand out from the other regular pink themed Real Techniques brushes (the setting brush, cheek brush and stippling brush). There are three brushes in the set which include: The Setting Brush, The Sculpting Brush and The Fan Brush. They really look stunning in real life complete with white tips.


Bristles
The bristles are synthetic and cruelty-free which is standard for Real Techniques. I find that synthetic brushes seem to shed less but that's just my opinion though. The bristles are very soft and fluffy and they feel really gentle on my skin. They are really well attached to the handles so you don't get any stray hairs when they are in use. Stray hairs on my face make me very irritated.


Shedding
I have only had this for about two weeks or so but I have washed it up to 3 times already (as at the time this post is going up) and I have not experienced any shedding at all. I am not surprised because many of my Real Techniques brushes don't shed. A few from old collections do shed after I have used them for a long time as expected but it is not a common occurrence which is why I love them. 


Ease of Washing/Drying
They wash really easily which I am pleased about because the last thing anyone needs is a brush that's difficult to wash. I was a little concerned about the Sculpting Brush being difficult to wash because it is very dense but I am happy to report that it is really easy to wash. I wash them with Johnson's Baby Shampoo and Dr Bronner's Liquid Soap but the baby shampoo really gets all the makeup off. They also dry really easily although the Sculpting Brush takes longer to dry compared to the other brushes in the set. Of course, this is expected because the bristles are very dense and closely packed so I wouldn't expect less but it still dries faster than some less dense brushes in my stash




The Sculpting Brush: This was the brush that made me buy the whole collection. As mentioned earlier, I was really keen to try one of these sculpting brushes for contouring my face. I almost bought the Bold Metals version but I could not justify paying such an amount for just one brush. I am pleased to say this is a really good brush for contouring. It has a slight angle but the bristles are rounded (if that makes any sense). The unique shape makes it really easy to blend out my contour well. It is the perfect size for my cheek bone and I just really love it. This sculpting brush can also be used to apply bronzer along the perimeters of the face and temples if that's your thing. 



The Fan Brush: This was also another brush I was so close to just ordering from Ebay. I don't think I own any fan brush in my current collection. I didn't really miss having a fan brush for a long time until I started getting into contouring and highlighting. If you want a subtle highlight (which is my preferred look), a fan brush is the way to go. You can imagine how delighted I was to see that it was included in this set. As the name suggests, its bristles are fanned out to resemble a fan. I love how well made this brush is and you can tell the bristles are not going anywhere because they are well attached to the brush handle. It does not pick up a lot of product but I don't mind because I prefer a very subtle highlight. Nevertheless, I really love using it on the high points of my cheekbone and it feels lovely against my skin. I wish it was a little bit bigger though but I think a lot of people may prefer this size. I really enjoy using this and it's ever so easy to wash/dry.




The Setting Brush: I was also very delighted to see this brush in the collection. I already own an earlier version of this brush and it's definitely one of my favourite Real Techniques brushes. This is practically the same brush but I have a sneaky feeling that it is slightly fluffier than the earlier version. I have a review of this brush here if you fancy a read. The shiny pink colour is really lovely and it's useful for helping me separate how I use the two brushes. I use the earlier version of the setting brush to blend out my under eye concealer while I use the new one to set my under eye concealer with powder. The Setting brush delivers really good results for these techniques but it can also be used for concealing blemishes, blending out contours (around the nose) and even blending out eyeshadows. It's a real gem!


Cost 
I purchased the Collector Sculpting Set from Superdrug for £20.99 and it was even sold out in store when I got there. The kind sales lady had to go into the warehouse to see if they had any left and I was very lucky. This set is only exclusive to Superdrug so you can check your local one to see if it's available. Otherwise you can always buy it online. If you live in the US, I think it is available in Ulta as always. I can't think of any cons at the moment; maybe the cost. It's slightly more expensive in the UK than it is in the US and I can never understand why this is always the case.


Overall Thoughts
I am sure it is self evident that I am obsessed with these brushes. I love every single one of them and I think it is such a great collection to have especially if you are looking to up your contouring/highlighting game. All the brushes in the set are very functional to me and I use them frequently whenever I do a contour/highlight. I seriously love it and I really recommend it. Have you tried the Real Techniques Collector's Edition Sculpting Set?
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