You guys have no idea how excited I am to be writing this post - yes, I finally got my hands on the MAC Archie's Girls Brush set! I know I'm a bit late since it was a release for Valentine's day in the US, but it just recently came to Hong Kong MAC stores so obviously I rushed over there immediately to get it!
The official US price is $49.50, but I got it at the counter here for $520 HKD, which is not bad at all for a set of 5 brushes. The main reason I wanted to get this was because I have a shortage of brushes - I currently only own two elf brushes and the rest are from Estée Lauder (and the quality is not amazing). I decided to expand my collection, and it doesn't hurt that I get five limited edition MAC brushes for a fraction of its original price AND each brush is completely different from any of the brushes I own now!
The set contains five special edition MAC brushes; a 266 Small Angle, 226 Small Tapered Blending, 242 Shader, 168 Large Angled Contour and 167 Face Blender, contained in an embossed tin with the Archie's Girls logo on it. These brushes are shorter than the normal MAC brushes, but still easy to handle.
I am absolutely in love with the logo! I admit, I may not be the world's largest Archie comics fan but I have read a fair amount of them! I should also shamelessly admit that I have an Archie comics app on my phone...
The tin is not an ideal place to store the brushes - it's quite large, and if I'm using these brushes daily I wouldn't want to keep something this big on my table! However, the spaciousness of the tin allows it to be used for storing other things. Currently I haven't thought of anything to put in it yet, but I'm sure it'll come in handy when I'm in need of a box!
167 Face Blender: lots of fallout on my first use, but applies powder evenly. Natural fibres, so so soooooooo soft :)
168 Large Angled Contour: contouring effect doesn't really seem to show but I'll have to experiment with it a bit more! Also natural fibre but feels a bit more rough than the 167.
226 Small Tapered Blending: Natural fibre. Bristles seem to be separating (not sure if this is the correct word, hopefully you know what I mean?) after first use.
266 Small Angle: Natural/Synthetic blend, can be used for brows and eyes. I used this with a 'Crave' from my Urban Decay Naked Basics palette and it gave me a perfect winged liner effect! Also amazing for tightlining your upper waterline to give a natural look.
242 Shader: Nothing much to say about this brush except for the fact that it does its job - not particularly 'wow' though. Natural/synthetic blend so this can be used with wet shadows too. The MAC website says it can be used as a concealer brush but personally I haven't tried it yet! I'll probably stick with using it as a shadow brush for now, wouldn't want my eyeshadows to mix with my concealer to give even darker circles...
Would I recommend this brush set? If you're looking to expand your brush collection/complete beginner, this is the perfect set to start off with. It has everything you need for a basic look (in fact, you could probably rely on purely this brush set for any look!) and the quality is pretty good. It's not exactly what I would consider amaaaazing but for a 5-piece brush kit that's $520, the quality's good enough for me (MAC or not)!
And that's it for today's post! So sorry for being on hiatus and not doing a proper post for almost a month but please forgive me! I've been under a lot of pressure from schoolwork lately and preparing for interviews - lame excuses but just bear with me for a bit! I'll be off on Easter break for 2 weeks starting this Friday, I have plenty of posts lined up for you all so don't forget to check back!
Hope you all enjoyed this post, like and share on Facebook, retweet on Twitter, tell all your friends, etc....
xx,
J
