Ebay Series: Oval Brushes
There's always some sort of debate about what tool is better to do your makeup with: brushes, beauty blenders or your hands? I have been a long term fan of beauty sponges, the good ones (like Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge) are so soft and blend foundation or concealer so seamlessly into the skin that sometimes its hard to tell if someone's wearing makeup at all. Oval brushes have been around for ages and very popular but with brands like Artis selling them for almost £300, you can see why I decided to try some cheaper eBay ones first before I was convinced to get the real thing. I bought 5 oval brushes for £5.99 (now £6.99, here), from l-r I got: a powder brush, concealer brush, eyeshadow brush, eyeline brush and another eyeshadow brush:
I was really impressed, usually if I buy cheap beauty items on eBay, I try to have low expectations so I can avoid feeling disappointed but these brushes felt amazing. All of the brushes, except the one in the middle (eyeshadow brush), were incredibly soft and felt really dense so they wouldn't waste any product. I used the concealer brush under my eyes, my forehead, cupid's bow and chin and it blended my concealer perfectly and even though I used my real techniques sponge afterwards (just to make sure that everything was well and truly blended), I could have left my makeup as it was. I also really loved the powder brush and the smaller eyeshadow brush, the powder brush was perfect for putting on my setting powder and the eyeshadow brush was perfect for my eyebrows, I prefer to outline my eyebrows with pencil and then fill them in with powder, the oval brush was perfect for filling them in without rubbing off any of the pencil.
Obviously the price is another great bonus with these brushes, oval brush sets can cost anything between £10 and £200, so to pick these up for just over a fiver AND to actually like them is amazing. I won't be throwing my beauty sponge away just yet but I would say it is worth trying oval brushes out, especially if you can find yourself a cheap set! We'll be featuring more popular products that have cheaper eBay dupes so comment below or tweet us any products that you think should be featured in our eBay finds series!