drugstore discovery: essential tools eye brushes

I happened to go to Walmart last night with my mom and couldn't pass up walking through the beauty aisles. I wasn't looking for anything specific, just browsing around...when I came across the display for makeup brushes. I have been wanting a crease brush that is a little bit larger (to get more of a diffused blend) and there happened to be a set that included one. I was able to feel the quality of the brushes and they felt nice, so I decided to give them a try.

So, this set is called the Essential Tools Hi-Def Deluxe Eye Duo Set. It includes three double-ended brushes that are meant to give you "a total eye makeover." The packaging lists the types of brushes included- Concealer Brush, Mini Powder Brush, All-over Shadow Brush, Detailed Shadow Brush, Angled Eyeliner Brush, Spoolie- but I am not completely sure which is supposed to be which, since the brushes have no names or printing on the actual barrel. That's okay, though, because I probably wasn't going to use them for their intended purpose anyway. Now let me go through each brush duo.

This is what I believe are to described to be the Concealer Brush and Mini Powder Brush. The Concealer Brush is what I typically use to apply my eye shadow on the lid. It is quite firm, with a lot of density and comes to a tapered dome. It would do very well packing on shadows that are a bit glittery or have some fall out.

On the other end is the Mini Powder Brush. This is a great size brush to set under-eye concealer and it is also very soft. This is fairly dense but allows for some movement- which is what would allow you to use it as a blending brush. 

The next duo includes an All-over Shadow Brush and a Detailed Shadow Brush. The Detailed Shadow Brush is a typical pencil brush. This tapers to a pointed tip, which would be perfect to apply shadows to the lower lash line. It could also be used to place shadows in specific places, like a highlight in the inner corners or a deeper shadow in the outer corner.

The All-over Shadow Brush seems to me, to be more of a blending crease brush. It is quite fluffly, however it is pretty dense. This brush is a little larger than a typical blending brush (I will compare below) which is why I was drawn to it in the first place.

The last brush duo includes the Angled Eyeliner Brush and Spoolie. The Angled Eyeliner Brush is quite typical for its name. It is about the same size as the other eyeliner brushes I own. Its one end is shorter than the other, where it comes to a point. The middle seems to be the thickest part of the brush. I have been wanting to try using this type of brush to apply gel eyeliner and this seems like the perfect brush for it.

The Spoolie is quite typical- if anything the bristles seem a little bit longer than conventional spoolies. Most eye brush kits usually include a brush like this and I do think they can come in handy to comb out the brows or separate eyelashes.

I wanted to give a comparison of these brushes to others I already own in my collection, so you can get a feel for the size of them. Starting the with the Concealer Brush (top middle), I placed this next to the e.l.f. Professional Eyeshadow Brush and the Urban Decay Shadow Brush. 

In the middle picture you can see the e.l.f. Professional Blending Eye Brush, the Detailed Shadow Brush and the e.l.f. Professional Eye Crease Brush. It is pointer and larger than the Eye Crease Brush.

Lastly, is the Coastal Scents Pro Blending Fluff, Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush, All-over Shadow Brush, Mini Powder Brush and e.l.f. Blush Brush. Like I mentioned before they are larger than a typical blending brush, but smaller than a powder brush.

So what have we learned through this post? Don't pass by the Essential Tools Brushes at Walmart...and wash your brushes before you use them (you don't know who else has had their germy hands all over them). Let me know if you have tried these or other brushes from this line!

Always stay happy and healthy! :) Tschüss, Katharina