Real Techniques Limited Edition DuoFiber Collection

I'm going to assume if you're reading this blog that you all know about Samantha Chapman's Real Techniques makeup brushes by now! Since they came out, the brushes have pretty much taken the makeup/beauty community by storm. They are budget friendly and excellent quality and I use at least one or two real techniques brushes every time I sit down to do my makeup. I was very excited when I heard that a new limited edition set of brushes came out--of course I had to find them!

The set is, as you can see, all duofiber--these types of brushes are typically used to give a lighter application of products. In this case though, they're not completely since both bristles are synthetic. It comes with a face brush, contour brush, and eye brush. I think the limited edition design is nice and simple, just like the rest of the Real Techniques line.

All three brushes are extremely soft.
Face brush: not densely packed at all so it's not great for packing on product. It is nice for a light dusting of setting powder though and the softest of the three brushes. I tried using it to blend foundation and it was way too floppy and just could not blend it. It's also a bit too big for blush (for my cheeks!).
Contour brush: more sturdy and dense than the face brush. I actually really like this for both powder and cream blush--it deposits just the right amount of color and blends nicely.
Eye brush: I am kind of a blending brush junkie, so I always love to have fluffy tapered blending brushes in my collection. This one is a nice one for blending eyeshadow in the crease and also blending out cream eyeshdaow. I did find it was a tad too prickly to blend under eye concealer with though.

Here's a few comparisons to some of the brushes already in the Real Techniques line.

First the face brush compared to the blush brush:

Duo-Fiber Face brush on the left and Blush brush on the right

As you can see, the blush brush is much more densely packed and is dome shaped. I prefer the blush brush overall just because I love the shape and find it to be completely multipurpose--I use it for blush, bronzer, and setting powder. The duo fiber face brush is flatter and I feel the shape lends itself mainly to setting powder (for me personally!) I have more info on the blush brush HERE.

Now the contour brush vs. the regular contour brush:

Duo-Fiber Contour brush on left and Contour brush on right

The regular contour brush is bit bigger and slightly more domed. I think they are pretty interchangeable, though I think I do prefer the duo-fiber one. The new one works cream blush into the skin perfectly and it picks up the perfect amount of blush thanks to the different bristles.

Lastly I compared the Mac 286 (which is another double fibered blending brush) with the new real techniques eye brush, since I don't really own many Real Techniques eye brushes to compare it to.

Mac 286 on left and Duo-Fiber eye brush on right

The Mac 286 is a bit fluffier, which I prefer when blending eyeshadow since it diffuses the color a bit more. On the whole though it's a nice brush for getting precise color into the crease or blending the edges of cream eyeshadow! It's always a good one to have on hand. For concealer, I much prefer blending it out with the Real Techniques Setting brush HERE.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the brushes. My favorite is definitely the contour brush--I've been getting more into cream blush and highlighter and this brush just picks up and applies the right amount. I imagine it would work nicely for a chiseled cheek bone contour but I usually prefer to contour with a bigger brush (like the blush brush or a Mac 138). I also think the eye brush is a good one to have if you wear eyeshadow--I love having these type of brushes around since I use them so much when doing my eye makeup.
I do have to say I was a bit disappointed with the face brush. When I first saw it, I thought the shape looked like the old Sephora 55 pro airbrush brush, which I LOVE for foundation--but this Real Techniques one is much too floppy to use for much of anything besides setting powder or a light dusting of bronzer all over the face. I think it would be better if the brush bristles were a bit more dense.

This limited edition set is apparently only available for a year. So you have a pretty long time to decide if you want to pick them up or not! They retail for $19.99 and I bought them at Ulta. The bargain hunter in me got them for probably half off thanks to a promotion that was happening plus Ulta coupons--so it really turns out to be a great deal in the end. If you are in need of some new makeup brushes for lightweight, buildable application, then you my want to check these out. Overall though, i don't think it's a must-have set if you already have brushes you like simply because I am not crazy about the face brush. Because of that, I'd only recommend getting them if you are not paying full price! :)

What do you think about this limited edition collection?? Are these brushes you would want in your makeup bag?