Real Techniques Bold Metals

What beauty lover didn’t go a little bit gooey over the news of the Real Techniques Bold Metals launch?  Honestly, I was so close to buying the entire set when I saw it pop up in Boots, but I held tight as I knew there was a launch party coming up and I figured I’d probably get a few to play with afterwards…which I did! So here are my thoughts.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag for me, although I appear to be in the minority as most people are going mad for them.  I’m a HUGE Real Techniques fan and I think they do pretty much the best brushes available, regardless of price, so I had high hopes for their slightly more luxury launch of the Bold Metals.  There are seven brushes in the range; two base brushes (gold), three eye brushes (silver) and 2 finishing brushes (rose gold) and I have one from each range.  Each brush is ergonomically designed with a long, tapered and weighted handle to make, in theory, application a little easier, although it’s debatable whether that’s necessary or not, as I don’t really struggle with their traditional designs!

I’ll start with the biggest disappointment for me, which was the Bold Metals 101 Triangle Foundation brush.  I think the reason this was such a huge disappointment was because I had such high hopes for it; a triangle brush with curves and edges sounds like the perfect answer for applying foundation into every nook and cranny, and maybe it would be if it was made to a similar standard as the other RT brushes, but the bristles used for this are unreal! They’re scratchy as well making for a very uncomfortable application experience, but even that I think I could just about put up with if the finish was amazing.  Sadly, the plasticky bristles leaves streaks and smudges all over, meaning you have to go over it with a sponge or brush to blend in your handy work.  Honestly, I’ve never used a foundation brush as ineffective as this and I can’t believe I’m saying that about a Real Techniques brush!  It’s £22 here – link.

Thankfully, the other two are much nicer and far softer.  The Bold Metals 301 Flat Contour is a lovely, soft and ‘buffable’ brush that I’d say is an essential for anyone who’s new to contouring or nervous about overdoing it, as it applies a lovely gentle, sheer line of either contour meaning you don’t even really need to blend it in.  It also allows for a buildable finish, yet it’s firm enough to allow for precision application and it’s a lovely choice for daytime contouring or if you’re in a hurry and can’t be faced with applying and buffing. It’s £22 here – link.

Last we come to my personal favourite of the three, which is the Bold Metals 200 Oval Shadow brush.  If you love that airbrushed finish you get with a Mac 217 then this lovely little buffer takes things to the next level – to be honest, it isn’t an absolute essential but it’s just so great at doing what it does that I will inevitably use it on a daily basis.  It has two main uses that I can think of, either applying a wash of colour over the lid for a very sheer finish or, what I’m using it for, which is to blend everything together once I’ve finished my eye make-up.  It’s soooo soft and fluffy that it allows for great blending without being so firm that it removes the colour.  I’m really into daytime smokey eyes at the moment which this is ideal for, and at £15 here – link – it isn’t overly expensive either.  I’ll almost certainly pick up some more of the Bold Metals brushes soon, which I’ll of course share my thoughts on!

*PR Samples