Yoh! Yoh! Eish! Swiitch Beauty Sphere Brush Set {Review}

When MAC first introduced the Oval 3, Oval 6 and Linear 1 brushes years ago, I remember being tempted to buy them. I never did because they looked hilarious and were very expensive! I appreciated the innovation but I was happy with the brushes I had at the time

Come May 2014, Matthew Waitesmith, who was a Top Dog at MAC, launched his line of Artis brushes. He said the brushes were built for both experts and novices alike, to make makeup application easier and effortless.

The Artis brushes cost a pretty penny priced between $26USD and a whopping $62 USD, EACH!

The OG has 10 brushes in the Elite set.

Since early this year, these brushes have hit Instagram in a big way, blowing up our phones and blasting our feeds. Top international beauty bloggers and vloggers have been giving them a thumbs up!

Since it’s explosion onto the scene, many companies have hopped on the bandwagon and come out with ‘dupe’ sets for a fraction of the price. It seems to be on every makeup junkies’ wish list . . . the frenzy is worse that a Stutterfords 40% sale!

After watching several YT videos on some ‘dupe’ brush sets from local vloggers, I decided to buy a 10-piece Sphere brush set from a local online store called Swiitch Beauty. There have amazing beauty tools and skin care on offer at reasonable prices. Their service is amazing too.

This is a review of a set of brushes I bought from them and not a ‘dupe’ review. I say this because there seems to be some confusion about ‘dupe reviews’ . I see lots of ‘dupe reviews’ but on Beauty Bugle, in order for me to do a proper dupe review, I need the original to compare it to. How else do you find a dupe? Makes sense? Or am I losing my mind?

Onto the review . . .

I have divided this 10-piece set into 3 sections based on their shape. The premise behind these shapes is to get into every nook and cranny of your face.

It’s made of plastic and has densely packed synthetic bristles of great quality.

The contoured handles are meant to fit the natural contours of the hands and fingers, giving you more control.

Holding the brush at an angle, with your index finger below the brush head allows you to use the pressure of your fingers to apply your make up, making it gentler on the skin.

I used the first 5 brushes primarily on my face.

Brush 1

This brush applied my NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation, which is very thin liquid, effortlessly, in one swipe. No streaks.

It applied my Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place foundation much the same. This brush exceeded my expectations because when I went in a second time to build up the foundation, it didn’t lift the foundation, which often happens because Double Wear sets like cement!

I had to apply a little more pressure when I applied my Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick, which is generally easy to blend and this brush came through and aced the test. I had to go over twice to smooth out the product but ever so slightly.

The final test was with the Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Coverage Camouflage makeup, which is the thickest foundation I own. This brush applied that very well and while I had to go over a few times to smooth it out , the result was seamless and beautiful

This brush is great for applying foundation and it’s gentle on the skin. Thus far, this ranks in my top 3 foundation brushes of life! My foundation was done in less than a minute, it didn’t absorb excess product. There were no streaks. Totally worth the hype.

Brush 2

This brush is great for liquid products, much like the first one. I tried applying powder, pressed and loose, but it skipped over my foundation. I would stick to emollient makeup with this brush.

Brush 3

This applied cream blusher well; it did take a bit of dabbing action on concentrated areas to blend it out. I don’t think it was designed to be used as a Beauty Blender, but it worked. I often use brushes in a dabbing motion so it was fine. It was a fail with powder blush because it is far too dense to get a decent application. It also clung on to a dry patch on my cheek because I had to work the powder blush into my skin and couldn’t buff it out.

Brush 4 AND

Brush 5

I found both Brushes 4 and 5  great for cream contouring, especially the cheekbones, applying in one stoke, blending upwards. It blended my cream contour well around the perimeter of the face. These smaller brushes applied loose translucent powder well when I used some powder to sharpen my contour. It applied concealer fairly, but it did tug at my eye so I had to blend out the concealer by dabbing the brush under my eye. I prefer a Beauty Blender to do this though, but this brush didn’t damage me any. These brushes are excellent to blend out highlighter/concealer on areas of the face you want to brighten. It did a good job at setting the contoured areas with powder because the product was being smoothed onto concentrated areas i.e over top of the contour.

Overall these first 5 brushes were excellent on all fronts and I’m sure you could find other ways to use it. The smaller brushes work well for precise work.

THE LINEAR BRUSHES

Brush 6

This brush worked well to smooth and brush though my brows, great for precise nose contouring and under the lip, with both powder and cream.

Brush 7

This brush applied eye shadow primer seamlessly and I was able to sweep loose translucent powder over to set it.

Brush 8

I was quite excited to try this brush because I hoped it would up my eyeliner game. It didn’t. You can pack on cake liner or black eye shadow as close as possible to the lash line to define your eyes and make your lashes look fuller and darker . . . but that’s where I would end any eye shadow or liner application.

I would not use this to apply gel eyeliner. It tugged at my lash line. Trying to do a wing was horrendous. I was unable to slay anything. The brush is too dense to get a fine line and perhaps one can make it work if you try, really heard . . . but I thought these brushes were meant to make life easier, no? However, this brush is a great to fill in eyebrows with powder, but works exceptionally well with pomade. It is also great for cleaning up under the brow with concealer.

LINEAR BRUSHES (ROUND TOP)

Brush 9

Brush 10

These brushes were epic fails. They were scratchy. I was able to apply corrector into the inner corners of my eye, because the brush heads fit into that crevice. I was able to blend out eye shadow in the outer corner of my eye but it was a painful AF!

I wouldn’t recommend using any of the linear and round brushes for eye makeup. They are rough on the skin. I am terrified of pulling and tugging on my skin. I go to great lengths to take care of my delicate eye area. I do not want wrinkle and crows feet . . . I’m sure they are on their way, but I am trying to hold them off for as long as I can.

On a happier note, they didn’t shed and kept their shape after washing, that get’s a big thumbs up from me!

FINAL THOUGHTS

The face/Oval brushes are Heaven-sent and are best used with cream products. Do you need five sizes? No. Perhaps three . . . large, medium and small.

The linear brushes, the straight ones, are best for brows or contouring the nose. I think you need one, not three.

The linear brushes that have rounded brush heads . . . no one needs those. I pull no punches and the only real function I can find for these is to exfoliate my chapped lips. It really sloughs off dry, flaky skin.

There are reasons fluffy brushes are used to powder the face, apply powder blush and bronzer, a dusting and even distribution of product looks natural and effortless.

There are reasons we have fine-tipped, thin and angled eyeliner brushes; it causes minimal pressure on the eyes and you can draw precise lines and angles and move your product with little tugging and pulling on the eye lid.

There are reasons we don’t rub and slap on concealer on our under eyes. It’s not body lotion. The skin is delicate and if you pull at it drag it or abuse it, you will get wrinkles and if you’re too harsh, you can bruise and scratch that area. You are better off using your fingers or a damp beauty sponge.

There are reasons we pack colour onto the lids with flat shader brushes, you get amazing colour payoff. We blend out eye shadow primarily with fluffy brushes because it’s gentle on the eyes and moves seamlessly into the contours of the eyes.

Make up brushes shouldn’t be abrasive and I do not want to be assaulted with them, do you? Despite the excellent face brushes, I regret this purchase because I have 4 brushes that I will not use, ever. I will use 1 linear brush for my brows. Do I recommend this? Hell no!

The most important thing to me is my integrity and my love and respect for you all and I will NEVER compromise that . . . of that you can always be sure. But if you still want to try it . . .

Where to buy:  www.swiitchbeauty.com

Price of the Sphere 10-piece brush set: R850

If you want to try a face brush, the F40 – Cake It Baby brush on the site looks promising.

Have you tried these types of brushes?

What are your thoughts? Let me know down below.

Until next time,

Stay Blessed and beautiful

Love you more than anything in the world

xoxo

Prativa

Beauty Bugle