Royal and Langnickel are a brand that I have a love hate relationship with. I love their brush heritage and that whether you are after synthetic or natural bristles you can find whatever you need in their range. I don’t like the fact that Amazon is really the only place that I can buy them (outside of IMATS) but recently their quality in my opinion has been a let down. I have bought brushes that have broken off at the ferrule after a short period of time which is just not what I expect from this range.
The Concept
Kevin J Bennett is one of my makeup guilty pleasures. An Emmy award winning MUA, the truth is that I follow him more for his opinions rather than his makeup. He speaks his truth, about everyone, even when it hurts. I don’t always agree but I have learnt and laughed a lot following him. I was excited when I heard about his collaboration with the brand and since I am an eyeshadow fanatic, I thought the eye brush set would be the best way to proceed. Bonus it was reduced on Amazon.
The Revolution brushes have a bristle technology which is said to mimic that of natural hair brushes. A synthetic fibre is extremely smooth along its length. This is why it is generally great for liquids and creams. A natural bristle whether it is from a squirrel, a goat or a sable, is not completely smooth along it’s length so it picks up powders more easily. If a synthetic product picks up a product like a natural product you have the best of both worlds.
Kevin knows his ish so I was excited for this collaboration. As well as the technology in the brush head, the rubberised handles are black which do not show up the dirt so easily and the texture means that don’t roll around in the hand so much. So far so good. The ten piece brush set however, I have missed feelings about, keep reading for more details.
Normally with a synthetic brush the first thing that you hear people say is that ohh, it sooo soft. Revolution brushes are not of that ilk. They don’t have the super shiny bristles of many synthetic brands either. They are not prickly like some natural bristle brushes can be but they are not a soft bristle. Some brushes are stiffer than others and
This brush is waterproof with the titanium (!) ferrule and acrylic handle it can take more of a beating then other brushes. Not that that is an excuse to leave the brushes in water but it gives you less of a heart ache when you are tapping off excess product on the side of your plastic compact.
The Brushes
- BX-50 Flat Concealer. Looks like a cross between a packing eyeshadow brush and a concealer brush. I tend to use it for eyeshadow to pack on colour but it is not my favourite.
- BX-75 MD Fluff. This is an oversized eyeshadow brush that again does not really keep it’s shape after washing. It is described as a fluffer but I don’t find it to be my preferred shape for buffing out eyeshadow. I use it for applying a wash of colour all over the lid from the crease to the brow bone or to set eyelid primer with a translucent powder
- BX-80 Detail. One of my favourite brushes from the set. It is an eyeshadow brush for packing on colour, but unlike the Bare Minerals brushes, it is not as stiff which means that I can do a bit of blending with this brush too. Keeps it’s shape. Applies colour nicely this is a brush that I would repurchase.
- BX-85 Angle Fluff . Looks like an angled eyeshadow brush. Quite big and I would use this to buff out a wash of colour. The first couple of uses were fine, the issue came when I dried the brushes, using my usual technique. The brush dred fine, but the shape of the brush was completely ruined. I have had to use a brush guard to keep the shape of the brush which is generally something aht I only do for my natural bristle brushes.
- BX-90 Crease. I have no concept of what to do with this brush. It has a rounded tip but the bristles are so long so it does not really blend things out. You could use it as a placement brush but the bristles are not really stiff so I don’t know – I never use it.
- BX-95 LG Smudger. This is a lovely brush, if you have big eyes or suit having lots of eye colour under your eyes. I don’t, so I tend to use this to smudge out eyeliner on the top lid or to be very specific with placement of colour in the crease or socket line. It is a great brush, I just wish it was half the size it is.
- BX-105 Detail Liner. Eyeliner Brush is what it looks like but it has too many bristles that splay out so I use this for inner corner highlight although it is not my favourite for that . it does not work in cream liner because it splays out and in powder liner it does not give as thin a line as I would like.
- BX-110 Flat Liner. I love a push liner brush, but the width of the brush is much too thick so I can only use it for paint pots.
- BX-115 Angle Liner. An angled liner brush, but it is too think for my preference so I use it for cream products across the lid like a paint pot or a Bobbi Brown eyeliner. It sounds weird but it works. I use the side of the brush to smear the product across the lid.
- BX-135 Brow/Groomer Dual – this is hands down the best spoolie that I have ever used. I have thin brows and very sparse tails to my brows and this spoolie literally picks up and places each hair where I put it. I compare every spoolie to this one and nothing comes close. Definitely worth a purchase whether you have thick or thin brow hairs because it is too good.
I have had these Revolution brushes for about 6 months. As you can see they have splayed quite considerably. I’m really disappointed with this range. At £30 for the set the value of these brushes is immense, but they just don’t perform in a way that works for me.
If you have used this range, please let me know in the comments how you got on with them. I’m especially keen to know if the face brushes are any good. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for more beauty news and reviews!