Real Techniques Haul: Where to Buy + Rant

I have had my self on a crazy strict budget since after Christmas. I decided to take a year off after I finished University to have a bit of a mental vacation, save some money, pay off my credit card and try to chip into my HECs a bit. After two months of not buying anything for myself that weren't essentials, I decided to treat myself a little bit when I had some money left over. 

Earlier last year I brought myself a lot of the Real Techniques by Samantha and Nicola Chapman brushes after seeing rave reviews of them all over YouTube. I did a bit of research online and saw that the brushes ranged from between $5-15 and to save on shipping I decided to pop down to my local Priceline to pick some up. Instead of getting the brushes, I got a rude shock. All the brushes were priced between $25-35 A BRUSH. FOR A SINGLE BRUSH. Now I know we are blessed to live in the wonderful far away country that is Australia, but a price hike like that is purely ridiculous. So I jumped back onto the Real Techniques website and ordered them on there for the American prices and only $20 shipping. Which does not seem a lot considering how inflated the Australian prices were per brush. I got the brushes two weeks later and absolutely LOVED them. Amazing quality for a wonderful price (just don't pick them up from Priceline) and I actually preferred them to my existing brushes from MAC and Bobbi Brown.

Now fast-forward to last month when I have a little bit of extra cash and want to treat myself. I decided to buy more of the Real Techniques fabulous brushes so i jumped on to their website and filled my cart with ten items, only to click through to the check out and when clicking on the drop down box to select my country finding that Australia is no longer listed. Okay then. I'm currently sitting on my bed that is in the country of Australia, so I know it exists. I'm then re-directed to the Australian Real Techniques website. Hooray, I think to myself. Maybe we will get free shipping and American priced brushes. Nope. You can only buy the brushes off the Real Techniques Australia website for the Australian prices of $25-$30 a brush. What an absolute downer. 

Need not fear, I remember watching one of my favourite Aussie Youtubers MessyDownunder doing a haul of Real Techniques brushes that she got from online American pharmacy iHerb.com. When I went on iHerb I swear I heard angels singing. ALL the brushes were listed for American prices with SIX DOLLAR SHIPPING TO OUR FABULOUS COUNTRY. Plus with some further googling, I also found some pretty rad discount coupons for iHerb to get ten dollars off my first purchase. In the end I got all the brushes I was after, plus a discount and low shipping prices. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you are after Real Techniques brushes without the slap in the face of Australian inflation you can pick them right up from here. I'm still a couple of brushes short from having the complete set, so when I want to buy the remainder I will be straight back to iHerb.

Here is a look at what I got:

Miracle Complexion Sponge - $5.99

I currently have the Beauty Blender in the hot pink colour and it does an amazing job at applying makeup without giving that 'cake face' effect. The only downside to Beauty Blenders are that they are quite pricey, so when I saw that Real Techniques had created their own version I just had to have it. I can't wait to give this one a go. 

Setting Brush - $7.99

This brush is used to apply highlighting and other setting powders. I brought this to use with my MAC Skin Finish highlighting powder. 

Shading Brush - $5.99

Like a crease brush but for the overall blending out of eye shadows. Excited to give this one a whirl.

Retractable Kabuki, Retractable Bronzer and Retractable Lip Brushes - $9.99, $12.99 & $5.99

I was on a mission when I was buying these brushes. I was after these specifically to put in my car and handbag so I could have brushes to touch up face powders and lip products without them getting dirty. Because they are retractable with lids it makes them a lot more hygienic to carry on the go and great for touch ups. My favourite is the Kabuki brush, it is just seriously so many shades of amazing. I'm absolutely obsessed with it.

Powder Brush - $9.99

This was purchased as a replacement brush. I've read online that some people experienced shedding with some of their Real Techniques brushes and when I brought my first lot of them, none of them shed.. except for the powder brush. Oh boy did it shed bad, it was basically unusable. Then I asked a couple of my friends who had this brush and none of them had this issue, so I just assumed that I received a bit of a dodgy one. I think I did because this one has not shed a single hair, so I’m really glad I repurchased this and gave it another go because it's darn great.

Blush Brush - $8.99

Currently for blush I’m going between the Real Techniques Buffing Brush and the Eco Tools Blush Brush, both of those are doing an amazing job but I just HAD to pick this one up. The reviews are glowing, I can’t wait to try it out and for that price how could you not?

Lash and Brown Groomer - $5.99

I picked this one up because the main point of difference between this brush and others like it is that the mascara side is made of metal. The issue I’ve always had with these dual sided lash and brow groomers are that they are a bit flimsy, especially combing through clumpy mascara. Because this is metal it just combs through like a hot knife through butter. I've already given this one a try when I had a bit of a mascara accident and it works like a charm. 

Foundation Brush - $7.99

I already have quite a few different foundation applicators but I wanted to give this one are try. It's an angled cut brush and the bristles are quite thick so I’m excited to see how this compares with the Expert Face Brush that I’m currently using. There are different types of foundation formulas, so I that’s why I think it's a good idea to have a few options of foundation brushes.