Pirouette Professional Brush Gold Collection Review, Part I

I am going to seperate my review of the vegan Pirouette Professional Gold 18pc set into two parts. There are a lot of photos, so I figured It would make it a bit more manageable to read. The first part of the review will cover the big brushes. 

I have been using this brush set for a couple months now, and (aside from two) I have been loving them. They are super soft, way softer than I thought any synthetic hair brushes could be.  For those that are wondering why I believe vegan brushes are a must or why I chose Pirouette Professional brushes read here first.  Pirouette Professionals also has a great page showing why vegan brushes are important and why you should choose them here.  

Please ignore the fact that I am long overdue for a manicure and the little fuzzies that are stuck to the brushes, I didn't notice until after I uploaded the pictures. :-)

Here are the five big brushes that are included in the set from left to right: P01 fan brush (probably my favorite in the set, but shh don't tell the others), P04 Blush Brush, P03 Duo Fiber Stippling Brush, P05 Cream Foundation Brush, and P02 Powder Brush. All five brushes, like the entire set, have vegan bristles, which mean they are not derived from animal hair and are made from 100% Taklon fibers which is synthetic. 

First up is my favorite brush in the collection the P01 fan brush.  This brush is the biggest, fluffiest, softest fan brush I have ever felt. I love to apply bronzer with it.  It perfectly applies it right where I need it.  All you need to do is swipe the brush into your bronzer (always make sure to tap off the extra so that it does not go on too heavy) and, while angling the brush to go with the contours of your face, apply it to where the sun would naturally kiss your face.  This would be the top of your forehead, your cheekbones, and the top of your nose.  Don't forget to also add just a bit to your lower jaw line and blend down into your neck.  You don't want over do it with your bronzer, you simply want to give your skin a subtle sun kissed look.

You can use this brush if you want a more contoured and highlighted effect, but I prefer to use the P06 Highlighting brush for that. (That brush will be in the part 2 of the review. 

I mean look at the thickness on the fan brush, va-va-voom! And seriously, it is silky smooth, I could just sit and brush it over my face all day. But I don't, That would be weird, and I'm pretty sure people would look at me funny. Except for my toddler, he loves to run it all over his face too. Not something I like him doing, but hey who can blame him.

Next up it the P02 powder brush.

The P02 powder brush is a big fluffy brush. Use this brush to apply any powder product,  such as foundation or bronzer to a large area of your face. 

When used with a foundation powder it will provide you with a medium to sheer coverage.  By buffing the product into the skin you can achieve an airbrushed effect.  

While you can use it for bronzer or blush, I personally think it is too big for that purpose.  You want to use brushes that are a bit smaller, and that offer more control over where you are placing your product, like the blush brush or my beloved fan brush. I also do not recommend using this brush for your finishing powder. I think a powder puff works best for setting your makeup. You do not want to dust a layer of powder onto your skin, you want to press a small amount of powder into your skin so that it sets it, and it gives it a natural skin texture.

My favorite use for this brush is to lightly swirl it (without any product) over the entire face after the makeup is done being applied.  This way it softly blends the blush, bronzer and powder together so that you do not look streaky. It is also a good way to blend whatever is on your jawline into your neck. You want someone to compliment you on how well your skin looks, not your makeup. If you have streaky makeup it will look fake, where as if it is well blended it will appear much more natural. 

You can also apply your powder as well as your liquid foundation with the P03 stippling brush. 

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As you can tell from the photo the stippling brush has two colors. The white fibers are longer and the black are shorter.  What this allows you to do is really buff a liquid into your skin and give you a flawless finish. 

This brush works best with thinner foundations, such as a tinted moisturizer, liquid or an airbrush foundation.  I use an airbrush foundation on clients with this brush and the result is amazing. 

To get the best result with this brush do not put a few drops of your chosen foundation directly onto the brush. Once you go to apply your foundation it will go on heavy and very streaky. You will then need to put more work into buffing it out than you should have to. Instead, make sure to have a little palette handy (stainless steel ones work great and they are super easy to clean). Pump a few drops of foundation onto the palette and work your brush into it, coating it evenly.  Now you are ready to apply it to your face. Buff your foundation into your skin with circular movements.

This brush is also great to use with a liquid or cream bronzer.  You can apply a sheer amount, the same way I described for your foundation, to the your forehead, cheeks, and nose.   If you are wearing a lower cut top apply a bit of bronzer to give your decolletage to give yourself a more sun kissed look without the damaging effects from the sun.  

Since we are talking about foundation I am going to skip over the P04 blush brush and talk about the P05 cream foundation brush.

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The P05 cream foundation brush works better than the stippling brush for thicker foundations such as full coverage liquids or creams. 

I've always likes to use a sponge or my fingers for when doing my personal makeup.  With a sponge you can press your foundation into your skin, giving you a very natural skin like texture.  If you have uneven skin texture, this can also help to even it out a bit too.The only downfall to sponges is that they tend to soak up product and they are super hard to get fully clean. I like the P05 brush because I am able to get the same results that I do with my sponge, but with a brush.

For the best results with this brush you are going to want to use a palette again with a bit of your foundation.  Press the brush into the foundation and work it in so that it is evenly coated on the brush. Here is a difference in what I do versus what I know most other makeup artists do with their foundation brush: instead of swiping it around your face, press it in where you need it as if you are using a sponge.  Since the brush is soft and flat, it will give you good coverage and leave you with a skin like texture.  You won't look heavy or cake.  After you have applied your foundation with this technique if you still feel like you need to blend a bit more use your clean P03 stippling brush and buff your foundation until you are satisfied.  Your foundation should melt into your skin and look airbrushed on.

This brush can be used, in the same way, with concealer if you have a large area to cover. Although my favorite brush in the set to use for a large area that needs concealer is actually the P06 highlighting brush.

Another way to utilize this brush is to apply cream cheek color with it. A good rule to remember if you are going to use a cream cheek color is that it should go after your liquids/cream but before any powders. 

Now that we have foundations out of the way let's jump back to the P04 blush brush.

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The P04 blush brush is almost identical to the P02 powder brush, except that it a smaller version.

This brush works great to apply powder blush.  I love it because, like the fan brush and powder brush, it is super soft and fluffy.  It it the perfect size to apply your blush right to the apple of your cheeks. 

You can also use the P04 blush brush to apply bronzer and shimmer to your face. 

I was worried that since this is a synthetic brush that it would not pick up enough pigment from the blush, but I have been happily surprised how much pigment it actually picks up.  I would never know that this was a synthetic brush if I was comparing it side by side to an animal brush.  It applies the color so effortlessly.

I feel like the large brushes alone in the Pirouette Professional set are such a great value.  An animal hair powder brush alone can cost you upwards of $50, so the fact that you get these five plus 13 (!) more for under $140 blows my mind. 

I hope this review was helpful in making your decision to switch to vegan brushes, Pirouette Professional brushes, or even offering you a better understanding of how to use similar brushes you already have. Stay tuned for part II of the review to come soon! 

***I am in no way affiliated with this company, and have purchased these brushes with my own money. I am sharing my thoughts because I love reading reviews (positive AND negative) before purchasing a product.***

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