Thursday, March 3, 2011

I had some issues with Sigma (slight rant) BUT...I still bought their new brushes and a review on the kabuki brush

So this is a small rant on Sigma and it has nothing to do with their NEW line of brushes. This rant is how Sigma came into the beauty world and I don't fault the company 100% for this, but they have to take a little blame for this.

Everyday I look at my Sigma brush and feel an anger towards them. I try to express my concern to them, but my Sigma brush don't really care to hear what I have to say, so you are my next best thing :)

I bought the SIGMA brushes over a year ago due to the hype that the blogger and youtube community was giving them. I was so excited to get them and used them everyday. After a while I have to say, the blush brush started to loose its shape, the stipple brush was not firm at all, the eyeshadow brush did not pack on shadow like I expected and the pencil brush was way to fluffy to be precise. I was disappointed in my purchase and could not believe that gave into the hype and the comparisons.

AND on top of everything...Don't the original Sigma brushes look A LOT LIKE the Crown Studio Brushes???  (Thanks to a fellow MUG who pointed that out, and now that I see them and I kinda agree, it makes me a little sad) CLICK HERE TO SEE THEM

NOW...don't get me wrong, for $50, it is a good brush set, but no where  and let me repeat that, NO WHERE, near as good as MAC BRUSHES.

My rant is really not towards Sigma as company, but to the people who hyped them up to be as good or EVEN BETTER (really?) than MAC brushes. I really bought into that hype and found myself to be really disappointed. Especially when I started to build up my MAC brush collection.

It makes me sad that people would hype up a company like this, and IMO, just for free product and press. Don't get me wrong either, not everyone who blogs or youtubes about these brushes are like this, I have seen some really great, honest, positive reviews on these brushes, it is just a few people who just really go overboard, and it makes it hard for us, as makeup lovers to decide if these brushes are really worth it.

Especially if you are new to makeup, which I feel these particular reviews are targeted to. When you are new to makeup, you want everything you can to make the makeup process go smoothly and you want everything you see the bloggers and youtubers have.

However, sometimes you cannot afford everything all at once and you look for cheaper (and claimed better) alternatives to feed your hunger, (trust me I know because I have been here) and you buy whatever recommendation is thrown at you that is a cheaper alternative to what you really want.

I am not mad that I bought the sigma brush set, nor am I trying to bash them. It is a good set , but the quality is no where close to MAC, nor is the application. My favorite brush from the sigma set is the SS224, it has a way more precise application that the MAC 224 can not give me, but that is about as far as it goes. I was not really impressed with the rest of the set and have swapped out some the brushes on MUA. I honestly think my Sonia Kushuk crease brush is one of the best crease brushes I own and that brush cost me like $5.

The Sigma brushes are better than any Costal Scents brush, BUT NOT better than MAC. The reason MAC brush cost so much is because they are great bushes, with superior quality and they apply your makeup on your face like a dream.
If you can't afford them all at once. It's ok! It's not the end of the world. I bought like one brush a month and even found some good deals on MUG or MUA. Then whenever I got a GC, I would buy some then. It is a slow building process, but well worth it for makeup lovers and fans.

Ok..SO maybe this rant was a TAD longer than I expected...I am sorry for that...however I recently decided to buy the Sigma Marilyn Monroe Travel Kabuki brush with the "Sigmax HD Fibers" in the brush. 
I figure that Sigma needed another shot from me since I bought the original brush set based on super high expectations, so I bought this brush blindly without knowing anything about it.

Once I got it, I was amazed at how super soft it was, even after I washed it. I like this kabuki brush. It is very stylish looking, which is important to me because this little guy will traveling with me at all times and it applies powder and blends out blush very well. For $18, this brush is a good deal.

I will say that I do have the Essence of Beauty Travel Kabuki brush, that works the same way as this brush. However my Essence of Beauty kabuki from CVS is awful..it is very scratchy and feels rough on my skin and I paid $14 for that brush..AT A DRUG STORE! I still used it because I could not find a nice travel kabuki brush, until now.

This is the packaging of the brush and how it looks closed. I really like the metallic red and mirror like finish.

When you take the top off, this piece is pushed up to keep the brush intact and secure.

Then you push that piece down and VIOLA! You have your kabuki brush :)

This is a top view of the brush..it is a pretty full brush considering it is a travel brush

This is just a better view. To close it, you just push up that red piece and put the cap back on

So after this purchase I decided to go ahead a purchase their new Synthetic Face Kit. These brushes have the special "Sigmax HD filament"(the same as the kabuki brush I just got) that are suppose to make it great for applying liquid foundation and blush. I have the MAC 130 brush for highlighting and I also heard it great for foundation but I cannot bring myself to use my highlighting brush (which is one of my favorite products next to blush) as a foundation brush as well..idk..may sound silly, but I just can't do it. I currently use my beauty blender for my foundation and do love that application, but I heard that applying foundation with a brush gives your look such a flawless look and I NEED to try it. So when these brushes come in I will let you know my thoughts on them.

Do you own any Sigma brushes? What do you think of them? Have you tried their new line?

Let me know your thoughts...

7 comments:

Robyn said...

I was going to get a Sigma set, but thought otherwise once I actually bought some MAC brushes. I only have 6 MAC brushes, and I bought them with money I got for my birthday, lol! I just can't afford them most of the time, but I love them to bits. There *are* other quality brushes out there that are cheap, like EcoTools and ELF Studio, but I wouldn't want to buy specific MAC dupes for brushes (although bring on the e/s dupes, ha!) because I know the quality of MAC and I don't want to compromise on that. I love my 244 - best £20 I ever spent - so when I want another, I'll buy another and not a dupe.

KayKay said...

i do agree that sigma is hyped up in the yt and blogging community and i was very tempted to buy a few brushes since i am slowly building my mac collectio, but i decided not to only because i will end up spending more in the long run. as expensive as mac is, it is best to slowly build up the collection because the quality is amazing and will last for ever.

Alexis the Honey B said...

i hate sigma. i hate sigma! LOL... I've got a great MAC collection of brushes that is slowing building but i like crown for my cheap brushes! i just got a travel kit for $20 on hautelook. You should give them a try!

Cydonian said...

I am in the same boat as you with Sigma (and Crown, as you know haha). They got pumped up so much by YouTube gurus and such that I had a hard time believing they were that good. I also have a load of cheap brushes from Sonia Kashuk, e.l.f. and even Studio Tools that suit me just fine. I am saving up to allow myself one of Mac's blending brushes (I think it's the 217??) though.

Jess said...

AHHH YES the 217 is AMAZING..if you are saving up for any brush..let it be that one for the eyes!!

Thanks for your responses ladies..I was not sure if many would agree with me but I'm glad you do :)

Unknown said...

I full agree with your post :D
I have MAC brushes and I keep telling my readers... you CANNOT compare MAC and sigma ... MAC is the bomb sigma is OK ..
I have both I like sigma but I still like my MAC brushes more...

I would even dare to say since I have read that sigma and seldona lace have the same brushes but with a small difference

Irene said...

This is a very helpful review. I personally don't own any MAC or Sigma brushes so far. And I was always so surprised when people claimed that Sigma was better, not because I am a MAC fan, but because MAC is a brand well loved by pros and they won't get sucked into any hype as they actually need their tools to work and be reliable and long lasting. So if there was something better this next best thing would become the pro tool of choice IMO. But I was eying this kabuki brush in turquoise for a while, I've had my ecotools one for about two years now and even though it performs just as well as the day I bought it I'm just looking for something new for a change