Merry Christmas with Zoeva Rose Golden Luxury Set



So, someone was a lucky lady this Christmas because Santa (aka, my boyfriend) stuck these little beauties under the tree.  Let's just take a moment to gaze at their rose golden wonderness.

I have been coveting this brush set for SO long, and on various occasions have been tempted to throw caution to the proverbial wind and make a cheeky (and somewhat expensive) purchase.  But so far I've resisted, mainly due to the price (£59.99) and mainly because you are paying a premium for them being rose gold, and I've been desperately trying to curb my spending on unnecessary cosmetics. 

But this made them the perfect Christmas present, and it's safe to say I was over the flipping moon when I opened them.

Zoeva brushes have been gathering steam in the cosmetics world over the past year, and are starting to make a real name for themselves as brushes that come with a reasonable price tag, but which don't compromise on quality.

Take this set as an example.  It contains 8 brushes all finished in black and rose gold, and they arrive in a rather gorgeous leather make-up bag (which is big enough to be genuinely useful).  So that works out on average at £7.50 per brush with a free bag thrown in for good measure.  Not bad. Not bad at all.  Go in to your local drugstore and I defy you to find a decent blusher brush for under a tenner, and that's not even taking into account how goddamn pretty these are.

And with Zoeva, it's all about the little touches.  No.1 the make up bag.  No. 2 the fact each brush is wrapped in plastic and with a separate, custom shaped plastic "hood" fitted over the bristle end of the brush.  If you buy them individually then they come wrapped in the plastic and zipped up in individual bags.  You feel like you are buying brushes that are so much more high end than the price you paid.

And as a self confessed cosmetic and beauty addict, these brushes literally speak to me.  Zoeva seem to get that, for me, doing my make-up is an experience I really enjoy (sad, I know).  And I love a make-up product that I can proudly display on my dressing table (OK I don't have a dressing table, but you get the idea) and these brushes are exactly that.  Even my boyfriend agreed they looked "nice" and trust me, nice means he is impressed.  And he's a boy.  And they're make-up brushes.  Am I making my point...?

OK so let's break these down to the individual brushes....

106 Powder

The first and biggest brush in the set is the 106 Powder brush.  It has a large rounded-off head of ultra soft bristles, which are packed loose enough to allow the flexibility needed for a good powder brush.  You need to be able to "sweep" the powder across your face, and this gives good sweep.  I've been in the market for a powder brush for some time, as I've recently started using the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish powder to set my make-up, and I need a decent brush to apply it with.  The head of this brush isn't ridiculously big, but still has enough surface area to cover your face quickly and lightly.  I like this, as sometimes powder brushes can be too big and they can lack stability.  The head can be really large and floppy and there's just no guts behind them.  The 106 brush on the other hand seems to have struck a good balance between flexibility whilst still having enough structure and density to buff the powder into the skin for a seamless finish.

102 Silk Finish

This was the brush I was most excited about in the set, and was the one I have got SO close to buying individually in the past. The bristle head is smaller than the powder brush but the bristles are much more densely packed together - I reckon this is going to be blinding at buffing foundation in.  Size-wise, it is similar to the Real Techniques Expert Face brush, but it is so much softer to the touch and has a rounder bulb type head.  I think this is going to be really good at buffing liquid foundation into smaller, more precise areas of my face or for cream based blushes or bronzers.  I swear by the Zoeva 104 Buffer Brush for applying my foundation, but do find the surface area of it to be a bit too large for certain areas of my face, so I'm thinking the 102 is going to be the answer.  It's got the same "feel" to it, but more compact.

127 Luxe Sheer Cheek

This is an absolute dupe for the MAC 168 brush, but in my opinion is so much softer and nicer to the touch.  As blusher brushes go, the bristles on this are quite loosely packed and flexible.  I think this is why it's called the "sheer" cheek, because I imagine it doesn't pack the product on your face, and I don't think this is for serious buffing.  I'm excited for this brush because I'm a bit of a blusher wimp, and go in very carefully with my blush, so this could end up being my best friend.  I think it's going to give a very sheer, gentle wash of colour.  I'm also keen to use this with my Mary Louminiser highlighting powder as I think the gentle touch of this brush is going to make it perfect for giving that effect where highlighter or blusher has just "touched" certain high points of your face.

110 Face Shape

The 110 Face Shape is a smaller version of the Silk Finish brush.  It has the same round, bulb shaped head of bristles which are densely packed to give fierce buffing power.  As with all of the brushes, the bristles are still crazy soft to the touch and there's enough flexibility in them to mean the brush will still feel gentle on the face.  This looks like the perfect brush for precise contouring, especially down the bridge of the nose.  I also think it will be good at applying liquid foundation in the more "crevice-y" parts of your face, so around your nose, across your eyelids and around the chin area.

142 Concealer Buffer

This is one of only two brushes in the set that I already own.  I bought this a few months back and reviewed it here.  This is a mini version of the Silk Finish, with the same features - the bulb head, the dense bristles, the softness.  When I bought and reviewed this originally, I wasn't a fan of it. The brush itself is gorgeous to the touch, but I have very dry skin and just find that my concealer needs that warmth from my finger to blend it in.  If I use a brush, the concealer just goes a bit too dry.  And this is no reflection on the quality of this brush, it's just it doesn't suit my skin type.  Having said that, I've been loving this brush for eyeshadow blending.  Because of the density of the bristles, partnered with the softness of the brush, this is perfect for the delicate eye area.  It buffs and blends eyeshadows like a dream, especially more stubborn cream-based eyeshadows. 

227 Luxe Soft Definer
231 Luxe Petit Crease

There are two eye brushes in the set, the 227 Luxe Soft Definer and the 231 Luxe Petit Crease.  I already own the 227 and did a mini review of it here.  This brush is a total dupe for the much-loved MAC 217 and I am so pleased to have a second one in my collection.  Much like the MAC 217, the Zoeva 227 applies eyeshadow like a dream.  It loads the colour on, it blends it well, it covers well, it gets into your creases and crevices.  As is the running theme with these brushes, it is super soft and to be honest I don't know why anyone would part with the extra money to buy the MAC version.  It does the job just as well.

The 231 has a tapered end and is a more precise brush for application of eyeshadow to the crease of your eyelid.  I have mega hooded eyes, so my crease is pretty defined already, but it also means that all of my eye make-up involves some kind of 'crease work', so this brush is going to be a welcome addition to my make-up kit.  The bristles are dense enough to give this enough "power" behind the application, but the taper means that power is being pushed into the right area.  I have very small eyes as well, and this is the perfect size to fit my eyelid.

317 Wing Liner

So the final brush in the set is the 317 Wing Liner brush.  This is such a delicate little brush of super fine bristles which taper to an ultra fine point.  I'm quite a fan of a slanted eyeliner brush like this, as I think the shape lends itself well to the application of a winged eye.  It's really tricky to find a slanted eyeliner brush which is as fine and precise as this.  As my eyes are very small and hooded, I don't have much room for liquid eyeliner so I have to keep it mega tight to my lash line and this brush is perfect for the job.  Plus the bristles are once again so soft that I don't get any irritation around my super sensitive eyes.  If you're a fan of gel eyeliner then I would totally recommend this brush.  Totally.

So the Rose Golden Luxury Set is available direct from Zoeva's website.  Bit of a warning....the postage costs are pretty steep on these brushes as they come from Germany.  Regardless of whether you're buying one brush or ten, the postage is an eye watering £7.50.  So if you can find a friend or sister or mum who wants some brushes too, maybe combine the postage, as it is priiiiicey.

You can get some of the brushes and sets from www.love-makeup.co.uk which carries a more reasonable £3.50 shipping cost to the UK, but you may notice some of the brush prices are a tiny bit more expensive than buying them direct from the Zoeva site.  So swings and roundabouts really.  Swings and roundabouts and really, really pretty rose gold brushes.