MOXI Makeup Brushes

Up until last year I'd never really invested in good tools for applying makeup and I would stick with whatever little applicator came with the product. In my defense I had looked at various brush sets, but more often than not the brushes would cost a fair bit more than I was willing to spend on them especially not since the quality didn't bowl me over. But things are changing on the makeup brush front and you can now get high quality brushes at affordable prices, and my latest brush obsession is the fabulous MOXI Brush Set* (£48) which I'm so fortunate to have tested. The set contains 5 brushes; the MOXI flat top angle brush, the M1 goat hair powder brush, an O1 taklon foundation brush, an X1 angled eye liner brush and the I1 double-ended brush. It's a wonderful gift set which comes in a lovely wrapped box (see photos on my Instagram), which I have already put to good use as makeup storage, and the brushes come individually wrapped and stored in a plastic cylinder that you could keep to protect the brushes if you need to bring them along for touching up on the go.

As you may know I do like lovely packaging and attractive products, and although that in itself isn't more important than good quality, it doesn't hurt to have something pretty to look at on the dressing table - and that's exactly what these brushes are too; sleek, elegant and chic with a dark grey handle and shiny rose gold ferrule. Let's start with looking at the O1 Taklon Foundation Brush (£13.50), which has dense but soft and silky bristles with a lightly rounded point to make it easier to apply foundation evenly and with a streak-free coverage. Since taklon is a synthetic material with a smoother surface, it's easier to clean than other types of brushes so they are also perfect for use if you have sensitive skin without causing any irritation.

Moving on to the MOXI Flat Top Angle Brush (£13.50) which is a synthetic brush with a very tightly packed angled bristle top, great for use with bronzer and blusher for sculpting cheekbones and the bristles feel super soft on the skin and it's nice and pliable to use. The brush is also great for liquid foundation and when I've used it with my YSL Youth Forever Serum Foundation, it easily buffs in the formula leaving my complexion with a very smooth and natural finish. Personally I actually prefer to use this with foundation rather than the O1 Foundation Brush, simply because of how lovely it feels on the skin and by using just the tip of the brush you can even use it on areas where you need more control and precision, a very versatile brush!

Included in the set is also a M1 Goat Hair Powder Brush (£13.50), which is a medium sized brush with a generous amount of bristles and the shape is to help with better precision and control. This brush also has a very dense bristle to make it easy to pick up product and to get a nice full coverage and it feels very luxurious and soft on the skin and apparently it gets even more soft with use. Even though it's intended for powder, it also works really well with blusher and bronzer and personally I love to use it with a blusher since the domed shape of the brush makes it perfect for applying blusher  with a very light touch, right on the apples of your cheeks.

Next up is the X1 Angled Eye Liner Brush (£8) which is made from synthetic fibres. The bristle is quite stiff, although it still feels soft and gentle on the skin, and together with the very fine tip the brush gives your perfect control when you apply the eyeliner, and the angled ferrule makes it so much easier to get really close to the inner and outer corners of the lashline for even application and glamorous feline flicks. I've never been very good at applying eyeliner with a brush, but the angled ferrule really works for me, and even heavy handed I can accomplish a beautiful, precise and thin line with minimal effort - I am completely IN LOVE with this brush.

We've come to the last of the brushes - the I1 Double-Ended Brush (£12.50) which also is a synthetic brush and similarly to the Angled Eye Liner Brush, the bristles are very firm to allow precision work with the brush. It's a multi purpose brush which you can use with concealers and eye shadows - applying with the flat end, and then blending and defining with the angled side. I especially like to use the angled end to blend and it makes it so effortless to achieve a lovely transition between colors.

I am very impressed with the quality and feel of the MOXI brushes, and my favorites out of this lovely 5 is the Flat Top Angled Brush, which is just wonderful for foundations, bronzers and blushers, and the Angled Eye Liner Brush which for me definitely has opened up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to eyeliner. If you were to buy each of the brushes individually, you'd pay £61 for them, so treating yourself to the MOXI gift box (£48.50) would save you some cash, and let's face it - it's not as if we don't all have a very long wish list of beauty products to spend that money on. In addition MOXI currently offers free shipping on all UK orders, and if you use the discount code MOXI10CL (valid until April 30th) you get an additional 10% off all MOXI orders.