Face Buffing Brushes - Comparison and Review

Disclaimer: All the of products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

My renewed blogging motivation has caused me to start digging back through my older files looking at pictures of products that I got but never got around to reviewing.

This particular review is actually going to be well-timed because we are quickly approaching Black Friday sales.

Last year on Black Friday, I ordered both Midnight Lace sets offered by Sedona Lace because they had a 50% off everything sale that day. It was a great opportunity to try out brushes like the SigMAX sets offered by Sigma, which I had always wanted to try.

Then over the summer, I saw similar sets offered by Royal Care Cosmetics being sold through Amazon. Their price was even better, so I picked those up as well to compare the sets. Please ignore the fact that some of the pictures have dirty brushes. When my Royal Care set came in, I was too excited to get pictures taken to worry about washing my Sedona Lace brushes first.

Basic Information

Sedona Lace's Midnight Lace Collection comes with (from top to bottom) an angle top brush, a flat top brush, a round top brush, and a kabuki brush. It retails for $49.95, and shipping on this set alone is $3.26, but if you get your order up to $50, you can get free shipping. If Sedona Lace has a 50% off sale for Black Friday again this year, you can get the set for $24.97 plus shipping.

The Royal Care Cosmetics brush set comes with (from left to right) a round top brush, a flat top brush, a pointed top brush, and an angle top brush. According to Royal Care Cosmetic's website, these brushes have a regular price of $38.95 and are on sale for $19.95. However, every time I have looked they have been on sale, so I think that is just a marketing tactic. Shipping from their site is $6.45. Currently,if you order them through Amazon.com (just search for Royal Care Cosmetics), this brush set is selling for $17.95 with $5.17 shipping; when I ordered them, they were $14.95.

Quality Comparison

Construction - The basic construction of these two sets of brushes is nearly identical.
Density - The Sedona Lace brushes are marginally more dense, but not enough to notice while in use.
Softness - The Sedona Lace brushes are also a little bit softer than the Royal Care brushes, but they both sets are nice and soft to the touch.
Shedding - I may have had a few bristles shed from the Royal Care brushes when I initially washed them, but I haven't had any since. I don't remember any shedding with the Sedona Lace brushes.

The one area where the Sedona Lace brushes really stand out for me is in the cut of the bristles. There were some obvious imperfections with the Royal Care brush bristles when I got them.

There were small areas of bristles on the Royal Care angle top brush that were visibly uneven with the rest, and there are a few bristles on the flat top brush that are longer than the rest. I went ahead and pulled out a pair of scissors to carefully trim the bristles on the angle top brush. I believe I pulled out a couple of the longer hairs in the flat top brush using tweezers, but I didn't worry too much about those.

The Royal Care brushes also had a plastic-y smell to them when I first got them. It did take a few washes for the smell to disappear.

Brush Shape Comparison

The shape of the angle top brushes are quite a bit different between the two brands. The Sedona Lace brush is much flatter. I have used it for contouring. The more rounded shape on the Royal Care version is really nice for applying powder all over the face.

The shape of the flat top brushes is practically identical. The bristles are the same length, and the diameter looks to be the same as well. I have used these for both liquid foundation and powder. I prefer using them for powder.

The only real difference between the two round top brushes is that the Royal Care brush has bristles that are a little bit longer than the Sedona Lace. It isn't something I notice while using them. These have become my go-to brushes for applying liquid foundation.

The last brush in each set is so different that they aren't really worth comparing, but here's a closer look at each.

The Royal Care set comes with a pointed top brush. I honestly don't think I've used this one yet. I've gotten so used to a buffing motion when it comes to applying foundation, and I don't think this would work well for that. I don't know how else I would use this brush.

The Sedona Lace set comes with a traditional kabuki brush. My favorite way to use this brush is to blend out my blush, which is habitually over apply.

Customer Service Comparison

I purchased my Sedona Lace Midnight Lace Set last year during their Black Friday sale. Unfortunately, they were woefully unprepared for the number of orders they received during that 24-hour sale. In 2011, they got 300 orders during their Black Friday sale, and last year they got over 3,000 orders. It turned into quite the debacle. Even though I placed my order within the first few hours of the sale, it took two months for my order to ship to me, and the free gift that was part of the Black Friday offer didn't ship until nearly a month after that.

I tried to remain patient throughout the process. I did get irritated by the fact that their shipping department did not ship out orders in the order they were received. According to a post done by Sedona Lace on their Facebook page, " The shipping department has their way of efficiency to get orders shipped by location-product-weight etc.. Thank you for being patient we know you will love your products when you get them." Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but their "system" is likely what caused me to have to wait two months for my brushes, as I made my order within the first hour or two of the sale. 

I genuinely believe, though, that the Sedona Lace team meant well and did their best to deal with the over-whelming number of orders they received. I have faith that they learned from their mistakes last year and their Black Friday sale will go more smoothly this year. I would be hesitant to order brushes from the sale in the hopes of giving them as Christmas presents though, just in case there is another shipping delay.

I did not have any issues with Royal Care Cosmetics in terms of customer service. My brush order shipped out quickly, and I didn't have any need to contact them directly about anything. 

Final Conclusions

I really like these two sets are both good options if you are looking for face brushes like this for liquid foundation and/or powder. The Sedona Lace set is normally quite a bit more expensive, but if you are able to take advantage of the Black Friday sale that I assume is coming, it isn't that much more expensive than the Royal Care Cosmetics set. The quality of the Sedona Lace brushes is better, but it isn't enough to make a huge difference. I use the flat and round top brushes from the two brands interchangeably and don't notice a difference in application. Since three of the four brushes are nearly the same, the fourth brush in each set might be a deciding factor. If you're like me and aren't really interested in the pointed top brush, the Sedona Lace set might be more appealing. 

Will you be picking up either of these sets? Are there any Black Friday/holiday sales that you are looking forward to taking advantage of?

Disclaimer: All the of products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.