Friday, September 3, 2010

Product Rave Review: Sigma Makeup F80 Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki

I am a believer of always looking at the positive and negatives of everything. Nothing is ever perfect, I will always find a fault with something, especially if I am really looking for it. Makeup is often something that is hit and miss, we are all different and something that works for me, may not work for you. Brushes are a very important part of makeup application, and I have tons of them, I have gone through many, many bad ones, and often times the nice ones are ridiculously priced. I am so happy to have found Sigma Makeup recently because it has allowed me to get many lovely brushes that I find to be wonderful quality and hopefully will last me a lifetime.

Flat top brushes have revolutionized the way that I apply my foundation. I used to use the typical foundation brush, the painting kind to apply liquid foundation. However, this type does just that, paints product onto your face, it takes longer and can become streaky. Flat top brushes give you maximum coverage quickly. As you can tell I have several of them, I added the MAC 187 in there just for comparison purposes. Do you prefer the foundation brushes or flat top brushes?

The Sigma F80 (formerly SS197) is my all-time favourite brush for foundation application. This is a flat top kabuki brush that is soft, yet firm and does a great job at putting on and buffing liquid foundation. This brush retails for $16 on the Sigma Makeup website. I wrote an initial review of this brush when I first got it, comparing it to the Everyday Minerals flat top brush, which is very similar, you can check that out here. I wanted to use it for some time to really test out if I liked it and post a proper review. If you are going to get one brush from Sigma, I would suggest it to be this one, I can't say enough good things about it.

This brush is very densely packed and is made of synthetic bristles, which makes it perfect for foundation application. I use this brush everyday and it has replaced my ELF Studio line powder brush which was my previous favourite, I still like it, but I find the Sigma one works a bit better.

This brush has never shed on me, however, I have had random hairs pop out of the top (notice pic above) and I have had to trim it a couple of times. I have read that others have had this problem as well. I also find that my foundation gets eaten up inside this brush easily, but that may just be how I apply it, maybe I am dipping too much product into it. It does clean easily though, all the product comes out and your brush is clean and brand new looking after every wash.

The size of the brush is great, it can cover a large area of your face at once, so it doesn't take forever to do your makeup. The way that I use this brush to apply liquid foundation is by placing the liquid on the back of my hand or on a surface and then lightly dipping the brush into it. Then I gently tap the product onto my face in a stippling motion, followed by blending it in (if needed). This brush gives a smooth, no streaks, flawless finish. Totally a holy-grail product for me.

Do you have the Sigma F80 brush?

15 comments:

Becky said... Best Blogger Tips

I love this brush as well. It's fantastic for liquid foundation application.

Jamie Dorman said... Best Blogger Tips

This is my favorite Sigma brush. It might even be my favorite brush ever.

BeautyAndTheBrute said... Best Blogger Tips

i have this sigma brush as well and was planning to do a review on it as well.. i actually really like it and i don't have anything like it.. and i have that same issue (no shedding, but random hair or two will pop up lol)..

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Khristine - too bad to hear that you have the same issue! It would be a perfect brush otherwise, even though it's pretty close already ;)

Stevista said... Best Blogger Tips

I really, really like this brush!! ;) It's great! I'm gonna buy a 2nd one very soon! :) Have you tried wetting your brush with some Fix+ or some plain water? I do that and it doesn't absorb so much product! :)

drugstoreandbargainlover

AdAm said... Best Blogger Tips

I have to save money for that!! where's my piggy!?

Frckls said... Best Blogger Tips

Hi!
I notice you've got some neat flat tops there! And those I'm currently considering to buy. =]

If you can choose one (or two =p) out of the flat tops to have, which one would it be? I use mineral foundie and cream (BB cream. Heard of it?) on rotation for daily basis, and have a liquid and a mousse one for other occassions. I'm currently eyeing on Sonia Kashuk's and e.l.f.'s, but heard that Sigma and EDM are pretty neat, too.

Can you please help me end my suffering? =P

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Frckls - the sonia kashuk brush that I have here in pictures has a very small head size, so if you want something bigger (fast application) I would suggest one of the other ones. ELF's is good and cheap, but I find the handle comes apart on every single brush I own, so that's a bummer. The sigma and EDM are pretty much the same brush, the EDM has longer bristles (bit more floppy) and the EDM has a shorter handle. It's all preference really. I like the Sigma F80 the best I think.

Frckls said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks for the reply Justine! I think I'm getting Sonia Kashuk anyway bcs I read on a blog that it's good for blushes and cream blushes, too. The other one perhaps Sigma or e.l.f. Btw, do you know any good dupe for MAC 187?

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Frckls - The sonia kashuk is great for cream blushes you are right. Sigma makes a MAC 187 dupe, but I prefer my MAC one because it is more dense and has less give to it.

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Frckls - I should also mention that sonia kashuk has a stippling brush as well, I am not too familiar with them because we don't carry her products in Canada, but her's her supposed to be good too, so worth checking out if you are getting her flat top too, the stippling brush is white handled.

Frckls said... Best Blogger Tips

But I heard the white handled ones are not as soft as the artsy handled one (well, they indeed are artsy). At least that's the case with the flat top. Thanks Justine for your replies. They do help a lot. Good luck with your blog and keep up the lovely work! =]

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@Frckls - ya, they are cheaper too, as far as I know, the ergonomic ones do have a stippling brush. Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it.

mintyvintage said... Best Blogger Tips

hi! i have Sigma F50 Stippling brush, so i was wondering whether the F80 kabuki brush would work the same? As you mentioned to stipple and buff the foundation in. It seems similar to my stipple brush so i am unsure whether i really need the F80.
:)

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@mintyvillage - the F80 is completely different than the F50. The F50 stippling technique takes a lot longer and is lighter, the F80 packs on a lot of product at once, so if you need that, this is a good brush for that.