About a month or so ago, when the sun was shining and you can see from the pictures above my grass had turned to straw, I was sent some tools from Max Factor’s new accessories range to try out. This comprised of:
Crystal nail file
Small eyeshadow brush
Powder brush
Nail clippers
Overall I was impressed by the classy black boxes the brushes come in, the quality and style of the brush handles and the way that the accessories look and perform. I was immediately very impressed by the crystal nail file, especially the price as they are usually quite expensive.
Out of everything that I was sent I would recommend the crystal nail file and the powder brush.
Max Factor Powder Brush RRP £14.00 at Boots
This is one of the fullest powder brushes I own and the bristles are soft, not quite as soft as smashbox but then again my smashbox brush cost me £40…so you can’t expect miracles for £14. This is definitely one of the better lower priced brushes I have used as it feels great, applies loose powder or pressed powder equally well to the face and hasn’t shed before during or after washing.
Max Factory Crystal Nail File RRP £8.50 at Boots
My favourite thing out of the range, it’s hard to find a decently priced fullsize crystal nail file and this one even has its own little patent case. I first heard about crystal files from Helen’s blog (nice things) as crystal files seal your nails better than a sort of ‘sandpaper’ style and my nails really benefit from using them and chip much less. My mum has a fancy doodaa Leighton Denny file which comes in a fancy case as well but I am perfect happy with my Max Factor one actually it does exactly the same job and for a much better price.
I was quite surprised by how much I liked the range being a bit of a brush ho, I did find that the eyeshadow brush splayed slightly after washing it a few times so that’s why I didn’t recommend that as the ecotools eyeshadow brushes don’t splay on me.
If you are trying to set up a brush kit and can’t afford the likes of Louise Young, Mac, Smashbox etc. then I would definitely pick up a couple of these brushes along with Elf Studio Kabuki and some Ecotools brushes as they are all really well priced and good quality.
Have you got a special brush you have to have?