Makeup Application: Startreasureland Oval Makeup Brushes

A few well-known high-end beauty brands have made the oval brush concept very popular. They look like tiny hairbrushes but have soft bristles intended for use on the face. The benefits of oval brushes are that they have excellent control due to the handle shape, they can get into tiny crevices, and there is an incredible color payout. To see if an oval brush set is for you, a good set to try is the ten brush Startreasureland Oval makeup brush set.

TIP: The key to finding an effective but reasonably priced oval brush is finding one with highly packed dense bristles.

The Startreasureland Oval makeup brush set has ten brushes with very dense and tightly packed bristles give a very smooth makeup application that starts out light a thin opaque layer you can buff out to the desired degree of sheerness.

COMPARING OVAL BRUSHES TO BEAUTY BLENDER SPONGES
Both have their place in a good beauty arsenal. While awesome for sheer coverage, a Beauty Blender is less helpful when seeking natural looking opaque coverage, such as on areas such as the undereye area, blemishes, imperfections, or areas that need fuller coverage. So I apply my makeup with an oval brush and blend out to the desired sheerness when needed.

COMPARING OVAL BRUSHES TO TRADITIONAL FOUNDATION & CONCEALER BRUSHES

The Startreasureland Oval makeup brush handles are ergonomic with a wide flat top and rounded easy to grip sides. They make it easy to angle around the face, so you can see what you are doing at any angle, whereas a regular foundation or concealer brush is the shape of a paint brush, allowing you to work your makeup at only one angle, which limits both visibility and blending ability.

HOW TO USE THE OVAL BRUSH SET

The two very large Startreasureland brushes in the set are for setting powder and foundation powder, applying makeup for body or applying powder over a large area. The second-largest can also be used to apply a face primer or even your moisturizer and sunscreen.

While each brush can accommodate any makeup, a liquid or cream texture foundation is applied with the third largest to the medium size brushes, concealer and blush with the medium to the small range (brushes 4-6), and eyeliner and eyeshadow for the smallest and round head brushes. The small round heads are also useful for lipstick, spot blemish concealer application, eyeshadow crease/contour and the thin small heads work for eyeliner, contour, and eyeshadow. I was surprised how nicely the round brush applied a dark, heavily pigmented lipstick into a nice subtle layer of sheer tint, perfect for that transitional autumn timing.

RESULTS
I was surprised by how large the foundation brush is, but when the sides are used, it draws a very defined contour line. The foundation brush maneuvers the angles of the face well. The concealer brushes (generally the 4-6 largest) get in well in the small crevices around the eye and that dark area between the nose and undereye under the brow. I love how sheer the oval brushes get foundation and concealer, even on bumpy areas.

The most important thing I found when using these brushes, is that there is very little wasted makeup. I found with some brushes and sponges, my Beauty Blender type applicators especially, that I lost a fair amount of makeup that was soaked into the sponge, even when the Sponge is used damp. These brushes just help smooth out a thin layer and buff out to your desired level of coverage without wasting much makeup. In short, what you apply to your face directly and brush out, or what you apply to your brush and brush on, is what ends up on your face. It is easy to go heavy-handed at first.

I was also surprised that the round head oval brush as a lip brush was as useful when applying lipstick. Even dark, sticky colors went on sheer and super even with no lumps or bumps. It took a few tries to get used to controlling the brush as a round tip directly on the lips instead of a side-to-side flat brush painting motion.

CONCLUSION

The Startreasureland Oval makeup brushes are useful for powders, creams and liquid makeup – whether foundation, contour, eyeshadow, highlighter, cream blush or even lipstick. This is a very handy set of brushes that are well-constructed with well packed and dense bristles. There is a great color payout, and I love how sheer foundation appears on the face, and I especially like how much control it gives when applying contour, concealer, and eyeshadow. Quality set for a good price.

I received this item for testing and review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with it, leave it in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best to answer it!