RMS Beauty skin2skin Foundation brush and Swift shadow review

A beauty tool that I didn't know I needed until I tried it? That would be my thoughts on this foundation brush from RMS. I have been a fan of RMS make up for some time, the line founded by US make up artist Rosa Marie Swift, is one of the pioneering natural make up brands, and thanks to it's pretty colours and creamy formulas the brand has developed something of a cult following. The brand has launched several new products lately, including their new pressed eye shadows and make up brushes.

I am a big believer in using good quality beauty tools that are built to last and I take very good care of my make up brushes, meaning that I have brushes that have lasted me years and years and are still in perfect condition. When I saw the RMS skin2skin foundation brush I knew that there was nothing in my make up collection quite like it and so I have been putting it through it's paces to see if it lives up to the hype it received.

RMS skin2skin foundation brush* - (£36) Isn't a cheap brush, in fact it costs as much as several of my other make up brushes, but if you use a lot of cream make up products or stick foundations, this may well be a worthy investment. This is a duo fibre brush with a short but nicely weighted metallic handle, where it really is different from other brushes is the cut of the bristles. The bristles are in varying lengths in a swirl pattern, although at first glance it looks a bit gimmicky, the different lengths and thickness of the bristles work perfectly to buff stick foundations and cream products in to the skin.

RMS skin2skin brush with it's synthetic bristles cut to apply cream products perfectly

This brush was designed to work perfectly with the RMS un-coverup, which is a thick creamy concealer that can also be worn all over the face as a foundation, but I have also tested it with a variety of other brands such as W3ll people stick foundation and Hynt Beauty concealer. The smaller size of the brush makes application around the nose and under the eyes particularly easy and it gives a really flawless finish. The smaller size of the head also mean you can dip the brush directly in to the RMS pots rather than apply with fingers to the face and then go in with the brush. It made easy work of even thicker stick foundations that I would usually have to use the warmth of my fingers to blend. Although designed for use with creams I have also used this brush to buff in mineral make up really quite successfully, but when it came to liquids I felt it sucked up too much of the product, perhaps because of how densely packed the bristles are.

RMS use synthetic bristles for their brushes making this vegan friendly, I personally find synthetic brushes easier to clean than animal hair. The bristles on the skin2skin brush are particular soft but also densely packed, which means that it can buff in the thicker creams without feeling at all scratchy or irritating the face. RMS also released a blush brush designed specifically to be used with their lip2cheek pots, from what I can see online the bristles on the blush brush are a slightly different cut and aren't as densely packed enabling you to use a lighter hand to apply the colour to your cheeks.

RMS Swift shadow* - (£19 for 2.5 grams) Has to be one of the priciest single eye shadows I have ever owned. Let's be honest you can in fact get entire palettes for this price, so I was interested to see what the quality was like and if in fact I could justify adding more colours to my collection. There are eighteen shades in total which are divided in to six colour families. Enchanted Moonlight - Purples and Burgundies; Garden Rose - Pinks; Sunset Beach - Yellows and golds; Tempting Touch - Beige and tan; Tobacco Road - Green and browns; Twilight Madness - Grey and black.

RMS Beauty Swift shadow swatch - Shade Tobacco Road TR-92

I played it safe and went with a shade from the Tobacco road; green and brown family as these tend to be my most worn shades. My shade is TR-92 and is the lightest in the Tobacco Road colour family. When I chose it online I had no idea how much nicer it would be in person, my swatching skills aren't the best, but you can just about make out the pretty gold sheen that runs through the shade and looks really flattering on the eyes. Pigmentation wise they don't disappoint, they are creamy and blendable. They are free form mineral oil and talc, instead they have buriti fruit oil and jojoba. Seems a bit extravagant to be putting buriti fruit in eye shadow when cheaper carrier oils generally seem to work, but I suppose it does go some way to explaining the price.

Where I am a bit disappointed with RMS is the packaging of the swift shadows, as more people become aware of their waste and are looking for refillable and reusable options these shadows have been packaged in plastic casing. I can't help but think that RMS missed an opportunity to do something innovative and eco friendly with the packaging but instead played it safe. I would love to see them offer these as a pan only option to be put in to empty palettes, or offer a customisable palette option themselves to offset some of the packaging waste because the shadow quality itself is beautiful.

Are you an RMS fan what are your favourites?

Ana x

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