Bonjourno friends! Since I delved into the beauty world I have continuously been on the hunt for the cremé of the crop of the makeup brushes and very early on I stumbled across a little brand named Zoeva. Decently priced, classy and glamorously designed and with a bunch of rave reviews I knew that these may have just been the bee's knees of makeup brushes that I could ever find. A few years on from a blush and classic blending brush purchase I have become a very lucky bunny and recieved the Rose Gold Volume 2 Eye Brush set as a special Christmas gift, purely because I bloody adore them so much! So sit tight peeps because we've got a rave review coming up ahead!
The Rose Gold Volume 2 Eye Brush Set is what is described by Zoeva to be a natural and synthetic collection of brushes that exude ultimate elegance and girliness, packed neaty into a stunning rose gold clutch. It contains both larger fluffy brushes, tapered brushes for precision application and blending, shader brushes to pack colour onto the lid and a dense concealer buffing brush, which also doubles up as an eye shadow brush.
On first application with the brushes I was soothed by their gentle fluffiness and wholly impressed with the sheer quality of their sturdy, yet neat and sleek, glamorous design. With eye shadow application using Zoeva's brushes there is absolutely no tugging yet no compromise on opacity of shadow. In fact, they deliver the best opacity of shadow I have ever experienced. Following your usual gentle brush cleansing, hair shedding is also non-existent. All this and they are also the prettiest brushes you could ever dream of; just little gems in themselves. They are also very light to handle, which is perfect for a good old blend-a-thon. Top marks for overall quality Zoeva!
In terms of blending, all the crease brushes are exceptional blenders. All shadows are blended by the brushes so beautifully yet with maximum colour pay off and they are fab at blending shades to diffusion. Likewise, the shader brushes are equally as exceptional at picking up and packing on shadows with insane opacity. The other tools, like the brow line brush, spot liner and precision shader also have their own skills and versatilities (not exactly a word, I know) however the blending and shader brushes are definitely the best products in the set.
Here's a break down of each brush's performance.
142
The Concealer Buffer brush seriously blew my mind. A sturdy, well packed bristled, round top brush seemed like a niche concept for buffing and blending but I fully believed it was goign to ruin my concealer and suck at covering my pesky spots. Hold the phone however. This brush is genuinely better at applying and blending out all my concealers (including green) than my fingers. I was shook! It works best used in gentle dabbing motions and effortlessly applies all formulas of concealer both over spots and on the eyelid, with no tugging. For the best spot coverage I found stippling motions, followed by gentle buffing of the edges of the concealer works wonders but be cautious not to buff too much as it can accentuate dry patches. Compared to using my finger this brush gives exceptionally better coverage and evenness. To add to its wonders the 142 also applies transition shades on the lid with good opacity and yet still evenly and diffused.
221
This brush, upon first glance, is very similar to the 228 Luxe Crease brush however this one is more fanned out in the bristles, making it the perfect choice for precision blending. I have yet to come across a smaller blending brush like the 221 Luxe Soft Crease brush before and find that it's smaller style is just perfect for both blending out bolder colours (to avoid panda eyes and maintain opacity) and for blending in smaller eye areas (which is perfect for people with hooded eyelids and not much space to work with like myself). I also find that this brush is very good at blending out the edges of already applied shadow without taking the colour away.
227
I can pick this beast of a brush out from a mile off because this brush was the key to the beginning of my makeup journey. Pretty much an exact replica of the classic MAC 217 that all the beauty YouTubers raved about back in the day. I have never tried the MAC 217 however I instantly fell in love with the Zoeva 227 Luze Soft Definer offering because it is one of the most beautiful eye shadow blenders I have ever come across. Soft and easy on the eyelid, the 227 picks up a fair amount of product and blends them wonderfully into the crease. For darker shades I would definitely say apply exceptionally sparing amounts to the brush to avoid any panda eye situations. The 227 is the brush for your classic crease shade application.
228
The 228 Luxe Crease brush, as mentioned previously, is very similar to the 221 however with much more of a tapered style. Although I have long adored the 227, for me this is one of my go to crease application brushes because it really works well with my hooded and minimal eyelid space. I find the 227 best for general crease shade application (like your classic eye shadow looks) and the 228 best for more gradiated eye shadow looks and halo eyes. The tapered style of the brush applies crease shades still just as wonderfully yet more precisely into the crease, giving you more room to add a wider variety and gradients of colour. For those with very small eyelid areas this brush will really work wonders for you in the eye shadow department.
230
The 230 Luxe Pencil brush is another addition to the tapered brush family in this set and a key tool in anyone's makeup collection. Uses for this brush are seriously endless and I don't just use it for my eyes. It's miniature tapered design makes it the perfect brush for applying highlight to the brow bone, cupids bow, tip of the nose and tear duct. It offers precision highlighting, however not so precise that it leaves any harsh lines, and is fluffy enough to grab a decent amount of product. On the eyes however, this is the perfect brush to finish off any look by further deepening and emphasising the crease colour by adding a small, blended extra hint and depth of colour to the most inner part of the crease. It also works wonders at blending the lid shade into the crease shade to tie eye looks together and is the perfect brush for carving out lines for halo eyes. Considering it is only a very small yet well bristle-packed brush it does a decent job at blending out the shades it applies however the outer edges of shadows applied with the brush sometimes still require a little further blending with a fluffier brush.
231
A favourite of Zoella's this one is I think. The 231 Luxe Petit Crease brush is almost like the child brush of the Luxe Pencil brush and Luxe Crease brush. Small in size, a little bigger than the pencil brush, yet fluffy but structured. For me this is another fab crease colour application brush as it again provides precision so you can add depth and gradient to your colours but still blends them in beautifully. It adds definition to the crease without leaving harsh lines. I find with this brush and the 228 they work as the perfect pair to precisely apply and ombré crease shades.
232
Never in my life did I think I could love a shader brush so much but this one just upped the shader brush game by a thousand! The 232 Luxe Classic Shader brush is shaped like your classic shader that fits perfectly into the centre of your lid. Where it dazzles however is in it's performance. It is insanely good at picking up all shadows and applies them so utterly opaquely to the lid. Compared to applying a lid shade with my finger (which I previously felt gives the most intense colour pay off) this brush beats it by miles, which is so much better for your shadows as opposed to dabbling your fingers in them.
235
A unique brush in my collection, the 235 Contour Shader brush is a thin angled brush that I find best for blending those more precise shadows, especially when working into that outer V shape for classic eye shadow looks. It's best attribute is dispersing already applied product and blending it out further. The angled shape of the brush gives good control to blend in precise areas and blends best when used with the tilted slant facing downwards. What it brings to the table that my other angled eye brush doesn't is it's slim design, which fits perfectly into the crease, especially for those with smaller or hooded eye areas like myself.
238
For me the 238 Luxe Precise Shader brush isn't one of my most used brushes as, on the lid, you either need to be working with bold, bright or standout colours or glitters/ pigments. It's the cutest shader brush I have ever seen and I certainly see the appeal in it for applying a little pop of colour to the inner lid however with some colours, especially colours that don't differ greatly from the already applied lid shade, it can struggle to do this job. Nevertheless, when used for my tip of the nose highlight it provides the cutest and precisest glow however does take a little work to blend out the edges so they are not so harsh. Despite its trials and tribulations I am not giving up on this brush though!
310
Truth be told, I haven't actually used the 310 Spot Liner brush for applying liner (bad beauty reviewer I know) because it just seems way to intricate to figure how to apply liner with it. Liner for me is one of the most difficult tasks when it comes to makeup because I don't really have any eye area to flaunt much of a wing. I did however try to use this brush for adding a pop on colour to the centre of my eye looks, which sadly failed miserably. For precision shadow application on the eyelid this brush wasn't so good and it creates edges that are just too harsh and does no work in the blending department. It is definitely the least used brush in my set however I am still very much the beginner when it comes to makeup so maybe along the way I will one day find the skills and use for this brush. Sorry about that ones peeps.
322
Now I was a bit of an eyebrow noob when it came to first testing this brush, hence I was probably using it the completely the wrong way. At first I was using it to fill in my brows with my brow powder. The 322 Brow Line brush certainly achieved a good opacity of colour in the brows however it was hard to be precise due to it's elongated size. Not therefore the best for filling in the brows however, what a surprise, fab at "lining the brows" (its use is literally in it's name; I just have no words for my stupidity). Now that I am venturing into the eyebrow world, given the excellent teaching of the Peaches and Cream team, I swear by this brush for carving out my brows with concealer! Not that I've done much eyebrow carving before but I don't think I could ever find a brush more perfect than this one for perfecting my brows. It seriously cuts them like diamonds. I would one hundred percent recommend this to all who are looking to up their brow game. Oh, and did I mention it is the easiest brush to use in the world. Brow beginners alike, look no further!
325
The 325 Luxe Brow Highlight brush is actually another brush I used for my lid shades. Like the other shader brush in this collection (the 232 Luxe Classic Shader) this brush too picks up an insane amount of shadow to be packed onto the lid and gives exceptionally opaquely applied lid shades. The only aspect I struggle with on the eye lid with this brush is that its a bit difficult to apply lid shades with for more precise looks, like halo eyes, due to its larger size. As for brow highlight, this is where its issues are for me. Because it is quite a large brush and I have a very minimal eye area I don't tend to use it for my brow highlight as I try to savour as much space possible to blend out and ombré my crease shades. It does however still perform its job of applying brow highlight just as well as the next next brush.
If you made it this far down the post I applaud you because I almost didn't! So I know this was quite the in depth review but at £65 you really want to be making a money savvy choice I'm sure therefore I wanted you to know all the ins and outs of each brush to see if they would be right for you. I must say I really do think the brushes and their outstanding quality and unbelievable performance, unlike other brushes, really are worth the price. Especially so considering, broken down, each brush individually would come to around £5.42!!! If bought individually, all these brushes in total would come to what I have added up on Zoeva's website to be at least £100 so buying them in the set would give you a massive saving!
I really cannot fault Zoeva's brush making skills and I think they are going to be my brushes of choice for an exceptionally long time. Until next time lovelies!
Ellie x
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