IQQU Essential Travel Set Review

Hello everyone!!! =D

How's everyone ^__^ I know I haven't been blogging much... but I'm still trying to keep up with the blogs out there :) anyways the reason why I've been so inactive is because I've been busy with my applications for pharmacy schools *cross my fingers* I have submitted 3 so far, but I'm applying for more. But anyway, the deadline's still a while away so I can go back to my usual business for now =D

So today... a wayyy overdue post-- review on the iQQU essential travel set brush! =D

Price: $29.99
comes with:
- a transforming kabuki brush
- a blush brush
- a foundation brush
- an eye shadow brush
- an eyeliner brush
- a lip brush

As usual I'd like to note that even I'm grateful that I got sent this for free, my review is still 100% honest =D
With that said, here we go =D

Here's Michelle Phan demonstrating the use of this brush set...


First of all, I want to say I'm not sure if this is a "essential travel set" or "essential airplane travel set"
So I'm just gonna start off saying if I was traveling, this set is not complete enough for me-- I would bring a stipling brush (so it double up for foundation/blush and contour), a face powder/kabuki brush, an eyeliner brush, a pencil brush, and at least two eye shadow brushes.

Second of all, I have to say, if I had not seen Michelle using this set, I'd probably thought the eyeliner brush is a brow brush, and the lip brush is the eyeliner brush O_O I'll explain as I go along

Now onto the brushes!

My favorite would easily be the transforming kabuki brush :D



- this travel size kabuki brush is wayyy better than the full size one! It is a lot more fluffy, therefore it picks up powder a lot a lot better than the full size one. I can pack on/buff on foundation with this mini brush, but not with the big one.
- very soft <3
- experienced some bleeding, and some shedding
- My face is rather small so I don't really need to "transform" it, however when I used it on my friends who have larger surface area than me XD transforming the brush does make application easier and effortless
- I really really like this brush and I'm actually using this on a daily basis =)


Next onto my next favorite brush... the eye shadow brush! This brush really reminds me of MAC 217 brush

- The shape and the quality of the brush is exactly like MAC 217... except better and softer lol! (I have to stress though I think I'm just extremely unfortunate to have picked up an extremely scratchy 217... cuz I haven't heard anyone else complaining about MAC...) but anyway love this brush <3
- I think there should be at least two eye shadow brushes in this set, or at least one pencil brush, because I'd usually use two eye shadows to create depth


Now onto the foundation brush...
-When I first received it I was like uh I'm not sure about this brush, for it is VERY rigid, I thought it will leave streak mark like crazy, but it actually doesn't ^__^
- I'd suggest at least wash this brush 5 times before using it... cuz I almost gave up on this brush when I first used it. Some hairs were really harsh and it really scratched my face! (And I cleaned it before using) So I cleaned it and put it away for a good 3 days before I decided to give it another chance. To my surprise it didn't feel as scratchy. So I continued using it and it doesn't really scratch my face anymore. I think you just really need to wash it to soften it up. But once past that, it's a very nice foundation brush, it leaves minimal streak marks, and is very firm. I actually prefer this brush over my Sephora foundation brush now, because my Sephora brush is very soft and bendy, and I like the firm hairs over bendy ones better if that makes sense :P

Next onto the blush brush

- I only have one thing to say about this brush... it's crap =_=
- As opposed to her white blush brush which picks up A LOT of product, this brush hardly picks up any product at all =_= Even if you can see the product on the brush, when you apply there's just nothing... like.. what the heck?!
- it is very soft though
- experienced some shedding
- This brush also doesn't apply that evenly
- I do NOT like this brush at all! Needs major improvement!

And the eyeliner brush

- Can you see why I thought it was a brow brush?! It doesn't have a fine tip, I swear, this should be the hair structure for a brow brush...

Compared to the iQQU angle eyeliner. You can totally see the difference in terms of the "fineness" of the brush tip
- I'm not sure why Michelle designed an eyeliner brush this way when clearly eyeliner brushes should be able to offer precise application, the only reason I could come up with is that this eyeliner brush is designed to use with eye shadow, cuz a less fine brush tip can definitely pick up powder a lot better. That's why I said I'm not sure if this is an "essential travel set" or just "essential airplane travel set"... I mean once I got to my final destination I will NOT be using eye shadow as my eyeliner...
- I won't use this brush as eyeliner brush anyway cuz it's hella scratchy =__= I used it twice and totally gave up. It was so scratchy and hurt my eyes so bad that my eyes started watering :(
- However this brush makes a great eye brow brush XD I was using it as a brow brush and it worked great. I actually sent this brush to a friend who just recently lost her brow brush since I don't really need it... lol. So by the time you guys read this, this brush is no longer in my possession XD

Lastly... the lip brush!

First off I just wanna say I don't really use lip brush... so this brush is kind of useless for me. However it is very soft and can double up as an eyeliner!

It reminds me of the free brush that comes with KATE gel eyeliner

- As a lip brush, it is very soft and does its job
- It can totally work as an eyeliner brush since it's very soft and has a fine tip, but it's not my favorite cuz with this kind of brush material, eyeliner gel tends to congeal easily, and I will have to wipe it off before I can apply more eyeliner.

Overall... um, I guess it can be a decent travel set if you use the lip brush as eyeliner brush and eyeliner brush as brow brush? But for sure if I was traveling I won't just bring this set, cuz I will definitely need another eye shadow brush/pencil brush to create more versatile look, so I guess it just really depends on the purpose of your trip. I can say though, if I was traveling with this set, I will bring my own eyeliner brush and blush brush, that's for sure XD

So that's all my thoughts on this set ... I neither recommend it or not recommend it... haha sorry >_< but I still hope this review is helpful to some of you :)

Oh and I want to thank everyone who commented on my Halloween post ^__^ Means a lot to me. And thanks Leenda for liking my nosebleed, yes yes I don't get to hear that every day XD makes me kind of want to sport a brilliant bloody nose and black eye every day... lol jk jk!

Until the next post, take care every one =D I will be back very soooon!

<3 Frances