The Jewel in Sigma's Crown-The F80 Flat Top Kabuki Brush

The Sigma F80 (formerly referred to as the SS197) Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki Brush. Yes, I know that wasn't a sentence, but the name warrants its own stand-alone sentence. If anyone DARED take this brush away from me, I would beam them into submission with it. This brush is officially my favourite, never to be replaced, foundation brush. EVER. And if you know how fickle my brush loyalty is, you know what a grand statement that truly is.

After hearing Youtubers and beauty bloggers alike rave about this brush, I could resist no longer and placed an order for my very own and I have never been more grateful for peer pressure. This brush is velvety smooth, incredibly dense, shed proof, and the perfect size. In short, it gives a flawless airbrush finish the helps to cover all imperfections seamlessly.

I use this brush by applying my foundation to the back of my hand and stipling the brush into the product to heat it up and distribute it along the bristles. Because this brush is so dense, the product does not get absorbed into Never Never Land where it will never make contact with your face. Instead, it equally distributes along bristles so when you stiple and blend with the brush, it applies smoothly and without streaking.

Since I mentioned that I ordered this brush, I have received some questions on how it compares to a former favourite, Elf Studio Line Tapered Powder Brush, as well as the MAC 130 (which I think was limited edition, but may be resurrected as most MAC brushes are).

Firstly, here is how they compare in price points (strangely the price point decreases as the brush top size increases):

Sigma: $16.00 US (which works out to approximately $20.00 CAD with exchange/customs)
Elf Studio Line: $3.00 (approx $4.50 CAD)
MAC: $45.50 CAD

The Sigma beats out all competition in terms of density and softness. Below I have pictured myself trying to seperate the bristles while exerting the same amount of light force (a nod back to my high school physics experiments). As you can see, Sigma bristles barely show a gap, closely followed by the Elf Studio Line Brush. The hands down loser of this experiment was the MAC 130.

I deduced that the closest cousin to the Sigma F80 is the Elf Studio Line brush but it still does not deliver the quality finish that the Sigma one does.

I  have however found another Sigma brush that has the same density, softness, albeit different function. Introducing the Sigma F80's chubbier sibling, the Sigma Hollywood Glamour Retractable Kabuki Brush. It has a more rounded brush head that is ideal for mineral or setting powders. All in all, a match made in Sigma Heaven.

I like to use the Sigma F80 with my Revlon Colourstay Foundation and then the Sigma Retractable Kabuki with my MAC MSF Natural as a setting powder.