This WILL be one of the hottest launches in the makeup world this year for sure, the long-awaited Spectrum x Katie Jane Hughes Brush Collection. I’m SO here for this. I’m ready. I’ve been waiting. Come at me. Get on my face.
I have known Katie since way-back-when, pre-Instagram days when we were both doing the rounds on the London makeup artist scene. She’s always been incredibly talented, passionate makeup artist. I remember when I started following her on Instagram, and I was like WOW Katie is killing it with her 19k followers….amazing! Fast-forward to now and everyone one knows Katie Jane Hughes, a renowned and successful editorial and celebrity makeup artist. She has amassed whopping 600k following and was one of the makeup artists who pushed the ‘real skin’ real makeup kinda vibe, stepping away from those insta brow, cut creases etc and I think that’s what really made her so different : wearable and inspirational editorial makeup.
I LOVE to see my friends and peers succeed and I had a little happy squeal when I opened up the parcel to reveal Katie’s face and signature eye looks all across the tube housing the brush set! MEGA!
The Spectrum x Katie Jane Hughes Collection is a brush set curated with both makeup artists and makeup lovers in mind and inspired by paint brushes that you would get in art shops. A lot of professional makeup artists use paint brushes in their kit as they are unique and different shapes and I love that the idea of this concept.
“We have been long time admirers of Katie for many reasons, but worth mentioning is the fact that her incredible skill is matched by her realness and her style is impeccable, she is extremely talented yet always approachable. The collaboration is a perfect combination of her artistry with our quality, resulting in a collection that is most definitely our finest to date. We can’t wait to see what everyone creates with this set, it’s time to learn, experiment and most importantly have fun!” Sophie & Hannah – Spectrum Sisters
One of the Beauty Industry’s most anticipated launches of 2021, the brush range will be launching exclusively with Spectrum in February. Capacity for the exclusive pre-launch sign up list has now been reached but you can still sign up to the regular mailing list HERE so you don’t miss out on any launch updates!
I’m sure if you are here to read this you will know ALL about the incredible Spectrum Brushes but if you are new to this brand and perhaps have been drawn in by KJH then let me tell you a little bit about the brand. Spectrum was was founded by two sisters Sophie and Hannah in April 2014. A true start up, the company was created from scratch from a garage in Barry, South Wales, UK. We love a story like this! Real, normal people like me and you following their dreams and becoming a success! YES GIRLS! Since then, Spectrum has become a globally recognised brand, loved by consumers world wide for the five core brand values, these being:
Vegan and Cruelty Free – no animal product
Premium Quality – offering only the best
Bold Design – evoking emotion and inspiration, always
Kind to our Planet – striving continually to improve product and packaging to be kinder
Affordable Luxury – everyone should be able to buy Spectrum
Spectrum specialise in creating makeup, tools and accessories that have professional quality at an attainable price point, loved by both industry experts and every day beauty consumers alike.You can now buy Spectrum from places like Boots, Superdrug, Beauty Bay, ASOS, Zalando, and Amazon.
The Spectrum x Katie Jane Hughes Collection will be available from this Friday the 26th February, priced at £159.99 and consist of 25 brushes housed in a vegan leather tube case with micro-fibre towel. The towel is great for placing them on if you are working on set, to keep your desk or makeup space clean and tidy and you can do mini-cleans of your brushes on set. The tube / brush holder, also in the signature KJH green shade, is great for storing your brushes and travel but also once opened out you have two generous size pots to hold brushes and product in, again great for both a makeup artist and consumer.
The brushes have olive-green/khaki tapered handles made from FSC certified wood which is a more eco-friendly choice. The Ferrule (metal bit) is copper which makes them hard-wearing and durable. The synthetics brush hairs are cream-coloured and this all combined makes for a really aesthetically beautiful brush. I don’t know others who do this design and colour-scheme so they are really instantly recognisable and I LOVE how they look. They look both unique and professional.
NOTE: I’m just running through them super quickly as I see them and will tell you quickly what I would maybe use them for. As an artist, as cheesy as it sounds, there aren’t rules in terms of what brushes you should use where and if you have watched any of Katie’s tutorials you’ll know she uses brushes differently to a lot of MUA’s you may see out there.
**KJH just did an Instagram live chatting about the brushes and part of the reason the brushes are numbered rather than named is so that it doesn’t restrict you in terms of how you are using what and where. Use them any which way that suits your face and makeup style!**
I have put a £1 coin next to the brushes just for a size reference.
1. Tapered large face brush / kabuki – the largest brush of the set. Smaller than your usual bronzing brush and firmer. I would use for foundation, powder, blush and cream products.
2. Dome medium face brush. Could be good for foundation application, cream blusher.
3. Dome medium face brush but with duo-fibres. The same/ similar to the no. 2 in both shape and size but this is duo-fibre style finish so has less density at the tip. Better for lighter application.
4. Angled face Brush duo-fibre. Similar in size to 2 and 3 but angled.
5. Angled face brush. Same as above but not duo-fibre.
6. Small foundation-style brush, Probably half the size of your typical ‘paddle’ style foundation brush. Great for getting into the smaller areas / creases of the face.
7. Fluffy oval eye detail /concealer / lip brush – firm bundle.
8. Large blending fluffy brush – there are x2 of these! I got so confused as I thought there had been a mistake in my press pack but no this is correct and actually pretty genius. You know when there’s that ONE brush that you use loads / for everything and you don’t want to keep cleaning it off. This is very much a multi-purpose does anything brush so ultimately you can have one for fluffing on your highlighter or concealer and one for something else / cream colour.
9. Flat eyeliner brush. Great for tight lining, eye-lining and also a fantastic ;clean-up’ brush for eyeliner. Dip it in some micellar to get those lines looking clean and sharper!
10. Domed Blending brush (most similar to the MAC 224 but not identical)
11. Domed blending brush. Less dense than the no.10 and slightly smaller.
12. Small oval brush.
13. Small domed fluffy blending / eye detail.
14. Tapered concealer style brush. Good for details / precision concealing / lips.
15. Small eye detail brush – similar to the 12 but longer and less dense.
16. Flat concealer / lip brush.
17. Soft blending/detail brush – loose bundle so very swishy and soft.
18. Small pointed detail brush.
19. Buffing / blending brush.
20. Small oval concealer/lip brush
21. Smell pointed detail brush
22. pointed eyeliner brush
23. spoolie / angled liner brow brush – the only double-ended brush in the set – always keep spoolie side down.
24. Long pointed liner brush – very much an art shop type brush. Great for eyeliner details.
These are absolutely incredible. Hands down THE best synthetic brushes I’ve ever laid my hands on and the softness, feel and quality are up there with really luxury brushes. I honestly own around 500 makeup brushes (I’m in year 16 of my makeup artist career!) and have tried out pretty much any and every brand and these have honestly blown me away. I love the fact they are also quite different to any brush set out there, no sign of a MAC 224 dupe…I’ve been introduced to quite a few new brushes in this set and that’s no mean feat!
I’ve used most of the brushes now, I’ve been using them 4 days in makeup application. I’ve washed and dried them and so far they seem incredible quality and they wash well. Obviously I can’t tell you how they will be looking and feeling in a year’s time after use but I can tell you they feel sturdy, hard-wearing and good qulaity. When you wash the brushes (and any makeup brushes!) please make sure you aren’t submerging the brush handle or ferrule in water as this can loosen the glue and swell the wood. Lay them flat out to dry overnight (I use the microfibre towel!) and they kept their shape perfectly. Also : some of the larger brushes come with a netted/mesh protectors – these are great to keep and pop on the brushes to help them keep their shape when drying!
The only kind of brushes I can really compare them too is Hakuhodo which are some of THE most sought after professional makeup artist brushes in the world…..hard to get your hands on AND very expensive! For £159 it’s actually a really great deal to get so many brushes and real artistry brushes. Instead of just getting a bunch of brushes I already have similar to this has really extended my collection and if you are a makeup artist or an enthusiast then this set is pretty much all you will ever need! They go on sale worldwide on www.spectrumcollections.com Friday 26th February for pre-sale >> 6pm GMT / 1pm EST / 10am PT. Early access sale/ waitlist is now CLOSED due to high demand but again, do sign up to the Spectrum newsletters to get any notifications and updates on this. They go on GENERAL SALE 7pm GMT / 2pm EST / 11am PT : Stock will be limited , it will be 1 set per customer and these are guaranteed to sell out super fast. I know they will be re-stocking but I think it will be a few months wait. I’ve also heard that smaller Spectrum x Katie Jane Hughes brush sets will become available later on in the year.