TheBalm Powder To The People eye brushes review, photos: Best eye makeup brushes!

If you think Real Techniques and MAC 217 are the be-all and end-all of eye makeup brushes, I can tell you I've dumped both in favour of these marvels, which were released late last year. Like their eyeshadow palettes and other makeup, theBalm's brushes combine stellar performance with cute packaging and looks. And I'm not exaggerating.
TheBalm's brush collection is named Powder To The People. The collection includes three eye brushes, all of them dual-ended and cruelty-free. They are:

1. Give Crease A Chance!
2. Crease, Love & Happiness 
3. Eye Believe!

Give Crease A Chance! is my go-to brush for blending out and for packing shadow on. I love the hands-from-around-the-world holding aloft makeup brushes. Women have been depicted holding scales, pens, swords, rolling pins and cradles - even ballot boxes - for long enough; why not makeup brushes? This is touted as the "All-Over-Shadow/Eye-Blending" brush.

One end of the brush is a large shader-head, very tightly packed, yet soft. This is great for packing colour on either lid or crease - I use it for either, depending on whether this or Crease, Love And Happiness is within closer reach. The dense packing and differently-sized bristles help get the colour on thickly, no need for more than one swipe of the pan. You can see the side-view of the head, as well as the top and the front views, to get a grasp of how densely packed the brush is.

The other end of this brush is my favourite for blending out the whole area after all the colours are in place. This is a duo-fibre brush. While well-packed and flexible, the bristles here are not quite as dense as the other end of the brush. They are much longer, though. By the way, the bristles look a bit haphazard after being mercilessly stuffed into the RTs case - I pop them into the elastic bands without taking care of the bristles; but it is impressive how they've withstood my cruelty for so long.

If there was ONE brush I would have to pick for the eyes - and no other - I would pick Crease, Love And Happiness. This is supposed to be a "Smudger/Tapered-Crease" brush, though I find my own uses for it.

With a smaller shader head that is ideal for lid-use and a crease head for getting shadow into the crease and blending it out there, this is the one brush that I reach for when I'm in a hurry. You can't blend everything with the crease brush, and the shader head is around the size of the Real Techniques eyeshadow brush.

The shader head of this brush is a lot smaller than the shader head of the Give Crease A Chance brush and it also does a great job with concealer application.

The crease-end of Crease, Love And Happiness is best used to get colour right into the crease and blend it in. This is smaller than the "crease-end" of Give Crease A Chance, but with firmer bristles. Here is a comparison:

Of the three eye brushes from theBalm, Eye Believe! ("Eyebrow/Eyeliner" brush) is the one you can live without - though it's definitely my HG liner, smudger and highlighter brush. It is also the smallest of the three.

I like the angular end for highlighting the inner corners and for the brow bone, if I can be bothered. It isn't too thin or flat and is firm and quite dense.

The liner end is just that - a great liner with wet shadows or liquid liner. I also like this for smudging, if I can remember! It is very flexible and soft, quite unlike what you expect from a liner brush. The dual fibres are tapered rather than thin and uniform.

Storage: You can't leave these brushes upright, since they are dual-ended. TheBalm has brush holders that go with the brush but I find it a bit tricky to get the brush out of them when you're in a hurry. The best way is either to store the brushes flat in a drawer or a box, or, like I do, to pop them into the Real Techniques Starter Set case after unceremoniously kicking out the RT brushes :D That case was after all the best thing about the starter set!
Purchase: The price isn't more than the 217; besides, you're getting two brushes for the price of one here. The best thing to do is to wait till theBalm has another of their fabulous sales and grab them ( cute holders included) then.
None of these brushes has shed (to my knowledge), despite regular rough use for more than six months, including being stuffed into and pulled out of their case without mercy. I also really like that there is no space between the ferrule and the bristles - 'real'ly! Plus, each brush is actually multifunctional here; you just have to flip them over. These are absolutely top-class in every way, from structure, strength and packaging to the all-important performance. If you are into eyeshadow, you need these.
I am waiting to see how these brushes compare with the Detailers set from the Beautyblender, out this December. If you haven't done so yet, read the exclusive preview of Detailers here.