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Love for Brushes

I'm developing a love for brushes of all kinds.  I bought a few higher end brushes and they are amazing.  They are incredibly soft and my makeup glides on like a dream.  There are so many interesting shapes. I am really interested in creating a beautiful brush collection.  Show your brushes and share any cleaning and storage tips and let us know which ones are your favorites.

 

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Re: Love for Brushes

 What brush in your guy's collection do you feel like is the most versatile? (Can be used for multiple things)

 

Example, the Shu Uemura 4F brush I use for eyeliner, tightlining, eyebrows, and sometimes concealer on small areas like the corners of the mouth!

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Re: Love for Brushes

I have a few water badger brushes from sets that are supposedly for lips, but I find the size, shape and flexibility perfect for smudging under eye liner, applying tiny dots of heavy concealer like SSE, and applying inner corner highlight (none of which are lip uses, lol)

Re: Love for Brushes

@Sonny4President that's an awesome brush!  I can see that being very versatile as you mentioned.

Re: Love for Brushes

I love small dense brushes! You can do so many things with them! What's your favorite versatility brush? @AMK721

Re: Love for Brushes

@Sonny4President I don't really have one.  I'm currently building my brush collection.  I do really like a couple of brushes I just got. 

The B5521 (dark hair) is great for highlight or sweeping off any fallout from shadow.  The B214 (white hair) sweeps on all over shadow color in a heartbeat.  This is quickly becoming my favorite eye shadow brush.

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Re: Love for Brushes

Has anyone tried the Urban Decay Pro brushes? I just stumbled across them on the UD website, but I haven't seen them anywhere else. They say "new," but does anyone know when they actually came out? (And when/if they might be available in stores?)

Re: Love for Brushes

This may not help because I haven't tried the pro brushes, but I have a couple of the Good Karma brushes (crease & can't remember name but another eye brush) and they are well made and easy to use. I had to purchase then online.  It looks like Nordstrom.com sells them and they have a good return policy in case they don't work out.

Re: Love for Brushes

Does anyone have Wayne Goss brushes that can give me their opinion on them?  I'm looking at possibly eyeshadow brushes and for sure this fan brush.

 

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Re: Love for Brushes

i also own the fan brush and consider his to be a must have!  it's really fantastic

Re: Love for Brushes

I have The Collection, which does not include the fan brush.  I like the collection because I have hooded eyelids and use smaller eye brushes for product placement.  According to Goss, he put a lot of work into the brushes, even having them made in Kumano Japan.   

 

Re: Love for Brushes

same here - i was really sad when he replaced the original #5 with what's available now.  I've begged him to bring it back to no avail!

Re: Love for Brushes

I have the fan brush and love it. I think I have most of his brushes, and now duplicates of them. They are my absolute favorite, especially at their price point. They hold up quite well to cleaning, and they really are perfect for application. For blush, I love the #12 for blush. It is similiar in shape to Tom Ford's Cheek brush, but not as dense. It requires less blending out than the TF one. I use the fan brush for pigmented highlighters. For eyes, I love the #17, 19 and 3. I have 2 of each. They are everyday brushes for me. 

Re: Love for Brushes

I have several Wayne Goss brushes - I bought the anniversary set, and have bought 2 others to supplement. They're really really nice, and the eye shadow one picks up product really nicely.

Re: Love for Brushes

I've only recently started learning more about brushes, but I have a number of WG so I'm happy to offer my (less knowledgeable and inexperienced) 2 cents 😉

 

I have The Collection, The Brow Set, and the Eye Set. I don't have the fan brush so I can't comment on it.

 

Two of my favourites from the eye brushes are 17 and 18. I like flat brushes for applying colour. 17 is fairly large and I can use it to pat shadow onto my eyelid. 18 is slightly smaller and longer. 

 

8 is my favourite for gel liner. It's so tiny and stiff and works really well for itty bitty little lines. 

 

The blending brushes are nice, but I find I prefer my hakuhodo brushes for blending. The WG seem to be longer, rounder and are a little trickier for me to use compared to the hakuhodo. 

Re: Love for Brushes

I am trying to be on a low buy but the thread enabled me to visit CDJapan.... and there went my low buy...

Re: Love for Brushes

I hope that you enjoy your brushes.  It's hard to stick to a no/low buy when you visit that site!

Re: Love for Brushes

Have I said that I absolutely love this thread!

 

Hera are two new beauties to add to my collection. They both Bare Mnerals. The larger one is called "blurring buffer" and is SUPER SOFT! The smaller one is "smoky smudger" and is a great eyedshadow brush.FullSizeRender (11).jpg

 

Well I tend to prefer Kevyn Aucoin, Marc Jacobs, and Hourglass brushes... I have started to grow a liking to this brand as well. (plus, they are cheaper)

 

Through tonight, everything is 20% off including makeup brushes on the Bare Minerals site. They also have free shipping. Hope this helps someone!

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Re: Love for Brushes

Ok more questions I'm posting multiple times because I don't want each post to be too long...more rambling.  LOL

 

Where is the best place to buy the Japanese brushes

 

AND

 

Would it be better to get my girlfriend in Japan to purchase the brushes and send them to me state side?

 

I'm bummed because I lived in Japan for years and NEVER bought makeup or brushes!  

 

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Re: Love for Brushes

That could really depend on just how high end you are looking to go. The closest I have to "Japanese" makeup brushes (and not coincidentally probably my most expensive brushes) are some of the Sephora + Hakuho-do limited edition ones that are on clearance now. (Grab them while you can if you see ones that look like they fulfill your needs and fit your personal technique. You can always return them in-store or offer them for trade here if you decide they do not fit as well as you'd hoped) Will they be the same as even higher end ones bought in Japan and shipped here for you via your friend? Maybe but maybe not. Not having been there and tested the brushes out, I have no other comparison than the Sephora Hakuho-do ones I have but I do like mine quite a bit if that helps at all.

 

I was previously using the travel size Precious Elements Pro Mini Airbrush (#55.5) for setting powder/a final buff to blend everything together. I now use the Hakuho-do Kusabi (Wedge Sloping Powder Brush) instead and while the other Airbrush was nice and I still keep ones in various places as a backup in case I need a retouching somewhere that I might not take my full makeup set with me (like at work, unexpected overnights at my in-laws house, you get the idea), there was still a clear difference between the ease of use to do the same job when comparing the Hakuho-do Kusabi brush with the Airbrush.

 

I also have the Ougi (Fan Cheek brush) of the same line and while I had intended to use it for blush, I think it is more my technique and personal preferences than anything else why it does not get used in that capacity. I simply prefer a lighter, fluffier brush for that and while I did fine using the Ougi brush, that is where I ended up relegating the Airbrush to instead. In the end, I guess it is as others have said: you can have a high end one that is a good brush but is still a 'miss' simply because the techniques and habits you have adapted in regard to application of makeup is different than what it is intended to be used as...or you could have a good quality, mid-range one that is half the price and do just as well or potentially even better because it is a better fit for you and your personal style/methods.

Re: Love for Brushes

If they are not available in the US, I buy mine from CD Japan or use a buying service for the brushes they don't carry.  Hakuhodo has a US website. Beautylish carries many Chikuhodo brushes and Wayne Goss brushes, which are made in Kumano. 

 

I like Japanese brushes because as I get older, I feel the hairs (depending on what you buy) don't move my skin around as much as other brushes and I love the craftsmanship and artistry that goes into them.  I have hooded eyelids, and many Japanese eye brushes are small enough so that I can do a precision application.

 

Having said this, I still use MAC, RT, Elf. etc., brushes as well. I'm not a collector, I use my brushes so I will use what I feel will do the best job at the moment. 

Re: Love for Brushes

To answer some of both of your posts...

 

you can get lots of Japanese brush brands from CD Japan, Visage USA carries chikuhodo and beautylish carries a few different brands.  Some of us also use personal shopper services in Japan to buy brushes, as well.

 

in terms of are they game changers; not exactly.  Will a better quality brush make someone who isn't good at application a MUA?  No.  I don't think it improves the end result, so much as the ease of application (and I say that as someone who owns a lot of Japanese brushes)  I find they feel nicer, because they are softer and usually more densely packed, but I wouldn't say they make my application skills better.

 

if you want to get a sense for the quality, try to get to a TF counter or Sephora or Barneys that has Suratt.  Both brands have brushes made in Japan (TF by hakuhodo and Surratt by chikuhodo) so it can help get a sense of them in person.

 

however, if you have a friend in Japan, I'd probably recommend going that route once you know what you want 

 

ETA: @newandaddicted I should probably clarify that because the main makeup products I use are blush and powder, 99% of my Japanese brushes are for blush or powder.  I feel within those categories there's only so much better you can get, so eventually it's just about paying for something softer/prettier/higher quality than about a quantifiable increase in performance.  Perhaps there is more difference in shadow or foundation brushes, but since I don't really use either, I can't comment.

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