BRUSH review: Crown bursh 15 piece set with carrying pouch

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year, 2013 was good and marked a big change in my life. I'm hoping 2014 will just be a fun and interesting. Here is my first review for the year.

Today I will be Crown Brushes, I bought my set of brushes from hautelook.com for $35 it comes in a pouch and has 15 brushes inside.

carrying/storage pouc

Product description:
With over 25 years of brush making tradition, Crown Brush has become the leading industry resource for cosmetic and skincare brushes. Crown Brush has an extensive global distribution network with a very knowledgable and experienced staff which fully facilitates all of your brush needs. Utilizing master craftsmanship, Crown is a leader in recognizing and manufacturing top quality brushes from the fi nest materials available. Crown offers the largest and finest open stock selection of professional quality brushes anywhere. Crown also offers a private label division that allows our clients to private label any of our open stock brushes at the industry’s lowest minimums.
ALL CROWN BRUSHES ARE 100% ANIMAL CRUELTY FREE. ABSOLUTELY NO ANIMALS ARE HARMED OR DESTROYED FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING OUR BRUSHES.

the pouch unrolled and the brushes

Set Includes:
Chisel Powder • Chisel Blush • Angle Blush • Foundation• Angle Blender • Oval Shadow • Blending Fluff • Flat Liner•Concealer • Lash Fan • Brow/Lash Groomer • Angle Liner• Oval Lip • Mini Smudger • Round Crease • Faux Reptile Case.

Face brushes from left to right
chisel powder brush, chisel blush brush, angled brush, foundation brush

Product Expereince
Just like my coastal scents brushes when I first opened the kit, the brushes have the strong scent of turpentine. The brushes survived my first cleaning without any of the ferrule coming loose. The quality of these brushes a little better, I notice even after a few washes the brush hairs still shed like crazy. This is only happens with the face brushes not with the eye brush.
I noticed there is a wide variety of brushes and brush sizes. I have small eyes so I don't need that big of a brush but I like the fact that this brush covers a lot of surface area in one swipe.
I have used the foundation brush and it laid down my foundation nicely, I'm not sure if I will continue using this particular brush since I prefer to use a sponge or the stippling brush from my other kit.
Some of brushes can be scratchy like the  pencil brush

Eye brushes
blending fluff brush,Oval shadow brush, oval lip brush, lash fan

Pros:

• Has a good set of brushes with a variety without repeating the same brush over and over.
• Comes with a carrying/storage case
• Inexpensive

Angled blender brush, mini smudger brush

Cons:

• Has the same weird and hard to remove turpentine scent.
• A lot of face brushes sheds like crazy.
• Some brush hairs are still scratchy even after a few deep cleanings
• Hit and miss quality of the brushes
• Some brushes cotains dyes, so when you deep clean the brushes the dyes runs out.
• Can only be purchased online at the website or hautelook.com

concealer brush, anged eyeliner brush, flat liner brush

I very disappointed with these brushes, the quality is just hit and miss the face brushes sheds like crazy even after washing. Invest your money else where, there are much better quality brushes out in the market at the same if not cheaper price tag.

Coastal scents 22 piece brush kit

Hi Everyone,

storage/carrying pouch

I hope your having a wonderful weekend, today I decided I wanted to review one of my Christmas gifts.My cousin decided to give me a brush kit from Coastalscents for Christmas. I was very excited, because my brush collection is made up mostly of drugstore brushes purchased from different brands.
I have been looking for a good set of brushes that will not break my wallet. I know the value of quality brushes, but I'm not a make up artist by profession. So I don't feel that need to invest on high end brushes like MAC, Hakuhodo, Ray Morris etc.
What my cousin got me is the 22 piece brush kit from Coastalscents, it comes in a black leather carrying case and all the brushes are inside.

brushes and carrying case unrolled

Product description:

Looking for a complete set of the best makeup brushes? You can create an endless array of looks with our 22 Piece Brush Set. This complete collection of luxury makeup brushes includes the essentials used by the pros. Each makeup brush caters to a different need no matter what look you’re trying to achieve. All twenty-two cosmetic brushes fit perfectly together in our matte black, Coastal Scents imprinted roll up case making this set ideal for travel. Roll it, snap it, and you’re set to go!

The set comes with a Large fan brush, powder brush, round brush, flat stippling brush, angle blush brush, foundation brush, concealer brush, large shadow brush, blender brush, doe foot blender brush, done shadow brush, dome blender brush, medium shadow brush, detail shadow brush, lip brush, detail concealer brush, pointed blender brush, brow brush, smudge sponge, large liner/brow brush, medium liner/brow brush, small liner/brow brush and a compact case.

Face brushes left to right
Angled brush, flat top brush, flat foundation brush, fan brush and stippling brush

Product experience:

First thing that I noticed when I first opened the kit was the strong scent of turpentine. I don't know what they used it for, but the smell was just everywhere, on the brushes and on the case. The company recommended that you clean your brushes first before using them. I assume to get rid of the smell and any left over chemicals used on the brushes.

concealer brushes

To clean the brushes I used olive oil and a regular shampoo. I just poured some olive oil in plastic cup and worked it in the brush hairs. I then used a little shampoo and worked in the brush to get rid of the oily residue and then I rinsed the brushes clean tap water. I just felt that the brushes needed to cleansed thoroughly because I could smell turpentine.
The scent of turpentine was hard to remove on the brushes and even harder to remove from the carrying case. It took a few deep cleanings before I was able to get rid of the smell off the brushes and I had to air the case for a few weeks to remover the smell.

basic eye shadow brushes

Some of the brushes broke after the first cleaning. The ferrule of the large stippling brush and buffing brush came loose from the handle and eventually broke off. I had to glue the handle back with super glue.
The kit is either made up of pony, goat, nylon or synthetic bristles.When I used the rest of the brushes I must say I was sort of disappointed.
The angle blush brush sheds like crazy, I find a lot of hair on my cheeks and my shirt even after a few cleanings and use.

dome shaped brushes

The flat brushes that is used to lay color on your lid is too soft I ended up with a lot of fall out especially eye shadows that has some glitter. I did like there are 3 different sizes for most of the basic eye brushes.
The dome shaped brushes in this kit is very scratchy. I find that all the domed shaped brushes have the same size only different animal hairs. So if you have bigger eyes then the dome shaped brushes will not work blending your eyeshadows.

angled eyeliner brush

I don't mind that they have 3 different size of liner/brow brushes. The sponge tipped smudger is practically useless since all the dome shape brushes are small enough to smudge and blend eyeliners.
I did liked that it came with it's own pouch so storing the brushes is easy.

lip brushes and smudger brushes

Pros:

• A nice long handled brushes.
• A kit contains basic face and eye brushes.
• Carrying case makes storing brushes easy.
• Inexpensive brushes $34.95 per set of 22 brushes plus a carrying case.

my first casualties after my first cleaning

Cons:

• Inconsistent quality of brush.
• Some of the brush hairs are too scratchy even after several deep cleaning and after using hair conditioner to try and soften the hairs a bit.
• The ferrule on two brushes has become loose and eventually fell off the handle. I've only owned this brush set for over a 1 year.
• The scent of turpentine was hard to remove, I had to air the carrying pouch for a few weeks before the scent went a way and deep cleaned the brushes twice.
• There is not a lot variety of brushes in this kit, its the same brush either different animal hair or just a different size.
• The storage/carrying pouch too bulky to travel with.
• Can only be purchased online.

I was disappointed with this brushes, some are good but some are just bad. The quality is just hit and miss. There is not a lot variety especially with the dome shaped brushes and you need those to blend your eyeshadow. I have Asian eyes, they are small but even I can't use those brushes to blend my eye shadows. In the end I can't recommend buying this brushes invest your money else where.

 

MAKE UP BRUSH review: my odd bits and ends make up brushes: my high endbrushes

Hi everyone,

As promised here is the second part of my odd bits and ends make up brushes. This is my review of the some of the high end brushes that I have collected through the years. It's not much since these are quite pricey usually the price range of $15 to $25 depending on what brand.


from left to right
Liner brush, Concealer brush, Angled eye shadow brush, Flat eyeshadow brush, Face brush and Kabuki brush



i.d. Bare escentuals
I own the flawless face brush for their mineral make up, kabuki make up brush,the flat eyeshadow brush, the angled eyeshadow brush and their eyeliner brush.
This line of brushes were designed to be used with the loose mineral mineral make-up.
The flawless face brush, buffs on mineral make up like a dream. The bristles are a little stiff on this brush but it does the job well.
The eyeshadow brush is the perfect size and stiffness to apply loose mineral make up and regular eye shadows.
The kabuki brush is great to buffing in mineral make up for a full coverage effect or blend your face make up.
The angled eye shadow brush is great to applying color or making that crisp outer V.
My favorite is very thin and pointy eyeliner brush. It allows me to create the thinnest line with a lot of control. I love to use this with my cream eyeliners.

UD brush & Sephora brush

Sephora
I own their cream eyeshadow brush, this brush shape reminds me of the Mac 217. It's great for creating that smokey eye, laying down cream foundation and blending at the crease .

Urban Decay
I own the synthetic eye shadow brush it came with my naked palate, it is not a very good brush. It doesn't pick up color like a natural bristle brush. I might use it to apply concealer.

I hope that it some what helps, I'm not a make-up artist by trade and I try to purchase brushes that I know I can use. There are few things that I am willing to make an exception and will make an investment. Like the liner brush from bare escentuals. I don't have a lot of eye lid space thanks to my asian eyes, it's not exactly a mono lid. With that the brush is super thin that I can use it, I love it so much that I bought a second brush.
If you have any questions feel free to ask them and I will try and answer them as best I could.

My odd bits and ends make up brushes Drugstore brushes

Hi everyone

I hope your all having a nice day, staying cool in this crazy weather we are having. So today I will be reviewing my odd bits and ends make up brushes. Like everyone else I have purchased many make up brushes from different brands, I have drugstore brushes and high end make up brushes. Looking for that one holy grail of a make up brush or brush set. That will contain everything that I need and want. For the sake of making this review short I will review my drugstore brushes today and will review my high end brushes on another separate review.
This brushes have been in my collection for a few months to a few years now and some might be discontinued.

Sonia Kashuk brushes, white handled is a large crease brush
the silver handled left to right: eye shadow brush, blush brush and eyebrow brush

Sonia Kashuk brush set with silver handle, Target
I own a set of Sonia Kashuk brushes that I bought online. I must say that since I have bought this set the item I use is blush brush everything else is collecting dust somewhere. The face brushes were okay but the eye brushes were the same shape that just varied in size. I find that eye shadow brushes were too soft and I just did not like using them. (discontinued)
Sonia Kashuk white handle brushes, Target
So far I have only bought one brush from this line. I bought the round crease brush and I love it. I use it to soften my lid color and apply my crease color. It is just the right size for my eye and not too tapered and not too dense

ELF brushes
left to right
Flat eyeshadow brush, concealer brush, angled blush brush, studio line contour brush

Elf Brushes, Target
I own a combination of the $ 1 and studio line brushes
I own the flat brush, contour brush, angled blush brush and tiny concealer brush.
The flat eyeshadow brush it's very tapered and picks up color and lays color easily.
The contour brush from the studio line was too dense and stiff.
The blush brush was very sparse and it's hard to apply blush and blend the blush.
The concealer brush I use to apply my lip color.


Target line left to right
Crease brush, eye shadow brush, smudge brush and foundation brush

Studio tools, Target
I own the flat eye shadow brush, smudger brushes, crease brush and foundation brush.
The flat eyeshadow brush is too fluffy and creates a lot of fall out.
The crease brush is fluffy but holds it shape and not very tapered good for applying crease color and blending.
I love their smudger brush it gives you a nice smudge line underneath your eyes or to off eyeliners with eyeshadow.
I also love the flat foundation brush, it's very soft on the skin and lays down liquid foundation nicely or blend liquid or cream highlighter and blushes.

essence of beauty crease brush duo

ESSENSE brushes, CVS

My favorite set that I haven't found a replacement for. The smudger brush is just the right size for me and the same for the crease brush. The crease brush is small enough to get you a nice outer V shaped.The brushes is nice and soft.

Hobo crease brush, CVS dual ended crease and smudger brush

Hobo, CVS or Walgreen's
This is a new brand of make up brushes at CVS and Walgreen's, I only bought the fluffy crease brush because that's the only one I don't own. It is on the pricey side or at least that's what I thought. On the box is says $18 for the brush but you qualify for coupon so in the end it came out to $10.
It a good brush I like that it's very fluffy but it's not too big and fluffy I like using to apply color on my crease. It places color and blends the color very nicely.
Dual ended crease brush, CVS
I use to love the dual ended crease and smudger brush. I liked that it's very tapered to a point. I use to use this to apply color to my crease it's so tapered that blending is so easy.

That's it for my drugstore make up brushes, some of this brushes have been in my collection for years. I don't exactly remember how much I paid for each brush. I can say for sure that I paid between $5 and $10 for each of them. They have lasted me years and have worn quite nicely. I take care of them, make sure to keep them clean and store then well. I am constantly look for make up brushes and trying new brands them out. I have a few set of make up brushes that I will review for you on up coming blogs.  Next will be my high end make up brushes.