Claudio Riaz brushes – First impressions

I don’t even remember when I heard about Claudio Riaz brushes for the first time, I just remember that I checked the price and then I totally abandoned the idea of being willing and able to try them one day. However, I can only resist for a certain period of time, then I miserably fall into temptation 😉

I was in the hunt for big eyeshadow brushes and pointy blush brushes, when I saw Wayne’s video about these brushes and also Deb’s, I noticed that shapewise they were exactly what I was looking for.  There aren’t many reviews or posts about the Claudio Riaz brush range, on his website I can read “Claudio’s brushes were a huge success with women around the world” but I don’t see many people raving about them, maybe it’s because you have to be a bit crazy to splurge on something you don’t even know you are going to love.

Well, if I don’t love them, at least I can write about them, maybe give you some information that can help you decide if whether or not they would be of interest to you. Please keep in mind that I am not a make up artist, just a picky client with high expectations and at this price, I can tell you they are higher than ever.

There is NO way I will buy a full brush set again or any brush that I am not sure I will be interested in using. The brushes I selected are those that I am sure I want to use. Here they are :

I have contacted the Claudio Riaz customer support via their own website. They ship internationally but you have to contact them for a quote. I have received a reply from them, to Switzerland it would cost : USD 99.69
Sorry Claudio, I could not even reply to the mail because I froze.

I found out that allcosmeticswholesale had some of the Claudio Riaz brush range and that they were authentic. They claim that if their price is the same as the retail one, the items entirely match the original ones in quality. It was the case for the brushes I ordered. Allcosmeticswholesale shipping was fast, costs around USD 18. They shipped on the 3rd of July and I already received them on the 10th. Excellent order experience, they wrapped the brushes very carefully and they sent me a little present.

These brushes are hand-crafted, made of sable hair, they feel weird but I am not used to sable hair brushes… I imagine I will need some time. Some don’t feel that soft (the primer and the instant shadows for example) but at least they don’t have a weird or strong smell.

The quality of the handles is terrible. The ferrule is damaged, the coating where the pressure has been put has been altered and falls of, I have tried to point it out with the black arrow in the picture, maybe you can see it. There is a certain percentage of quality issues that one can stand depending on the price we pay, but paying this price for a make up brush, with these kind of quality leaks, should not be tolerated.

The look of the handles is not very appealing to me, they look like antiquities. Again this is JUST my opinion and based on my own preferences and taste. It’s a dark olive-brown lacquered wood handle, I believe…  Could not even find information on where they are made… You may not be able to see it but on one brush the lacquered coating  melted a bit.

Below you will see the first pictures of the brushes, I have also taken some other brushes in the pictures to get an idea of their size. If you zoom on the pictures you will also notice the quality issues I am talking about.

Face powder

Face contour

CR Face Contour – Hakuhodo G511

Primer

Instant Shadows

Dammaged

Blender

Shade

Ferrule discoloration

Let’s wait and see how they perform…
I have already contacted allcosmeticswholesale and asked them for more information on the quality issues I am experiencing with the handles. Depending on how it goes, either I return them, or they considerably reduce the price.

I am not planning to keep them as they are, and pay full price  for them.  I was hoping to be blown away by these, but if the quality is not there, I don’t see how this could even happen. Am I too picky ?

Maybe I should have ordered directly in Barneys or Claudio Riaz’s website, I don’t know if that would change anything.
In this post I am not reviewing how they perform, and also not complaining about the hair, I just wish the handles would look better.  Maybe there will be a follow up review.. or maybe not… 😉

Have you any experience at all with this line ? What do you think of the quality ?

UPDATE 1 : I finally sent them back, sorry, no follow up review, if you pay that much for brushes at least you expect the best quality. Terrible brush quality, poor brush packaging, there is no prestige in these, only a high price tag that they don’t deserve.

Unfortunately I was not able to test them otherwise I could not send them back. If they weren’t damaged, I would have tested them but in this condition I could not even consider trying them.

Anywhere you’ll buy these you may be facing quality issues. Be careful and make sure they don’t have quality problems.

UPDATE 2 : I have been reimbursed all the brushes I returned, Allcosmeticswholesales have been very fair and kind to do that, I had contacted them beforehand just to check that with them.

I received a few mails from other brush lovers that bought Claudio Riaz brushes and it looks like the quality problems could be located with brushes bought either on CR website, at Barneys or at ACW… again, just check them carefully, and if you tried them and love them, please update us, we would really appreciate your feedback.