Make up for ever – New brushes, first impressions

Before you read this post, maybe it’s better you have a look at this one, it will tell you more about the origin and their creator.  Here you will find more info about them, I could not find the english page but at least you can browse and see how many of them will be released…

I understood they will be launched gradually during this year depending on the countries, I got mine in Sephora France, although they don’t have all the range at least I could get a few and see if that would leave me wanting for more…

They are made from synthetic fibers and can be used with cream or powder products.  Although one cannot have a final opinion in one day (I got them yesterday…), I will share my very first impressions.

The handles are made of wood, this will  make some of you very happy.  The ferrule is a smokey silver, the brushes have a more harmonious and elegant appearance with this darker ferrule.

Compared to the Kokutan from Hakuhodo it’s not the same category, I find Hakuhodo more finished but I am not unhappy with the quality of these Make up for ever brushes. Time will tell. You probably notice the junction between the ferrule and the handle, not perfect, but nothing major.

Claudio Riaz’s brushes in comparison were really not finished at all and of terrible quality for their insane price.

The tip of the handle is slanted, this can help for pushing the fake eyelashes into place for example.  The weight is well-balanced, I find some Rae Morris too light and too think to hold, these are fine for my hands. I hope you can have an idea of the length of the handle, these are all approx 15cm long.

The bristles are very soft, absolutely not scratchy at all. I had to stop using my old Make up for ever brushes (the ones with yellowish handles), because they were too rough for my skin. These are  perfectly fine. If you close your eyes, often you won’t tell the difference between squirrel and this material. The face brush I own is not soft like squirrel hair but soft enough. For some reason I prefer the feeling of natural hair than synthetic, that is very personal, at least with some of these eye brushes I won’t be able to tell.

Here you can see the color difference between squirrel (the top Hakuhodo brush) and the Mufe in the middle. The Illamasqua is another type of synthetic hair, entirely black. The 3 are very pleasant to use, but I still prefer the Hakuhodo.

Blush, contour 150 (powder)

I have tried it (only once..) I need more days to give you my final opinion on this one. Although it’s very dense and soft I absolutely prefer an angled natural brush for that purpose.

Blender 236 (powder, cream)

Mine has a little wild hair, so has the Sigma, it’s not a big deal. It does the job really well. I deeply love it and will enjoy it a lot with cream or powder products. I have tried it with both textures but I prefer to use creams with it (Benefit or Mac Paintpots).

Crease 216 (cream, powder)

Works with both textures. I have tried both and this will be my new go-to for cream textures. For reference, much softer than the Bobbi Brown of the old Mufe 14s, but not as soft as the Suqqu.

Smudge/precision 212 (powder)

I don’t really like the point of this brush, I prefer the Suqqu S, the application with the Suqqu will be more even for smudging under the eye for example, probably it’s a matter of personal preference but I find easier to smudge with a “not-too-pointy” point 🙂

Precision 208 (cream, powder)

Amazing. Fantastic little gem, it will be keeping a precious place in my collection. I can use this one with cream and the Tanseido with powder ! The Mufe is much softer than the Hakuhodo or the Mac. Not as soft as the Tanseido (the Tanseido has more flexibility in the bristles) but it’s fantastic with both cream and powder, better with cream actually.

They are not playing a strange sex ritual here, I just couldn’t hold them sideways for the picture 🙂

Precision 210 (cream, powder)

Another little gem ! so soft and efficient. This is also joining my favorites. I don’t really like to use it with  powder because I have tried cream, powder and smudging pencil eyeliner, favorite usage is definitely smudging pencil eyeliner near the lashes, fantastic with cream products too.

Much much softer than the two other options shown here.

Laydown 226 medium (powder, cream) 

I first tried it with powder, I am not a fan, it’s really soft, very soft, although it picks product I am not sure it picks enough (enough for my taste), the application is very soft, softer than with a squirrel brush and I have experienced some fall-out. Still need to experiment. I have reapplied my makeup 5 times today in order to test them but not satisfied so far with powder products, will keep on trying.

Then I tried it with sheer Benefit creams and I love it. I also tried with darker cream textures to see if itwas applying the product evenly (I used Mac Blackground paintpot), the result was totally fine and even, I had to build it up 3 times to get enough coverage (not 100% opaque but enough coverage), then I blended with the MUFE blender and I deeply loved it.

In the description they also mention that professionals use it for the lips or for face coloring, it’s very soft and I can use it on the lips, although too big for precision but depends what you want to do…

Angled brush 172 (cream, powder)

Not sure I like it with powder but loved it with gel eyeliner, I managed to create a winged application easily, not as easy as with the Hakuhodo H005 but easy enough for me.

They also mention to use this one to define the lips. Why not, it’s really soft and very well finished, evenly bundled and very thin. I was looking for this kind of brushes for a long time, all the ones I was finding were either too large or too long, too hard or not evenly bundled at all.

Did they left me wanting for more ?

Some yes, definitely, I would like to see more. I still prefer natural brushes but if I have to recommend you to start with some, I’ll say the 236, 208, 210, 216 and if you like the angled one, the 172. These are going to be favorites for my cream shadows. For powder, I would like to experiment a bit more. If you are looking for synthetic brushes, these are probably the best you could find but also quite expensive.

I nearly skipped these brushes but thanks to my friend (yep, Buggsie… ) here I am again, adding more brushes to my collection (and happy …)