Evgeny make up brushes

After a marathon schedule at work, finally good news : a two-day break with sunny weather ahead and a brand new discovery to share !

You may remember my recent  post about Serge Lutens, when I was researching for Serge Lutens style looks I found this article about Evgeny, it was the first time I read about him but if he has Serge Lutens as an icon, he can only be good, right ? Right.

Evgeny is a Russian makeup artist internationally recognized, please hop to the About page on his website to see his career path. Below a picture of him during one event. I love his style and wish it was me sitting there with him  🙂

My mission is to hunt and test new treasures for you to splurge on with confidence whenever you feel like. I have contacted Evgeny Cosmetics to ask a few questions about the brushes to get a bit more info about the hair -I hadn’t realized that when you mouse over the brushes the details are dynamically displayed on the left ! Never mind… I am really glad I contacted them !

During my first emails I did not know it was Evgeny himself replying to me, so I told them I was pleased to see that they knew their products so well and then he said :

This is Evgeny writing to you. I guess I need to know everything about
my product, right? (but I don’t remember the nicknames of every goat I
sheered:)

We have exchanged quite a few emails already, always promptly replying to me, this man has a great sense of humor, is talented, respectful and created a wonderful make up brush collection.

You know my private brush collection is quite big, well, more “diverse” than big actually, but sometimes I can still be amazed, how great is that ? when you think you have seen it all… you find little wonders like these.

I often discuss new discoveries with my friends and followers behind the scenes 🙂  “have you tried this, do you have that, what do you think? etc…” My friend Nikoleta sent me an email on Nov.7th, 2012, “have you heard/tried Evgeny brushes ?”  Nikoleta is the reason why I found Koyudo in the first place, then of course I had to go totally crazy about Koyudo and their insane gorgeous creations. This time Nikoleta was asking for my opinion but I hadn’t tried the Evgeny brushes at that time and I had totally forgotten about her email until this week when I was searching for “Evgeny” in my emails and found her email hiding in the past…  🙂

It’s not that I don’t want to try all the brushes in the world, but my budget has limits. Today I focus more on making small orders to try a brand than ordering the full set without having properly seen the product before, mistakes that I made in the past !

I ordered the 3 blue squirrel brushes from Evgeny, the Polina, the Blending and the Crease. Since I ordered with the cheapest shipping option and no insurance he sent me an email with the info of the parcel, they were shipped from Canada on the 5th of April and they reached me on the 11th of April.

When I read this interview, I see at least 3 points we have in common : 1) our love for Serge Lutens, 2) the importance of mascara, and 3) we don’t want to work for companies and have to promote something we don’t really believe in.

I don’t know him personally, I never met him yet I feel extremely close to him. The reason is probably because the design of his brushes feels like we have the same vision and needs, I only got 3 brushes in my first order so I can only talk about these 3 today but I have already ordered the rest of the available collection online.

The handles are made of ebony wood, they are short and easy to carry, they feel solid, they remind me of the Hakuhodo Kokutan range, compared to the Kokutan it’s the same quality, the Polina blush brush is longer and thinner than the Kokutan e/s L. The Blending and the Crease do not have similar options in the Hakuhodo line.

Here two Kokutan and two Evgeny :

The Polina brush

I am in love with the Hakuhodo Kokutan e/s L but it has even been perfected with this Polina, if you liked the Kokutan e/s L but you wanted a softer and less dense version of it, this is the one to go for.

The Polina’s hair is approx 4mm longer than the Kokutan therefore it has a bit more flexibility and makes it more fool-proof and easy to use with different products.

In terms of softness and quality, the hair is similar to the Fine Kalla, but a bit softer than the Kokutan.

I love tiny little brushes, just like the Hakuhodo, the Tanseido is meant to be an eyeshadow brush but I use them on the cheeks, for sculpting, blush, highlight, setting powder. If you are in the hunt for little cheek brushes, I totally recommend you the Polina brush, with the Fine Kalla they are the most multi-purpose of the group, but the Polina being more flat at the surface and less flexible than the KK-002 it can provide better blending and better control.

I add the RMK cheek (full squirrel) close to them, this one is also a winner in terms of multi-tasker but as you can see it’s much bigger than the other 4.

The Blending brush

The hair of the blending brush is not as soft as the Polina but is more similar to the Kokutan brushes. This makes it more efficient for blending yet soft enough to use on my eyelids.  What I love about it is the size and shape, just pointy enough to deliver more precise blending than the ones I currently use and big enough to be able to work fast on larger areas.

That’s the type of brush I was looking for since 2008 ! I have no words to explain how much I love it, a brush that has enough density without sharp edges during application, finally someone got it right !  It’s a big day for me, you don’t even imagine how much I have been looking for this one. Finally a brush that you truly can use as multi-purpose, with which you can highlight or contour without the sharp edges and the heavy blending required or the careful building of product, this one is so easy to use and you will do so many things with it, totally worth every penny.

I have similar options but this brush is unique. It’s something in between the Hakuhodo 212 and the Hakuhodo G5524, less densely packed, more suitable for efficient soft blending without the drawback of removing too much product in the process. The Kokutan T is like its little baby, they do not offer the same functionality though, the Kokutan is more adequate for precise outer V.

The other goat blending brushes I use (Edward Bess, Chomotto) are efficient but too scratchy for my eyelids, I use them but not on a daily basis, it’s depends on the sensitivity of my skin. The Edward Bess is the most similar in terms of size and efficiency but it doesn’t have the softness of the Evgeny.

The Hakuhodo J214R is in this picture for comparison purposes, it’s about the same hair length and width but the Evgeny blending brush is more dense, the J214R starts to be thinner at the middle of its hair length unlike the Evgeny which remains full till the point.

The Crease brush

The hair quality is very good, not as soft as the Chikuhodo Z-series or Suqqu brushes but I often receive emails from women looking for soft brushes but “not too soft”, mentioning that too soft brushes do not deliver enough blending or heavy application, that is true, it’s better to find the right balance between softness and efficiency, which is right where this brush belongs.

My HG are the Tom Ford 13 and the Nars 12, I can’t stop talking about these two can I… well this crease brush is located right in between the two in terms of precision and softness.

This Evgeny crease brush is softer than : the Nars brushes, the Trish 29, the Paula Dorf, the Mac 226, the Rae Morris 8, the Louise Young but it’s not as soft as the Hakuhodo S 142 or the G5522.

Some crease brushes are not tapered enough for me, others are too pointy and therefore not dense enough at the point, but this shape is very clever, the density is sufficient, it’s not too floppy, not too pointy. I wouldn’t mind if it was a bit softer since my eyelids are a pain but I can use it even better and more softly than the two Nars brushes and the application is much more pleasant than with the Nars. The softer options I own are the Hakuhodo S 142 and the G5522 but the S 142 is too floppy and the G5522 too big for the crease.  Again this brush is easy to use, just like the Blending one and the Polina, so they are fantastic also for beginners.

I have only these 3 brushes to show you for now, but I did order the rest of the brushes made of goat and sable. I’ll be able to show you comparisons with the Shu Uemura brushes and since recently I have been loving and enjoying the efficiency of “soft” goat brushes I’ll be able to tell you if Kashmir goat hair is soft enough for delicate skin.

More about Evgeny

Since I had the chance to get a direct contact with the “creator” himself, I just couldn’t stop there 😉
I have asked him a few questions for our pleasure and knowledge, below an exclusive little precious interview with Evgeny :

Me: Where are your brushes assembled ? do you have a team helping you ?

Evgeny : I am receiving brushes in parts and assemble them personally as I have orders from clients and stores (same with KISSETTES).
Everything you see on Facebook page is more creative, “feathery” and fancy (as everybody likes different things). I was making few sets to match interior of the “private jet”,boudoirs or shoes, whatever client likes:)
I have basics BLACK/BROWN sets and most custom made orders I create is more colorful or just when I have new ideas and feel like make one right away (just like in life:)

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That’s it for the questions, I hope this was helpful for you, it was such fun getting to know him a bit better.

In regards to the order, I placed it on his website, paid with paypal. Once this is done, he contacts you to ask you what shipping you would like and sends you the invoice for the selected shipping accordingly (starts from 10 cad, I have chosen the cheapest shipping option of approx 10cad and the envelop arrived in a week).

They were wrapped in silk paper with a sticker that he signed :

They come with a few leaflets and instructions :

You know that I am fighting with the renovation works at home, trying to prepare a studio for me and my brushes, I found the furniture I want to install but since the room is in pieces at the moment there is no way I can start moving in there. When it’s ready, I want to put a thin and long white dresser (or vanity?) not sure how you call these in English, it’s shiny and lackered, very sleek but simple and I have the intention of getting one of these feathery Kissettes for the decoration :

A colorful one, red or white feathers depending on the “final look” of the room 😉

And just for pleasure, you can have a final look at the gorgeous Evgeny in action 😉

I’ll keep you informed about the other brushes that I ordered. If you have any questions related to any of the brushes mentioned in these pictures, please just let me know, as always, I’ll be happy to help.

I sincerely want to thank Evgeny for his time and for authorizing me to use his pictures, I wish him all the very best and I am eagerly awaiting his cosmetic line.