Koyudo Fu-Pa14

Another gorgeous Koyudo temptation that I wasn’t sure I wanted to order at first, I read it wasn’t only grey squirrel but a blend with some soft goat hair, however, this brush doesn’t feel like goat hair at all.  I don’t often use powder foundation so I wasn’t sure this was an useful brush for me but at the end I still decided to get it…

It costs around 60$ and AGAIN, it’s totally worth every penny ! Such a lovely surprise !! The quality is absolutely outstanding, I am in awe and so will you…

It is as soft as the Chikuhodo Z-series (I can’t feel much difference to be honest), it’s densely packed, absolutely no flaws, it’s flat(ish) -very slightly rounded as you can see in the pic-  and covers a wide surface at the top, approx 4cm of diameter.  The handle is short, black and the ferrule golden, the black part has little green sparkles inside, I can’t stop contemplating and patting this work of art…

I thought it would be very similar to the Chikuhodo Z-1, it is in terms of softness and hair quality but it’s more dense and short, the goat hair must be so little quantity that it just feels like there isn’t at all. The application of powder foundation with this brush is out of this world, it does the work so softly and evenly, so far I think there is no other better powder foundation application than with this Fu-Pa14, efficiency and enjoyment guaranteed !

When I apply powder foundation, I don’t apply a heavy coverage, the finish I like is sheer to medium. I have tried this brush with the Mac Mineralize Skinfinish, it picks the product really well, one swirl is enough, you have to tap off the excess just a bit, you apply and then reapply if you want more coverage. I will try it also with mineral loose powders, for now I didn’t had the chance yet but it does a better job at covering than the Z-1, because it’s flatter and denser so the process will be faster too.

I also tried it with bronzer (TF Terra), I tap off the excess on the back of my hand and I apply in the forehead, cheeks, I cannot see any lines around the application and it doesn’t look muddy but I apply it softly anyway.

Something that I love to do in summer is apply a nude blush but with a very dense brush in order to give a polished dimensional effect to the skin and cover the pores but without any exfoliation or irritation in the process. This is probably the best option I own today for that purpose. It is big but when I apply blush with it, I am not aiming for a precise application but instead for a more dimensional blush/contouring purpose application, not with contour, just with a nude natural blush. Tried it with this Fu-Pa14, loved it.

The hair is really fine in both brushes, but the Fu-Pa14 is much more densely bundled and firm, yet supple enough to allow a very soft natural non-streaky application.

Compared to the Fu-Pa01 (baby goat chest hair), the Fu-pa14 is of course softer and has more flexibility.

The surface of the Fu-Pa14 is wider but the shape is similar -not that you can see much in the next picture anyway 🙁

The Houkodou is also very very soft, it’s goat hair but goat that resembles squirrel hair, it’s also more packed and directional than the Fu-Pa14, I use the Houkodou for liquid foundation and the Fu-Pa14 for powder foundation or blush. Again the Fu-pa14 is bigger, more supple. Big enough to achieve a fast and easy result and small enough to go around the nose and be able to cover the whole face.

I remembered I had bought the new Chanel Les Beiges Kabuki brush and I thought I would show you a pic close to this Koyudo Fu-pa14, so here it is :

I cannot believe the sales assistant told me the Chanel Kabuki was natural hair while she was patting it, it is clearly made of synthetic bristles but since I could not touch it, I just trusted her and bought it. It’s not the end of the world but that was the reason why I bought it, because I heard it was soft and because she mentioned it was natural. Don’t get me wrong, I love synthetic brushes but the idea initially was to compare it to the Houkodou or the Fu-pa family.

You can have an idea of their size here in the pics but the feeling of the hair is completely different. The Chanel Les Beiges Kabuki is extremely soft but it’s like a mass of synthetic bristles which don’t give such an airbrushed natural effect on my skin, I admit I still have to play with it and I may change my mind… I just wanted to show you some pics since I have it and I think there aren’t that many pics online yet.

The Hakuhodo J210 is also a nice dense brush but it’s nothing similar to the Fu-Pa14, I am showing you a picture because you may want to know how they compare together. It’s a similar shape, but the J210 (goat) is very firm, tightly packed. The Fu-pa14 is much more supple and soft but it’s is not the same material either so no surprise the Fu-Pa14 feels softer !

The four together :

I love dense brushes, but dense ones that can still pack product without delivering a muddy application, I prefer to build with a more forgiving brush than directly use a super dense and firm brush. I can go from sheer to heavy coverage with the Fu-Pa14, with this brush I will target a sheer to medium coverage with powder foundation and a heavy polished application with a nude blush.

It will not get better than this for a powder brush in my humble opinion, I don’t think it is LE but it’s certainly a must-have for me. My colleague saw the brushes when they arrived this week (this fu-pa14 and the pink fan), she patted them and she looked at me with her eyes wide open and said  “is this for real ???”  🙂 Yep, welcome to my magic world MUAHAHAHAHAHA 😛

@Fran, I think I may have created another monster 😉