Koyudo BP017, BP028, BP032, BP035

Funny that this review comes just after the kolinsky one… I told you in the previous post that Koyudo had opened a door to new possibilities and that now I am tempted to try the others… Having a blog is the best excuse ever!

The first one I had from these pine series is the BP030, since it had exceeded my expectations today I can share some comments about the 4 other ones on its left. I bet you are scared to read what I really have to say about them and not sure if you really truly deeply should …

Size

In the past years I have gathered just a few brushes with pine squirrel hair – I have never been that interested – but now I finally have some to show you in comparison.

Let me just briefly summarize, in terms of quality of material, Koyudo is the best. The others are really good too -some even excellent- but Koyudo bundling is just simply better, and the hair is softer, fluffier.

Koyudo BP017

These two are both pine squirrel, more resilient (durable) than grey or blue squirrel brushes. None of them poke at all, but I can notice a tiny difference in the hair quality, I wouldn’t say one is better than the other but for example the BP017 looks like it has used expensive Philip B shampoo (I’ll mention Philip in a future post by the way, preparing the intro here..) and the other one l’Oreal which is not bad but not exceptional to the touch.  To the touch the BP017 is smoother but the Chikuhodo might be more efficient when it comes to blending because it’s a bit more rough (without being harsh at all).

The Chikuhodo appears thicker and denser but I think this is because Koyudo’s has slightly finer hair, it’s missleading, the difference is really not that obvious. The Koyudo has a little bit more flexibility due to that difference but it is still dense enough.

Sideways the surface of the BP017 allows more precision and you could use it in wider or more narrow zones (contour or hightlight).

Koyudo BP028

Another HUGE eyeshadow brush,  or highlight, or precision sculpting… What is different about this one is its shape. It’s thick, dense, fluffy and soft and even though it’s a bit tapered sideways there is a generous surface that offers nice blending capabilities. I love this brush so much, the layers start at approx the middle of the head so I find that it picks a generous amount of product and delivers a soft natural application with pleasant delicate blending. If you want more blending power and a huge brush, go for the GSN-07 but if you want something softer the BP is the one to go for. You won’t get precision here, just keep that in mind.

Koyudo BP035

The only complaint I have is that it’s a bit too big to be exactly comparable to the Mac 239 but other than that, I would say it replaces my Mac 239 most of the time just because it’s softer and fluffier. I noticed that the application was a bit more fool-proof, I don’t sleep much recently due to what I will be releasing for you this Christmas so in the morning I don’t see very clearly when I am applying my makeup, I don’t want to spend time buffing away an excess application and I don’t want to insist with the layering either.  I wish they could do the same brush with same density as this BP032 but just a bit smaller. The density factor is its big strength, other similar pine brushes are much thinner than this one.

Koyudo BP032

It’s a placement/crease/blending brush very multipurpose, another little gem…  Very similar in shape to other oval brushes, it’s just slightly thicker and fluffier but firm enough to be extremely controllable.

When I apply eyeshadow in the crease I place it in a way that the color in the surface of the brush is just applied to the higher part of the crease without going further down onto the mobile lid when doing the windshield wiper movement, with a round crease brush you will have the product in the crease and all around it, most of the times this is what you want but if not that could be a useful tip.

In my opinion these brushes are meant to work with pigmented products, softly and naturally, the feeling is something in between goat and grey squirrel brushes, it’s a good compromise for those of you who cannot use goat and who cannot get enough pigmentation with grey squirrel hair brush. I am really surprised with the quality, the shapes, and I am glad they don’t have more because I would probably be ordering them too… pheww!