Koyomo brushes – Introduction and group order

I am planning a detailed review on the very unique Koyomo brushes, it will even feature an interview with the creators and it will be published as soon as I receive my brushes, I hope you will enjoy!  That review isn’t for today though as my brushes will arrive next week or so but the reason why I am writing this little post is because there is a group order going on at the moment for some of their special Limited Edition -made on request- brushes that is being organized by my dear beloved friends right now and I don’t want you to miss this opportunity.

Koyomo are based in Hiroshima, in Kure, approx 20mn from Kumano, they won several awards for their brushes including the Good Design Award.  For these series, their bristles were collected from goats before 1970, when hair was at its peak quality and their bristles are of much higher value. My friends already have some of their brushes and love them dearly.

In their current line they have 3 type of brushes:

1. the Yuki, Goat Saikoho hair (extremely soft),
2. the Tsuki, Goat Saikoho hair (extremely soft), the difference is in the design of the handle
3. the Hana, Goat Sokoho hair (softer than the usual Sokoho)

When they use Saikoho goat hair, you have to keep in mind that it is even softer than the very soft Chikuhodo Takumi series so you can easily imagine how unique this hair can be.

Their handles are based on the traditional technique of Aizu paint, and coated with Tamamushi lacquer, here is a description that I quote from the Japan Arts and Crafts website:

Tamamushi lacquer ware was developed in 1932 by Koiwa Shun (artist name: Komei), who taught at National Tohoku Craftworks Institute established in Sendai by the old Ministry of Commerce and Industry in 1928. Traditional lacquering techniques and some innovative techniques were combined together to create a product with styles favored by foreign people.

The origin of the name Tamamushi comes from the fact that it glitters just like a Tamamushi (jewel beetle). After a base coating with lacquer, silver power is sprinkled on the surface, over which lacquer is applied 10 times, or in special cases 40-50 times. Because of this silver coating and repeated lacquering processes, its color is iridescent and mysteriously beautiful. In the final stage, patterns are drawn and decorated with the techniques of Chinkin (gold-inlay carving) or Makie (gold and silver powdering).

In the post-war period, it became very popular in foreign countries and became the major lacquer ware item for export. Today, it enjoys a good reputation domestically and overseas as the lacquer ware that fits both Japanese and Western lifestyles.

To order any of these brushes, you can contact @FudeJapan, Toshiya will be pleased help you with your order. He also has an amazing Instagram account @Fudejapan that will make any brush lover drool uncontrollably.

Now, about this GROUP ORDER, it is for special brushes, the special brushes will have the Hana design – or shall I say round sexy butt – (please have a look at the above picture), but with a black/red glossy finish like the picture below (I understood the red accent will be stronger than here), and instead of Sokoho, they will be made with SAIKOHO hair, which in my opinion is the very best combination they could ever make. For example, the face brush will look something like this:

I have borrowed some pics from my friends as I don’t have my brushes yet 🙂 I link their pics to their Instagram profile.

By the way, please hop to Sarah’s Instagram account for more pictures of her current Koyomo brushes and please follow her because we are a few crazy brush lovers out there and Sarah has certainly won a few insane awards in this category!

The specs of the brushes for the group order are as follows (to be confirmed by Koyomo):

• FACE : Length: 114mm, price approx. 45’000 JPY excl. tax (8%) ~373 USD
• CHEEK: Length: 108mm, price approx. 30’000 JPY excl. tax (8%) ~250 USD
• EYESHADOW: Length: 97mm, price approx. 15’000 JPY excl. tax (8%) ~125 USD

So far, I don’t know how long the manufacturing will take, they need at least 20 orders for each brush to launch it, they will launch the manufacturing of the brush that has reached 20 orders or more. I suggest that you leave a comment below if you are interested, you mention what type of brush(es) you would like to take (face, cheek or eyeshadow) and also send a message to Toshiya so that he can take note because he will be the one coordinating closely with Koyomo. He does take a fee for his services, about that I will give you more info later but I believe it depends on the total amount you order, the higher the amount, the fewer the commission, you will find details on his website www.fudejapan.com.

The design will be similar as the two brushes on the right of this picture:

Here is the cheek in 4th position from the left, the second brush is a Tsuki brush (the cheek):

Here is the face in 4th position from the left, the second brush is a Tsuki brush (the face):

Again, thank you Sarah for your pics!

Below some pictures from my friend Novy, her Instagram account is @NovyNovyNovy, and once more, I beg you to follow her because she is quite a brush detective and she discovered these amazing brushes, don’t freak out, we are all kind of insane about brushes, if you love brushes, you are in good hands with us 😀

I hope I gave you enough details for you to decide if you want to go ahead with one or several of these brushes, leave me a comment below and don’t forget to send your details to Fudejapan.

This is how to order:

1. Send an email to fudejapan@hotmail.com (Toshiya san) with your details and what you wish to order
2. Leave a comment below if you wish me to follow up the process and ensure you have been taken into account

If we manage to get 20 eyeshadow, cheek or face from the black Hana with Saikoho, then they will start manufacturing them for us. For any other of their current designs that you find on their website, there is no need to reach 20 and you can place an order directly with Fudejapan.

I do not get a commission for the sales.

I hope this is clear enough but if you have any question, please let me know below! There is also a thread in the Forum where you will find even more details on this brand.