Trish McEvoy is a brand I am interested in, she has some fantastic brushes, unfortunately some are a bit on the rough side but I truly love the shape she gives to them, she came up with a few brushes that I would rate holy grails if they weren’t as rough. I saw this brush and wanted to see how it would perform and if the softness had a bit improved with time. If you don’t have delicate skin, this is not something that will bother you, for me it is something I have to take into consideration every single time I purchase a brush.
This is made with goat hair, it measures 14cm in total, the hair is 2.8-3cm long, just a few bristles reach 3cm at the point, the ferrule is 1.2cm wide.
It comes in a plain plastic sleeve, it is handmade but I don’t know where, on her website, it’s mentioned this is AAAA highest quality goat hair, compared to her other goat hair brushes in her collection yes I agree this is probably 4 times better, however if you compare it to Saikoho goat hair, for example Hakuhodo J5521 (38$), the Trish is far from being as soft and it costs 7$ more. On her website it looks brown with some black, mine is black, even with the brightest light and a macro lens I can’t see the beautiful brown hue, it doesn’t look very similar in terms of handle color, maybe it will change with time but I doubt it.

Trish McEvoy Petite Kabuki vs Hakuhodo J5521
The handle is beautiful, I love this trend, a handle without a ferrule, wood-like (or wood), looks very traditional and very appealing.
Compared to other similar brushes, for example Rae Morris or Shaquda, the quality of the assembling of the head and the handle is not as good with the Trish, not as neat around the head. Obviously the final look and quality of the Rae or Shakuda is better, not only the handle but also the bundling of the bristles.
The Trish Petite Kabuki (45$) looks cheaper than the Rae brushes (40$ & 30$) while logically it should be the opposite.
Rae Morris had released two similar Kabukis some years ago that have been replaced now by the ones with the magnets but these two older and lighter brushes are very similar, the bundling of the head is thinner at the tip and the softness is also similar, so if you got these two Rae brushes at the time, you can expect similar type of softness and similar bundling (more pointy).
In terms of functionality, it does the job nicely but I find it a bit too light to hold and that bothers me, I prefer more sturdy handles. The Rae Morris are better balanced, softer and cheaper so unfortunately today I don’t see a reason why you should get the Trish instead. I am a bit disappointed with this Petite Kabuki, at this price, you can get so many better options. The best value for money is the Hakuhodo J5521 because the quality of the bristles is absolutely stunning and it is so densely packed, but then if you really love this traditional Japanese handles, the Rae Morris are the ones to go for.
6 comments
I thought exactly the same thing. I have looked and played with the Trish brush for the past few weeks at the counters but it didn’t feel as soft or better than any of Japanese brushes. I’ve never really found the love for Trish brushes and this one didn’t change my mind. I don’t have any Shaquda brushes yet!!
hey Bora,
Shaquda are now available to purchase, I will send you the details as they are not yet easy from international countries but it’s possible by email in case you are interested 🙂
Trish have a few shapes that would be holy grails if they were softer, what a shame!
Thank you for this. I have wondered about the Trish kabuki, especially compared to the Rae Morris. I do not have either, but I am really tempted. I only recently started with Wayne Goss. I now have three (2, 13,and 14) and love them.
You are welcome 🙂 then certainly get the Rae if you can, so much better!
The WG 13 is my dream 🙂 love it to pieces 🙂
Glad to hear this … will not be purchasing.
Glad it helps 🙂