BRUSH AWARDS OF 2015

My friend Novy tagged me on Instagram to share my 2015 brush awards, since I  already had a little post planned on this topic I’ll just publish it! 🙂 There is another post coming on specific favourite brushes of 2015, but that one will be up in a few days, I have narrowed it down to the very minimum brushes while giving both a great affordable option and a synthetic one to each one of my top favs.

Today, these brush related awards are given to the most stunning discoveries or revelations of this past year and I would love you to share your own discoveries and your awards in the comments, it’s time to share some love for our fluffies and our favourite brands!

🏆 Best Brush Set(s) of the Year Award goes to: 

I am not fan of brush sets usually, when somebody asks me “what brush set do you recommend?” I prefer when possible to make recommendations on a per brush per purpose basis. Just a few weeks ago I have received an email to help a photographer find the best brushes for her girlfriend, first thing he told me is that he did not care that the handles did not match. So, he sent me the pictures of what she was using as make-up together with his first brush selection, then I confirmed or added the names of the brushes I thought were the best for her. When she will receive her present, her first reaction will probably be “WTH?” but I warned him and he just does not care about that, then he said that for his photo equipment he did exactly the same, he just picks whatever parts are the best, not because they were from the same brand or model. This summarizes why I don’t like the question “what is your favorite brand or set?” because all brands have their best and less good options, that will depend of your technique, skin, products and preferences.

Preferably, a “brush set” should cover the most possible functionalities, from precision application to blush, powder and it’s a bonus if it also covers contour, even if not all of those tasks are 100% achieved perfectly, they should do the job nicely and cover the most basic needs with a reasonably price that matches the quality. You may have different criteria than me which is absolutely perfectly fine, but this is my criteria to define if a set is a award material.

CHIKUHODO Lumiere set Noel 2015

Chikuhodo released this limited edition set with a great combination of brushes and a gorgeous design, they aren’t (all) exact copies of the current series so I enjoyed getting something a bit different in this set this year.

Wayne Goss the Collection 

This set also includes a foundation brush and 7 additional brushes of excellent quality and multipurpose, although I even prefer the goat tea dyed bristles of his other brushes, this set is a wonderful combination.

🏆 Best brush discovery of the Year Award goes to:

LAM SAM YICK Kolinsky brush

Discovered by my friend Novy during her visit to Lam Sam Yick, a 100% Kolinsky brush that is a very uniquely crafted piece. Please check Novy’s Instagram for more info on this beauty. I wanted to get the Shu Uemura 15 but I could not find it anywhere so this will replace my lemming for that Shu. It is VERY expensive (I think approx 400 euros) but it is something really different.

KOYOMO brushes 

With their ancient goat hair, they surpass many similar grade brushes in terms of softness and quality, the design is unique, not my fav handles for a daily use but they couldn’t be more traditional, very extreme and an absolute collector’s item.

Review here.

🏆 Best Overall performance Award goes to: 

Wayne Goss

I have no words to say how much I enjoy his brushes, the material, the shape, the quality, the results, the value for money, everything about them is absolutely amazing, they should be in everyone’s collection, beginner, professional or creative nutcase, every single person should find happiness with these brushes, the eye or the face ones, all are excellent.

I have 5 reviews on his brushes so just search for wayne goss on the top right of the main page and you’ll get the links.

Surratt

Brushes on steroids guys, crazy soft and dense, where softness doesn’t kill functionality. They are on the expensive side though, last year I finally splurged and I don’t regret it.

Reviews here and here and I have more since my last review but I haven’t featured them all yet.

🏆 Out of Budget Award goes to:

Kashoen Royal brushes 

We all have lemmings, sometimes way out of our budget, the probability of getting even one of these for me is below 0%, I will never be able to, but they will always be in my wildest brush dreams. Who knows, maybe one day I will get “just” one 😀 but it will be a customized Royal brush, not as expensive as the real Royal handles, I started saving for it and even if it won’t be a real Royal it will be truly amazing.

By the way, I don’t know what they recently did to their website but the Royal series are not browsable at the moment… can’t even allow myself to drool on them anymore 😀

🏆 The Must Have Award goes to:

Wayne Goss

Easy one, I still cannot understand why some of you (specially brush lovers and collectors) don’t own at least a few! These brushes are a necessary step, imho before getting a thousand dollar brush, you have to get at least some of these, these are bare necessities and we should not underestimate  them! They could be  awarded in all categories, seriously amazing.

 
🏆 Craftsmanship Award goes to:

This is a tricky category because we know how good the artisans of Kumano (Japan) are, so all of them truly deserve an award, maybe you have also noticed that they are becoming more and more daring and creative and this is very promising.

Hakuhodo

Qusavi

Takeda

 

Koyudo

🏆 Ultimate Facegasm Award goes to:

Koyudo Saibikoho brushes

This is a special category just for Novy because to be very honest, I am more drawn towards efficiency and results than softness but I do need a brush to be very soft, when both specs are combined then I can admit there is facegasm!

The Saibikoho make-up brushes are the best (and most expensive) option when it comes to soft brushes…

so, with regards to results, I had them make a little round blush brush with this material and I can only say that this is my fav blush brush of all times, this one is softer than the Suqqu and still super efficient, I am so thrilled with it that I can’t even look sane when I use it or talk about it 😀 You don’t want to know the price, it’s scary, this brush is 70k JPY… (approx 600$), but there are similar options with more affordable prices, for example a Tanseido or even the Suqqu, now the Suqqu looks kinda cheap in comparison 😀

🏆 Best synthetic brush Award goes to:

With synthetic brushes I cannot say I love many from the same brand but a few of them are true gems, so even though it would be more appropriate to mention these in my fav brushes of 2015, I had to include some synthetic in my awards, more details in my upcoming reviews which will be very soon published.

I have just one issue with synthetic brushes when they have high price tags, they shouldn’t be so expensive, even though their life span may be longer than natural brushes, they still are machine made with much cheaper materials which could not even be comparable to artisan made brushes in terms of production costs.

Marc Jacobs (review in the making)

The conceal brush is a brush that I need in my life, fantastic shape, dense, follows every angle and blends softly and flawlessly. I have one for concealer and one for cream shadow.

Hourglass (review in the making)

Specially number 3, impressed and loving it to pieces. One of the rare synthetic brushes that I actually enjoy with powder but this one is a fun multipurpose.

🏆 Best “value for money” Award goes to:

Wayne Goss

Again, you cannot get any better at this price, some are featured in my top favs.

Koyomo Pink Set

Review here, such a catch! So soft, a precious little set and the great thing is that you can purchase the brushes individually!

🏆 Best “accessories” Award goes to:

The best for the end… This is not awarded to a professional brand, this is awarded to two special friends who are talented beyond imagination and who create items so beautifully crafted that they leave me speechless. Who wants or needs to purchase accessories when you can have access to their creations?? These two girls deserve such a big fat award that I have to mention them here and give them a standing ovation!

Olga

She creates with her imagination, she is inspired by the stars and all things around her. She designs clothes, she draws, paints, she even makes toys for cats! She made a toy for our cat Shadow and she also made me this stunning brush pouch:

Sarah

She loves Japan and kimono fabric, she buys and recycles its fabric to create brush rolls and accessories sawn to perfection! I can’t have enough of them and she knows that! So insanely precious!

It’s not easy to find beautiful brush rolls and since I love brushes so much I am really ecstatic when I receive gorgeous accessories like these.

More brands and brushes will be featured in my favorite brushes post, still working and struggling to narrow it down to the very minimum, so far I think I am doing ok 🙂

I wish you a fantastic New Year, plenty of new gorgeous brushes and I thank you for reading me 🙂