I recently purchased two brushes, the Beautylish Lunar New Year “Year of the Rabbit” and the Chikuhodo MK-SK. Today I wanted to show you the nuances between these two look alike brushes.
Measurements
| Brush | Ferrule mm | Bristles length | Material | Total length | Price |
| Beautylish “Year of the Rabbit” | 26.5*23 | 47 mm | Squirrel | 167 mm | 125 $ |
| CHIKUHODO MK-SK | 26.5*23 | 47 mm | Gray Squirrel | 167 mm | 176 $ |
Same ferrule and same handle measurements, different design. On the Beautylish website it’s mentioned that the Year of the Rabbit brush bristles are 47.625mm long, I don’t see much difference with my eyes in terms of length of bristles.
Where I see a difference is in the way the bristles are bundled and it shows in the picture below. The layers on the Year of the Rabbit brush start closer to the middle of the head, while on the CHIKUHODO they start higher up. This makes the Year of the Rabbit brush a bit rounder, but it still has a nice flat enough surface at the top.
One very important thing to remember about handmade brushes is that sometimes brushes can differ slightly due to the different artisans who are shaping and finishing the brush at the very end of the process. All the artisans work with their own skills and legacy, so there is always a possibility that there is a difference in the shapes between brushes of the same batch. Those differences are usually within the tolerance margin of the design of the brush.
In terms of density, the Beautylish brush seems thicker, more full in comparison but it’s not very noticeable, these brushes have a close density.
However, this is where I see the nuances:
– with the CHIKUHODO MK-SK, the bristles at the top have the same strength accross all the surface that touches the skin, the bristles move with a similar flexibility and blend with similar power.
– with the Beautylish Year of the Rabbit, the surface at the top is kind of flat but the bristles in the center are just a bit longer. The center of the brush where you see that curve is a bit stronger with the application, as a result the application will be more intense in that center and more diffused towards the edges.
Does this change anything with the application?
Not a lot because they are both big soft brushes with similar density. With the Beautylish Year of the Rabbit brush, we might obtain an application that is a bit stronger towards the center of the brush while with the MK-SK, the application is a bit more lightweight and is diffused with a similar intensity on a wider area.
At the end of the application I don’t see a difference that is obvious and noticeable, but during application, I notice that when I use the Beautylish brush, I have a bit more intensity and a bit more control upon first contact.
How this translates into the purpose of these brushes for me is that when I want to apply a bronzer with a bit more control with the intensity of the product or want a bit more strength for blending, I’d rather use the Beautylish brush, but when I want to apply a uniform veil on a more wide surface, I’d use the CHIKUHODO MK-SK.
Both brushes are big and at the end you may not even see a difference in terms of results so I think it makes sense to also look at the design and the budget to make a decision.
Design and packaging
| Brush | Handle design | Dedicated Packaging |
| Beautylish Year of the Rabbit | Illustrated by artist Steph Fung, rendered in metallic maki-e lacquer | No |
| CHIKUHODO MK-SK | Collaboration with the brand Yamanaka-Shikki to make the lacquered handle with the maki-e design | Yes |
Both handles have the same measurements, I looked for a difference in the black lacquer but I cannot see it.
The maki-e design is different, the MK-SK features cherry blossoms and the Year of the Rabbit, cute Rabbits surrounded by a pattern of flowers and tiny moons.
Beautylish Year of the Rabbit
CHIKUHODO MK-SK
Beautylish have several brushes featuring the Lunar New Years, they release a new one each year.
They are limited edition but they brought some pieces back for those who wish to collect them or who just discovered them.
I hope there is one for 2024 because the Year of the Dragon would be stunning!
Packaging
The packaging is going to enhance the customer experience for sure, the CHIKUHODO brush comes in a golden cardboard box, but it’s also going to add costs to the brush.
The Beautylish brush comes in their usual black thin wrapping paper secured with a knot.
For those of you who own the CHIKUHODO Z-9 and the MK-II, I add these pics to show you the different of their size, side by side.
The CHIKUHODO Z-9 is one of my top favs bronzer brushes ever because of its size and shape, it’s bigger than the MK-SK or the Beautylish brushes.
The MK-II has longer bristles in comparison to the Beautylish brush but the ferrule is more narrow and curved which makes the bristles tighter and they don’t splay out as much during the application, it’s much more directional in comparison to the Beautylish or the others pictured here.
If you were wondering if these two brushes were the same, they have similarities, these are two exceptional brushes with two different price points.
PS: I wrote an article for Beautylish about my currrent recommendations -brushes and make-up-, there is a full article here just in case you are interested! Their Gift Card event is on until this Sunday, still some time left to browse and shop 🙂
