Koyudo Brushes Part II

A few more Koyudo brushes to show you ^.^ No fu-pas this time although I'm saving my points up for them!

Quick notes for this batch: 

1. All brushes were photographed pre-wash. Unlike the Hakuhodo brushes, the smaller Koyudo eye shadow brushes are starched, which means measurements are totally off for those. I don't mind taking post-wash pictures, but it means lengthy delays and whatnot.

2. Despite some brushes being starched in the pre-wash photos, for visual folks like me a seeing is still better than nothing. CD Japan isn't too great about pictures and measurements of the Koyudo brushes.  

3. Again, cameras don't have the same depth-perception as our eyes. Measurements are only estimates and not so much engineer-precise, plus the starching of the brushes.

4. Brushes are listed by collection, then model number. 

5. I broke my no-squirrel rule for this batch too ^.^

Brushes in this batch, in order as pictured from left to right: BP016, BP024, BP033, and BP044.

- BP016 Goat Saikoho, 4,200JPY: This brush was to reconcile the fact that I didn't have a "proper" powder blush brush, and plus it was highly recommended for the shape and size.

That said, after washing it doesn't stay as nicely rounded like the pictures below. It poofs out a little after the wash, and the sides fan out a bit so the crown flattens and doesn't stay rounded. But the shape and size perfectly covers my cheek bones so applying powder blush with this brush is a breeze, a couple of sweeps on each side and I'm done ^.^ Oh and did I mention it's super soft? Yes it is.

- BP024 Goat Sokoho, 2,200JPY: this is supposed to be a highlighter brush but I use it for powder blush also, and contouring around my hair line, down the temples all the way through beneath my jawline.


After washing, this brush became a mini poof ball also, very much like the Hakuhodo J5521 only the ferrule is flat and not rounded. And although this is goat sokoho, I honestly couldn't tell the difference between this brush and the BP016 Goat Saikoho above, both superbly soft. However, this BP024 is about half the size of the BP016, and thus has much shorter hair which means firmer with less give, offering more control.

- BP033 Gray Squirrel, 2,700JPY: I broke my no-squirrel rule for this brush and my oh my it's insanely soft!!! I honestly didn't know what to do with it because it's so freakin' soft!

In the end, I experimented with various powder shadows with this brush. I found that it will pick up more pressed than baked color powders, so if you have super sparkly or frosty stuff (which tends to be baked powder), this brush will provide good shimmer control. I have also tried it with the hybrid L'Oreal Infallibles and found the same result here, that it minimizes the shimmers. However, when I tried with the hybrid baked powder-cream Sephora Outrageous Prima Chrome Metallics (dry, of course), the result was jaw-dropping - this brush imparts the most gorgeous metallic wash that's buildable! Wow, I'm hooked! Now I'm thinking of getting the bigger version of it the BP029 also!

Post wash.

- BP044 Kolinsky, 1,800JPY: this is another eyebrow brush I picked up for comparison with my work horse Hakuhodo B162. 

 

And to be honest, after washing, this brush turns out to be too wide for my thin and sparse brows, so the B162 is still best and my search for a comparable duplicate continues. I have tried lining my eyes as well as smudging pencil liners with this brush and it's great there.

After washing this brush is just slightly wider than the B162, may be just 1mm but hey, that makes a difference for me! It's also thicker too (right picture)!


Definitely more to come!

See my previous Koyudo Brushes post.