Of Toys and Co: Koyudo Brushes Part V

Okay, I didn't intend to review these newer Koyudo additions until much later but an anonymous reader left a comment asking me about my Koyudo favorites, so she/he can hurry and get her order in before the crazy price increase. I do share her/his sentiment, having put in a huge order myself yesterday T.T

And before I post a list of my favorites, I figured I should review these first. So sorry to overload you with brushes for the past week, but here are more of my most recent Koyudo acquisitions. All prices listed are current, as the new prices won't go into effect until March 2, 2015.

Brushes in this batch:
- Left photo: BP020, BP040, Sakura022, Red Large Shader, Black Large Shader, Black Medium Shader, and Black Small Shader.
- Right photo: Brush Stand Pouch, H Series White Kinoko, and fu-pa14 Ena White Series.

- BP020 Goat Sokoho, 3,800JPY: May be I'm being overly dramatic, but the softness difference between this brush and BP026 shocked me. Both brushes are made of sokoho, so why does this BP020 feel like it's squirrel hair while BP026 feels like a machine-cut brush? No really, the moment I touched this brush I immediately went onto CPJapan to check whether I had *accidentally* (or not so accidental after all...) bought yet another squirrel brush. But nope, it's sohoko folks, truly amazingly soft! O.O

So if you're deciding between this BP020 and the BP026, unless you really really really want BP026's extreme slant, I definitely recommend BP020 instead! It's a well-sized brush for the cheeks, about the same size as the BP016, and it is slanted, just not as much as BP026, so technically you can still contour with it!

- BP040 Kolinsky, 1,900JPY: a multipurpose brush for lining, brows, and lips! It's pretty straight forward so there's not much to be said. I forgot to take post-wash pictures so I'll post those later.

- Sakura022 Gray Squirrel & Goat Sokoho, 4,700JPY: so some of the reviewers on CDJapan complained that this brush is too small, but I think it's quite perfectly sized for a cheek brush. Perhaps in buying this brush folks were expecting a powder brush instead? Nope, it's for the cheeks, and being a mix of squirrel and sokoho it's so very soft.

- Red Large Shader Gray Squirrel, 3,630JPY: this brush is a part of the Gray Squirrel 8-piece Red Brush Set, but I didn't want the whole set and only picked up 4 out of 8 (those big squirrel powder brushes are just too fragile). The other 3 aren't here yet so I don't have them to take pics and post for you. Sorry! This Red Large Shader brush is a BP029 twin in terms of size, only with a rounder crown whereas BP029 is slightly more tapered. Love it!

Post wash.

- Black Large Shader Prairie Dog, 2,880JPY: This Large brush, and Medium and Small ones below are also part of an 8-Piece Black Brush Set, but again I only bought the 3 eye shadow brushes, and purely out of curiosity. As you can see, they're made out of prairie dog hair, which got my eyebrows raising a little bit ^.^" Then again, I do own a tamage hair brush (cat!) too so this shouldn't surprise me too much.

What did surprise me is how nice these brushes are! Prairie dog hair is very durable and versatile, working well with both powder and liquid. In comparison to kolinsky, it's just as firm only slightly less soft. In comparison to horse, it's less firm but much softer. Keep in mind kolinsky brushes are quite pricey, while prairie dog and horse ones are about the same price. So unless you have sensitive skin that requires the softness of kolinsky, you might want to settle for the prairie dog brushes, which in my humble opinion are better than horse.

I rotate between this brush and the BP027 for eye bases and cream/liquid shadows.

Post wash.

- Black Medium Shader Prairie Dog, 2,400JPY: see more details above. I use this brush for cream/liquid shadows below the crease.

Post wash.

- Black Small Shader Prairie Dog, 1,920JPY: a great detail and cream/liquid liner brush.

Post wash.

- H Series White Kinoko Saikoho Goat Cherry Wood Handle, 11,000JPY: this is another huge splurge for me even after all the CDJapan points. It's un-dyed saikoho goat hair with black-lacquered cherry wood handle. Sounds luxurious or what? Actually, I do wish that the handle was not lacquered over as I would love to see the actual wood grain.

This brush is ridiculously soft. Don't let the wimpy photos fool you, it poofed out quite a lot after the wash and the brush head is more of a fluff ball now. And it's densely packed, denser than Hakuhodo J104 even while the longer hair length still allows for some spring. So it's definitely not just another fu-pa01 on a cherry wood kabuki handle. I absolutely love it for translucent powders, although I prefer the fu-pa14 below for powders with coverage.

Overall, I love this brush so much and I'm so so happy to have it, not just because of the looming price-jack but because I actually don't see it anymore on Koyudo's Japanese website. Gosh I really hope they're not discontinuing this brush, because that would be a disservice to mankind, or at least to to all Koyudo fans out there!

- fu-pa14 Ena White Series Gray Squirrel & Goat, 6,000JPY: like the White Kinoko above, this brush looks small in the photos, less than 4cm but after washing, it poofed out quite a bit and gained almost a whole other 1cm in width! Despite having goat hair mixed in, and neither CDJapan nor Koyudo's Japanese website specify what kind of goat hair, it's insanely soft thanks to the squirrel hair. OMG it's so soft I could die!

So being a squirrel hair brush, I limit it to powders only. But you know what, it works freakin' miracles with powders that have some coverage. Think mineral foundations, powder foundations, etc. It deposits a light dusting of product and buffs it in until the powder foundation feels like your skin. Yes, your skin, not second skin! And I love it for this because I like sheer coverage and hate looking overly "made up". So if you're like me, you'll love this brush too. Did I mention it's crazy soft?

- Brush Stand Pouch: now this pouch was a total surprise. Last October, CDJapan ran this promotion for a brush pouch gift with any purchase and no "deadline" (see screen caps below), just until they've given away all the pouches. So by the time I placed my order after Thanksgiving, I figured all the pouches would be gone. But alas one showed up with my order and I was giddy like a little kid stumbling onto hidden candies.

The pouch is quite well made. It was design so that you can fold the two flaps back and have a big padded "cup" to hold your brushes. And when not in use, you can pull the two flaps back up and zip. I am scared to death that the bristles would get caught in the zipper though, or even that net pocket. But as you can see, the pocket is quite deep and the fu-pa14 above barely peeks over the fold with the top of its crown, so my fears are unfounded. But of course fears are fears. See how much I baby my brushes? ^.^"