Hakuhodo Brushes: My Fledgling Collection (J5523, J004G, G5512BkSL, Retractable BkA Flat PBT Lip)

Hi! Remember me? I used to write things sometimes. Then research and end of term stress happened (if it seems like I use that excuse a lot, it's because the UO operates on the quarter system and just as I've gotten over the stress of one finals season, another is upon me) and I kind of fell off the world. You may not hear from me again for another week or so, but it's a long post, so feel free to drag it out over a few days.

A couple months ago, I decided I was ready to upgrade my eye brushes. My brush collection is entirely affordable brushes, but I wanted something fancier for playing with my eyeshadow. MAC brushes are easily accessible, but they're not very cheap, and from what I've read, the quality isn't the best. Hakuhodo brushes, at least for the eyes, are relatively reasonably priced, and of very high quality, but they have to be ordered online. Fortunately, there's a number of very thorough guides online, and after I measured the brushes I already own, I was able to have an idea of what dimensions would work best for me (and will be adding size info to my complete makeup brush post once the term is over and I have more time).

Left to right: J5523, J004G, G5520BkSL, G5512BkSL, Retractable Push-up Lip Brush BkA Flat PBT

I ordered 5 brushes, four for eyes and one for lips. I wanted things I could use every day, so I opted for a variety of types: one base/laydown (J004G, second from left), one crease (G5520BkSL, center), one blender (J5523, far left), and one liner (G5512BkSL, second from right). I'll discuss them in the order I use them on a normal day.

Best Affordable Makeup Brushes, Updated!

This post was originally written in November of 2011, but I've learned a lot since then, and my brush collection has morphed and grown and been begging me to please, please share it with the world, so I figured I should update it (though L still deserves the credit for inspiring me to make it in the first place!). Needless to say, it's really long, even more so than before (and dear God I shudder to think how many hours I've put into it), but I've tried to organize it in such a way that you can find specific parts easily and skip what doesn't interest you. I'll be including reviews for the brushes in my collection under their respective categories, so keep an eye out for those.

Okay, crash course on why makeup brushes matter: Using quality tools to apply your makeup will ensure you get the most out of your products, or, put more accurately, using bad brushes will make even the nicest makeup look and behave like crap. Regardless of whether you use high- or low-end cosmetics, you want to get the most out of your collection, and good brushes are a vital part of that.

Best Affordable Makeup Brushes

See the updated version here!

Note: I considered breaking this down into a Tip Tuesday and Recommendation Thursday, but ultimately decided it would be more trouble than it was worth to try and separate them in a way that still made them make sense.  As a result, this post is really long (and it took me so many hours to write, I don't even want to think about it), but I've tried to organize it in such a way that you can find specific parts easily and skip what doesn't interest you.  I'll be including reviews for the brushes in my collection under their respective categories, so keep an eye out for those.

My makeup brush collection is frighteningly large.  They all fit in a coffee mug (because I'm too cheap to buy an actual brush holder, duh), but only barely!  I've been amassing my collection over the past few years, and have finally decided to post about them so you can hopefully learn from my experience (and I from yours!).  This brush is dedicated to L, whose prompting inspired me to actually get around to a) washing and b) photographing my brushes, neither of which is very labor-intensive, but I'm just so lazy I'd never gotten around to it.

Okay, crash course on why makeup brushes matter: Using quality tools to apply your makeup will ensure you get the most out of your products, or, put more accurately, using bad brushes will make even the nicest makeup look and behave like crap.  Regardless of whether you use high- or low-end cosmetics, you want to get the most out of your collection, and good brushes are a vital part of that.

So, what makes a brush good?

E.L.F. Review and Swatches

E.L.F., short for Eyes Lips Face, is a super-cheap makeup brand available at some Targets and online.  My biggest gripe with them is that shipping is $7, which is completely absurd, so I've only ordered from them a couple of times, when they happened to have 50% off coupons (which is quite often; you can check at Retail Me Not for current discounts) which saved me an amount equivalent to shipping (so I ended up just paying retail).  I haven't tried very much from them, but some of the things I've tried I do really like.