A Comparison of Fluffy Round Blending Brushes

Friday, August 24, 2018

I pulled out my tapered fluffy brushes today and was surprised by just how many brushes of this shape I had. They are made from all sorts of different materials, come from different brands. Truthfully, I don't think I need this many brushes of this shape, size, and roundness.

Top to bottom: Hakuhodo G5522BkSL, Giorgio Armani, Energy Ebony/White Blender, Chikuhodo Z-11, C-13, Mizuho CMP527, Laura Mercier Pony Brush

Hakuhodo G5522BkSL is made from goat and blue squirrel, this brush is now made instead with your choice of white goat/squirrel for $30 or pure white goat for $20. Also has a shorter handle now.

Giorgio Armani Blender - Discontinued. Loved the dark matte wood, pine squirrel is very supple - the side of the hair glides beautifully with the skin, I think I might like pine squirrel better for face brushes.

Energy Ebony/White Goat series blender. The name says it all. Can't fault it, I have a personal preference for longer handles but that's something I haven't encountered with ebony handles.

Chikuhodo Z-11. Grey squirrel (though there are incongruities on the Chikuhodo website). Around $31 at CDJapan. Ultra soft.

C-13, made of blue squirrel and goat with rosewood handles. I love the ferrule-less look of this brush!

Mizhuho CMP-527. Pony and squirrel. Ultra light handle. It has more of a angular than curvature taper. $19 at CDJapan.

Laura Mercier Pony Brush. It's been revamped with a chic black ferrule. $32 at Bergdorf Goodman.

The Mizuho looks a little ... choppy here? I think the photo below shows it in better form.

I'd divide these into two categories; fluffers and pointed tips. One from each would really suffice.

The order of the brushes changed in this picture, sorry!

L to R: Mizuho, Laura Mercier, Energy, C13, Giorgio Armani, Hakuhodo, Chikuhodo

I've touched the tip of each brush to a vivid shadow to show you how they pick up varying amounts of powder. The Mizuho, Energy, Armani, and Hakuhodo come up to a fine point and can deposit/blend a much smaller area, well suited applying transitional colors. The Laura Mercier, C-13, and Chikuhodo are too big and fluffy for me to deposit color with, I tend to use them exclusively for diffusing color after putting it on with a smaller brush.

If I had to pick two brushes, one from each category, I would go with the Hakuhodo G5522 and the Chikuhodo. They're the softest, and with the amount of blending I like to do, these irritate my eye lids the least. That being said, I think the Mizuho is a very good choice too because it's decently soft from the squirrel but the pony hair gives it structure and body. Plus it is under $20.

Overall, a shape of brush that I stop buying, especially when I find that I reach for brushes that are on the slightly smaller side.

Can you think of other similar eye brushes that have this rounded, poofy shape?

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