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This post is about how to store, take care and extend the lifespan of our beautiful Fude (handmade make-up brushes). Maybe you are a brush lover and collector or maybe you are new to Fude, I hope that whatever your background and experience with Fude is, that this will be informative.   

If you want to learn more, please visit our website.

I am not writing this as &#;Sonia G&#; as I will talk about Fude in general, however, I admit that working with Japanese manufacturers helped me to better understand the reasons why some issues may happen to our brushes, whatever the brand.  

I started collecting Fude more than 10 years ago, I don&#;t remember when exactly but 10 years ago I bought a very specific and very expensive brush for my birthday and my collection at the time was already extensive. I still own the very first brushes that I got, well, 99% of them, and I still use them. I&#;ll explain what happened to the 1% missing&#;  This post is based on my own experience and I will also quote the manufacturers guidelines or advice that I received from them, I will do my best to cover as much as I can think of.

By the way, I take good care of my brushes, but I don&#;t have the storage space I wish I had, I think that there are many things I would love to improve if I could ! Considering the means and the time that I have today, what I do is working for me, and for the Fude &#;  Maybe one day I will change this office to a different room and if I do, I will probably change how the brushes are organized. 

Some of these pictures were taken a while ago, since then my collection grew even more and had to get more drawers and storage but it shows you what I do, maybe it gives you ideas. As I mentioned, I wish I had more space!  

Let&#;s start&#; 

 

&#;The more expensive the brush the longer it should last&#;

Make-up brushes have a lifespan. The manufacturers will tell you that Fude are meant to be changed after some time. The lifespan of a brush will vary depending on how we use it, how we clean it, how we store it, how it was built, etc. They can last many years but sometimes they don&#;t. So&#; What&#;s good for them and what&#;s not? We love to make them last as much as we can!

When we talk about brushes and their cost vs durability, we need to understand the potential reasons why the cost is what it is. It&#;s relevant to take into account the whole craftsmanship, the components, the logistics, and so much more. It&#;s tricky to compare machine made vs handmade because the production cost is a world apart. 

 

CARE AND MAINTENANCE TIPS

Washing and cleaning 

A make-up brush needs to be washed; the first wash should ideally happen before we use it. Of course bristles are treated and washed in the manufacture but it&#;s still important to wash them once they arrive. By the way, the brushes are also sanitized (in general UV) before the final packing. The technique and machines differ as I have seen in the manufactures but it&#;s good to know that they arrive clean. Anyway, it&#;s still important to wash them. Here are some other reasons why: 

• Sometimes the bristles arrive a bit squeezed or warped (by accident or due to transport), they will only revert into place once the brush is washed thoroughly with lukewarm water and soap, this will remove the stress on the misshapen bristles
• Sometimes the artisans cover the bristles with a product (usually seaweed glue) to prevent the bristles to flare during transport and get damaged, this glue will be removed after a nice wash
• The washing process with water and soap will cause the brush to bloom therefore reaching the shape it was initially designed to be. 

 

The washing process is quite simple, please check here if you would like to read about the process in detail. In a nutshell: 

Wet the head of the brush with lukewarm water, give gentle strokes on a solid soap, work soap into the brush with fingertips, if desired swirl onto a silicone pad with the best technique for the shape of the brush, rinse very well under running water, squeeze water out, wipe the excess water with a paper towel and lay down the brush to dry.

I have used many different types of soaps or products to wash Fude, I never had an issue that I couldn&#;t fix upon the next wash. These are my recommendations and most important points to remember: 

1. Be gentle (prefer silicone washing pads vs hard plastic pads) 
2. Use lukewarm water
3. Use a soap appropriate for brushes
4. Rinse the brush really REALLY well, leaving soap residue is very bad and not only will the brush not function properly, but it can potentially damage the glue and the bristles
5. Gently remove the excess water before laying the brush flat (or upside down) to dry
6. Do not leave them to dry under direct sunlight or standing up in a cup
7. Do not use a hair dryer either
8. Do not store them when they are &#;almost&#; dry, always dry them fully before you store them.  Please refer to the &#;Humidity&#; section below. 
9. Do not leave the brush soaking in product: I have seen people and professionals who leave the brushes soaking in the cleansing products, this damages the glue and the bristles. If you work with special effects for example, it&#;s better to use brushes that aren&#;t delicate and that can resist strong solvents. 
   I have been told that when brushes are handmade, they don&#;t use the same type of glues, or paints for logos, that are used when brushes are made by machines, so it&#;s possible that products handled by machines are stronger as they don&#;t need to be safe for the person who is handling or sniffing them.   
   Whether you should (or prefer to) use machine or handmade brushes, it&#;s a whole new topic and this is not addressed here. 
10. In between washes, wipe the brushes onto a microfiber towel as this will remove the excess oils and product that is left on the brush. 
11. In order to spot-sanitize a brush, spray the sanitizer on the towel, then gently rub the brush onto the wet towel. Don&#;t spray on the handle if you can avoid it.  I am not a huge fan of how the brushes perform and how they look after a spot clean. I do it of course when I need to, but I love and prefer the results after a water-soap wash. I have noticed that when doing spot cleaning with sprays, depending on the products previously used with the brush, the bristles remain a bit stained and the shape is not reaching its full fluffiness as if you had washed it with water and soap.

If the brush doesn&#;t perform as it used to, make sure to wash it again and make sure to rinse all the soap residue. Some of you asked me if it&#;s useful to use conditioner (like hair conditioner), I have never had the need to use it. I find that if the brush has too much softness at the tips it won&#;t pick up and blend properly. If you feel like the brush is becoming too rough, or undisciplined and you can&#;t get it back into good shape, why not give it a try.

I have never used care oils or aloe vera on the bristles. I believe some may do this but I prefer not using anything on the bristles, whether they are natural or synthetic.  When I had issues with the shape or condition of the bristles, a second wash or a change of soap did the trick for me. 

How often should you wash your brushes? 

It really depends on how you use them- If it&#;s only on yourself, then wipe them after use on a towel and this will help a lot to preserve their functionality in between water-soap washes. 

If you need to sanitize them, spray the towel with your product and wipe the brush. 

Some brushes need frequent washes to be able to perform their best- sometimes the bristles become heavy or sticky and they don&#;t blend effectively. Others can work for a longer period of time consistently without needing a water-soap wash every day or week. 

I wash my brushes every week. In reality it&#;s every month but I rotate them every week (sometimes every day because I have extremely sensitive eyes). Once they are dirty, I place them in a dedicated brush holder and then when it&#;s full I go to the sink&#;.  Eye brushes rotate more than face brushes in my case. Also, since I am always playing with make-up and changing the products I use, I love to adapt the brushes consequently. This means sometimes I have a lot of brushes to wash at once- I enjoy the process, specially when my husband helps! &#; 

STORAGE 

I have three type of storage needs: 

1. Brushes I use daily (Daily use) &#; These are stored in acrylic or wooden holders on my vanity 
2. Brushes I am working on  (Daily or Weekly use)- I have an Ikea bathroom cabinet on the wall in my office where I store the brushes I am currently using for testing and prototyping.  The cabinet has a door, it&#;s tall but thin so the brush holders can fit without too much bulkiness sticking out of the wall.  There are hundreds of brushes stored here usually, they are protected from dust, from direct sunlight, and since they are in brush holders, their shape remains unaltered. Here I organize the brushes by project so I can grab the brush holder that contains that project and move it to my vanity while I am working on it, then put it back at the end of the day
   
   
3. Brushes I store  (Brushes not being used, awaiting rotation) 
   As I said before, I don&#;t have the space I wish I had to store all the brushes the exact way I want, either I stop buying brushes or I have to get my hands on a Tardis (which Dr. Who fans will know is much bigger on the inside than the outside).
   These brushes are mainly stored in drawers, laying flat. Some of them have a wooden stick or a sponge under the ferrule to lift the heads so that the bristles are not squeezed by their own weight. Since there are so many of them, I need to be able to open a drawer and see the condition of the brushes easily, check if they are ok, which means no humidity, no bugs, no mold.
   The brushes are mostly organized by Brand or theme and I know exactly where each one of my brushes is stored.

 

 

 

ISSUES LINKED TO STORAGE 

Scratches

If you own very expensive brushes a little more attention and care is needed to keep them in the best condition for longer. It really is like a nice handbag or a nice luxurious car, you wouldn&#;t rub them against rough items. 

One example is those little balls that you keep in jars or cups that help you store your brushes nice and separately. Not all but some of these little balls are quite rough and will definitely scratch the handles. I placed an order on ebay for an acrylic storage solution and it came with those tiny balls to store the brushes in, I was just curious to use them, I tried but I had to get rid of them- too scratchy. I think some are safe and soft but the ones I received were not appropriate for storing anything delicate. It&#;s ok for normal handles but I would avoid them for special lacquers or woods better since they could  potentially cause damage. 

Dust

I recommend to keep the brushes you don&#;t use somewhere where they won&#;t gather dust. Inside a drawer or a cabinet.
By the way, I actually use a device that changed a lot the amount of dust and particles in the air of my office. It&#;s a HEPA air filter / cleaner. What it does is that it cleans the air and I noticed much less dust on the brushes that stay on my vanity.  Huge difference. 

Humidity

We live in a very old house that needed quite a lot of renovation works to make it healthy, we did it little by little so it took time and we haven&#;t even finished yet. The bathroom shares the same wall as my office where I store all my brushes.  Unfortunately, we had issues with the bathroom and the water was infiltrating behind the bath and soaking the walls. It got exponentially worse when we started to use the bath to bathe our little girl. One day, I opened the drawers of this cabinet and  found mold inside the drawers and also on some brushes&#; This happened quite suddenly because I am regularly opening the drawers and keeping an eye on them. This is probably what saved them. I had been able to keep the situation under control until then because I always kept a large space between the back of the drawers and the impacted humid wall, I was using dehumidifier bags and sufficient ventilation, but one day it was too much. The wall was soaked so thoroughly there wasn&#;t much we could do.  Obviously, the renovation works for the bathroom started urgently and since the bathroom is also touching the kitchen wall, we had to do both the bathroom and the kitchen at once- Huge works that luckily finished the week before the lock-down started.

We were considering destroying the wall of my office completely and rebuilding it but we washed it with special products, treated it, dried it thoroughly with professional machines and it&#;s 100% healthy now. I was able to rescue almost all the brushes, which was a miracle considering the disaster.  I had to get rid of only a few brushes and when I think of the ones that I couldn&#;t rescue, these were brushes that had an aluminium ferrule. None of the brushes with brass ferrules were affected. When I did more research with my husband we confirmed that brass, which is an alloy of copper, is also indeed known for its antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties and we think that potentially this helped.  I think it makes sense to think that using brass ferrules for brushes is going to preserve their condition for longer. I always want to use brass for my brushes because of its quality and what happened reinforces my thoughts. 
Anyway, this is an extreme story and it&#;s unlikely to happen to you but I thought I would share in case it helps someone. Today all the brushes in that drawer are in perfect condition, no issues at all and they all still look like new.  

Bottom line &#; humidity is dangerous, especially when water is silently cascading down or in between the walls&#;.  Just keep an eye on your brushes. My story is a good example and although it was really critical, the issue took a while to escalate. I really don&#;t think anyone would have those issues at home&#; Which takes me to the big question: Can you keep your brushes in your bathroom?? Well, it depends. Is there enough ventilation? Do you experience condensation? My two cents is that if you have always been keeping them in your bathroom, and you have never had issues with mold on make-up, it should be safe for the brushes. Some bathrooms have such good ventilation that you can put a nice antique sofa in them!

Other bathrooms are more dangerous. When I visited my aunt&#;s house, I went to use the bathroom and I noticed all the make-up stored on a shelf under the sink was ruined. I know it was not old since I had gifted those palettes to her recently, so humidity hadn&#;t taken long to damage them.

As a rule of thumb, mold growth will be highly likely if Relative humidity in a room is frequently above 70%, but possible above 55%. 

Maybe a good compromise would be to keep your daily brushes in your bathroom if you really wish to, and keep the brushes that you store away, safely in a different (drier) location.  Just always keep an eye on your things and catch any issues before it is too late.

There is another issue that is caused by humidity which affects the wood, therefore the handles. I think that you may have already noticed that wood expands and contracts depending on humidity (expands in high humidity and contracts in low humidity). Metal on the ferrules in turn is affected by the temperature (expands when hot and shrinks when cold) but not the humidity. 

I bought a restored beautiful old officer&#;s chest (the chest was old, I don&#;t know about the officer&#;) in Geneva, together with another huge wooden chest. These were stored always outside in a sort of market. Once I brought them inside my warm flat in Geneva, every night, there were such huge cracks in the wood and the banging noises were waking me up. In the morning I would go see the cracks which were quite impressive&#;  It was a long time ago and I did not know that this would happen.  I still  have this officer&#;s chest and in this case, the cracks are not impacting its functionality as it is used as a table &#; 

 

It is quite easy to imagine that if a brush is stored in a cold, humid warehouse (wood expanded and ferrule contracted) and then are shipped to an overheated and dry flat like most of the flats are in Switzerland (wood contracted and metal expanded), this may have an impact on the handle and specifically the fit of the ferrule. Worst case is that the wood contracts so much that it detaches from the ferrule. More gentle changes should protect the brush, but extremes for any extended time are never good.   

Wooden instruments suffer in more extreme ways, and various manufacturers have developed ways to store them at the perfect humidity (for example the D&#;Addario Two Way Humidity control system). If you wish to store brushes long term safely, it might be a good idea to store them in a Tupperware style box, accompanied by such a control system. I haven&#;t tried this myself, but there is no reason it shouldn&#;t work. If you are very worried, you could also invest in a mobile weather station with a remote temperature and humidity sensor. Leaving the remote sensor in your storage cabinet /box would allow you to make sure you have a reasonably stable humidity without opening the box all the time.

RECOMMENDATIONS LINKED TO STORAGE

• Try to rotate your brushes, this will allow you to check on them and also rediscover them. If one brush doesn&#;t work for you in summer, it may work in winter or with different products &#; 
• Make sure to store your brushes only when they have entirely dried! 
• If you are afraid of bugs getting into your brushes and destroying them, the manufacturers told me to treat our brushes like we would treat our cashmere sweaters&#; and they recommend me to use odorless mothballs, or cedar wood pieces for example.
• To mitigate humidity issues, I use the Pingi 150g in the drawers and the 250g in the cupboards.  You can reactivate them once they changed color to pink/beige but please be careful and follow the vendor&#;s instructions. I think they have a life span of 2 years before you need to get new ones.

RECOMMENDATIONS LINKED TO USAGE

We know that humidity or extreme changes in temperature can cause issues. Another potential issue which can cause a handle to detach from the ferrule (although it is unlikely), is to kick it against a hard surface in order to remove the excess product. Please don&#;t do that! It matters less on a cheap brush because the ferrule is crimped onto the handle, but it&#;s still not good for the brushes.

Too much pressure on the bristles can cause breakage and shedding. If you notice that a brush is not picking up enough product or not strongly buffing, try a denser brush or a brush with more firmness.  We tend to use a lot of pressure when we use the wrong make-up brushes for a given application. 

Also, a paddle brush is meant to be used as a paddle brush, and not in circular motions. You can get away with this if you do it gently and the ferrule is closer to a round shape. If the bristles need to move in a direction that doesn&#;t match their shape, it can put stress on the bristles.  I am not completely strict with this because I am very gentle but I know that the manufacturers like to remind us to use the brush with the movement it was designed for. 

 

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS

 

Brush guards

Are brush guards safe? It depends. It can be a good idea to use them if you want the shape of the brush to stay tight and more directional. Have a look at the bristles when they are inside the brush guard. Do you notice that the bristles peek through the net? Do you see obvious damage? If there isn&#;t any, you can just continue to use them safely.  

Some thicker bristles are safer inside a brush guard because they won&#;t flex as much as delicate finer bristles. In these cases, even if the brush guard moves, they won&#;t be overly affected.

I don&#;t want my brushes to remain tight and directional, I don&#;t even use brush guards for travelling unless I know that a brush is going to touch something else in the bag. In these cases I can just use a plastic sleeve (sometimes brushes come with a nice thick plastic protection that I keep).  If I am drying the brush and want to reshape the bristles, I will cut some kitchen paper, roll it around the bristles and use tape to secure it. 

Shedding issues 

How much is a brush supposed to shed?
There is a finishing process done by hand with a razor (kamisori) on each brush where the artisan removes all weak and unattached bristles from the brush. Just to reassure you, the razor is not sharp and does not cut the bristles &#; it&#;s just used to press the finger against to pull the weak bristles out. This is actually one of three different processes but they vary depending on the artisans. 
Sometimes the brushes are so dense that this finishing process is a bit more complex to achieve and the brush may still need some time and usage to release the weaker bristles which are supposed to come out.
I have asked how much a brush can shed before it&#;s considered faulty but I have never had a clear, measurable answer.
I would not consider it normal that if you apply your make-up and each time there are bristles sticking to your face, but we do need to allow a new brush some time to shed. Sometimes it can be normal. If you wash your brush several times and this still happens, there could be a manufacturing issue, or something might have happened with the glue, or maybe something environmental is causing the brush to not stay stable.

This is all for today, I hope this was informative and that you enjoyed reading about Fude. If you have any storage tips or ideas you would love to share, I am always very happy to learn about them so please don&#;t hesitate to leave me a comment below. 

 

 

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Hi there brush lovers !!

Before you try to read this long post on brushes, please keep in mind that I am not a makeup artist, I am just passionate about beauty and makeup brushes. My little knowledge on makeup brushes comes from my own experience, from reading other blogs, from friends or also from information I receive from brush companies like Hakuhodo.
I am getting so many questions on brushes that I though I might write something that would look like an overview on the topic, I hope I am covering some of your questions here and that this is a bit helpful for you although it is far from covering all aspects and variables of makeup brushes !

Depending on where you live you may not be able to get deep information on this topic so like me you will need to rely on the internet to answer your questions, but there are so many different makeup brushes that we are easily overwhelmed by all the details. I have tried to summarize the most common specifications, I cannot cover everything mainly because I simply won&#;t have the knowledge but I will do my best, you are very welcome to leave any comments to share your own knowledge, your thoughts and own experience.

Brush anatomy

This is not a mystery for most of you but in case you did not know :

How to choose a makeup brush

Today I own so many beautiful brushes but to get here I spent a lot of  money trying to find the right ones for me and it didn&#;t happen without many mistakes.

You don&#;t need thousands of them, &#;just&#; the right ones.  It is not an easy process to find them and it will cost you time and money, I have so many of them because I am a brush fiend and if you are reasonable you shouldn&#;t be doing this at home.

A good brush will last you ages if you take care of it. It should have a solid handle and a ferrule that is firmly attached, it should not rattle or feel unbalanced, if you struggle holding it properly you will end by being upset and not using it, been there many times.
The head should have a shape that applies and blends makeup smoothly and evenly, it shouldn&#;t been scratchy or hurt your eyes or face in the process.  The bristles should transfer makeup effectively and cause none or only very little fallout,  sometimes fallout cannot be avoided but the head should give you enough control for a neat application.

Sometimes the crimps are badly done, they are discolored or somehow look rusted, avoid these brushes because it will only get worst. If the head sheds, it&#;s normal to a certain point, when a brush is assembled, it needs to be combed to remove the hair that did not attach, this process is more or less completed carefully depending on the company, but if after a few washes it carries on shedding, that&#;s not normal.
If there is a heavy smell in the bristles and you can still smell it after a few washes, that&#;s not normal either.
If you wash a brush, and then put it on a white towel to dry, the hair should not loose color (dye).
Be careful when choosing your brushes, if you are sensitive to dye or to natural hair, check with the company directly, some counters are not even aware of the whole manufacturing process or material and you should do some work to get that information  if it&#;s relevant for you.

Your choice must be based on the :

• material : see below for more details on some materials you can find.
• size : size does matter, it&#;s important how it fits the face or eye area of the face in which you are using it.
• quality : a well-balanced and well-finished brush will be more pleasant to use.
• shape : square, angled, tapered, dome, blunt, point, slant, round, flat, etc&#;
• hair length and density : this is important depending on the result you want to achieve.
• functionality : powder or cream, sheer, medium or heavy coverage,  etc&#;
• and also your skin : some brushes are more adapted for dry and others for oily skin, but you should always use brushes that don&#;t irritate your skin.

Your brushes don&#;t need to be expensive, there are many brands that make fantastic brushes for a very fair price. Today the best value for money I found are the white goat brushes from the Hakuhodo J Series, they deliver the best results and the quality is excellent.

The material

First of all you have to choose between natural or synthetic brushes, many people don&#;t want to use natural (animal) hair, it&#;s a personal choice. I always try to get information on how the brushes are made and how the hair is collected.

A natural brush will last you much longer than a synthetic one, they will get better and better the more you use them, where synthetic brushes are less durable and tend to get stiffer with use.

Since synthetic brushes don&#;t have a cuticle, they can&#;t trap makeup like natural ones do, this makes synthetic bristles great with liquid or cream products but less efficient when you want to layer powder products.

Synthetic brushes

If you prefer to stick to synthetic materials, there are many brands that make fantastic synthetic brushes, Real Techniques, Illamasqua, OCC, Hourglass, Sigma, etc.. just to mention a few.

Often synthetic fibers are blended with natural hair brushes to help maintain the brush shape or to serve a special purpose like for example some mixed goat-synthetic foundation brushes that will deliver a more airbrushed application.

Synthetic brushes are usually made of nylon (PBT) or taklon (PET) and are less absorbent than natural hair fibers, which is great with cream and liquid but not fantastic with powder. They are less prone to be damaged from solvents and easier to keep clean since the bristles don&#;t trap or absorb pigment.

Taklon is usually softer than nylon.

Illamasqua are really soft brushes, hypoallergenic, I use this big brush mostly in summer or for an evening event to apply bronzer or highlight powder on my shoulders or legs, you can use all the Illamasqua brushes with cream or powder products.
I am also loving all the brushes from Real Techniques, I find that the feeling they have on my skin is quite similar to natural brushes, what I mean is that I don&#;t have that &#;plastic&#; feeling when I apply makeup with them.

I will mainly use synthetic brushes with liquid and cream products, concealer, liner and foundation.

Natural brushes

I will not cover all the materials available in the market but remember that natural brushes are not only intended for makeup, but also for writing, painting, restoring art, etc.

The quality of a natural makeup brush depends on a lot of variables, on the material but also on the cut, the cut refers to how the hair is harvested. If the material comes from first-cut (virgin) hair it will be cruelty-free since it&#;s sheared from the tips of the fur and will be soft and pointed.  If the hair comes from blunt-cut (or lower-cut) hair, the point will be flatter and the hair will be much coarser and prickly on the skin and of course, not as pleasant to use. Lower-cut hair are usually for machine-made brushes.

Squirrel hair

You will find many different type of squirrel hair, blue, grey, canadian, kazakhstan, brown (kazan), tree, pine, wood and you will also see squirrel blends with goat, pony, synthetic, etc. The blends with other materials are made for many reasons, it could be for maintaining the brush shape, stabilizing quality, allow more resilience, or simply to offer a more affordable option.

They are not supposed to be used with liquid/cream products since they absorb a lot of product and are delicate, a frequent cleaning process may be too aggressive and damage the hair.
Squirrel hair brushes provide a natural and sheer finishing, unlike goat brushes which usually pack more product and give a more polished finishing.
The hair are thin with a pointed tip and a more or less uniform body. Little or no spring (spring is the ability of the hair to return quickly to its original shape).
Squirrel hair brushes are good for dry skin or sensitive skin, they deliver soft coverage with natural result.

Blue squirrel
The hairs are blue-black with a grey root, very soft, thin at the tip, little spring.
They give a natural and sheer finishing.
Used for any type of brush, finishing, powder, blush, highlighter and eyeshadow (specially blending and crease brushes).

Grey squirrel
Grey squirrel is also very soft. Expensive but less expensive than blue squirrel.
I read that grey squirrel had low tolerance for static electricity and ultraviolet rays. If static electricity develops near the brush head it may temporarily alter the brush shape but I really don&#;t think this can happen easily, it did happen to me but this is because I was taking pictures on a special support that had static electricity and you could see the hair being drawn towards the support &#;. from time to time I also use conditioner which helps anyway so I don&#;t worry about that.
And about the ultraviolet rays, well, I don&#;t think you are storing your brushes from direct sunlight, if you do, just don&#;t !

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from FUYI BRUSH.

Additional resources:
Accuracy, Precision, & Tolerance of CNC Machining

In this picture you can see the Hakuhodo K002 and the Chikuhodo Z-9. Hakuhodo works more with blue squirrel material and Chikuhodo with grey squirrel, to me they are both equally soft. It looks like the grey squirrel hair has even less spring than the blue one but honestly there isn&#;t much difference between the two. The color is slightly different but I am not even sure I could tell the difference if you show me two brushes that I have never seen before.

Some examples of squirrel mixed with other materials :

When I was at the RMK counter, they told me the RMK brush pictured here was goat in the outside, squirrel in the inside. This way it could pack on color, add durability to the head, blend evenly and still feel incredibly soft on the skin.

If a brush is only made of horse hair it will feel a bit too coarse against my sensitive skin, if it&#;s mixed with blue squirrel, although it will be slightly less soft than a 100% squirrel, it will be soft enough for me and it will pack on and blend the powder really well.

The Hakuhodo B501 that contains goat and blue squirrel feels way softer than a 100% goat, a mix here does really make a difference.

Whenever I can, I will prefer to use a full squirrel brush. I will only choose a mixed brush when a 100% squirrel cannot do the job, when I know that the product I will be using is not very pigmented or the powder is hard to pick with a softer brush or when I want a slightly heavier application.  If I really want a glossy finish or a more blended application I will directly jump to a goat brush.

I really could not tell the difference between these two brushes, the softness seems very similar to me, just the density makes a difference in the application :

Kazakhstan squirrel
Softer than the blue squirrel. Rare and expensive.
Highlight and eyeshadow brushes only due to its price.

Tree squirrel
Similar to weasel. Rather rough and elastic.
The hair has elasticity and work well with powder and liquid-based products.
Mainly used for eyeshadow brushes.

Pine squirrel
The hair is soft and thin at the hair tip but has a less uniform body and is difficult to bundle. Suitable for shorter brushes. Good for eyeshadow and smudging and excellent for eyeshadow gradation.

Canadian squirrel
The hair is shorter and thicker than the other Soviet varieties, the belly of the hair resembles sable hair in appearance and in handling. The tip of the hair is soft, delicate, easy to shape and has little spring.  The hair a variegated gold and black toned. Expensive but popular since it has an excellent control and the brushes are easy to handle. It&#;s a reasonable alternative to sable.
Great for eyeshadow and highlight brushes.

Kazan squirrel
Named after its origins in the Soviet Union. The hair is highly prized for the great tip elasticity and it&#;s considered to be the best of the squirrel hairs. Similar to blue squirrel but even softer and more expensive.
Offers easy control, delivers a natural and sheer finish.
Mainly for eyeshadow and highlighting brushes.

Here are some kazan, canadian, pine and a few blends :

I was never drawn towards pine squirrel hair, it looks a bit weird. I though I would order some Chikuhodo because I trust their quality and if I had to try pine squirrel, it had to be Chikuhodo&#;s.

Can I use Chikuhodo&#;s pine brushes ? Yes I can. Although it feels a bit weird. It&#;s difficult to explain but it has some kind of  &#;grip&#; on the skin, maybe that&#;s why it is known to be so good for gradation and that would explain.  They are just not the most beautiful brushes to look at and I prefer grey or blue squirrel brushes but they are more expensive.

The Canadian squirrel brushes are fantastic, the control you have with the S122 is amazing, try to go back to any other similar shaped brush afterwards and you will see what I mean.

The Kazan brush is incredibly soft and also incredibly expensive, if this brush shape existed in.. let&#;s say&#; white goat J Series I would love it even more. Please Hakuhodo&#;
The G is pointy but big, you may have control, but more or less precision depending on where you&#;ll use it. The application will be quite sheer and soft.

The pine and sable mix feels slightly softer and a bit firmer than both the pine and north american or the pine and canadian mix.

The pine and north american blends really well but even though it doesn&#;t hurt at all, I very much prefer a blue or grey squirrel brush.

Wood squirrel
Similar to weasel, a bit coarser but has resilience.
Meant for eyeshadow brushes. Suitable for liquid-based products.

Goat brushes

Goat is the most common type of fiber used in makeup brushes. Not as soft as some other types but extremely good at packing and applying powder makeup.

Meant to be good for more oily skin, but I have very dry skin and I have no problems using goat brushes if they are of very good quality.
The result with goat brushes can be more even and flawless and you may conceal pores more efficiently or deliver a more radiant and glowy finish.

There are several types of goat hair (different goats and different regions on the goat itself)  but there are also several types of cut, and depending on where the hair comes from &#; neck, shoulder, tail, etc &#; the difference in quality and finish can really be striking.  It will be difficult to get any precise information when you are buying your brushes, just try to ask at the counters, unless you are in a very specialized shop, you won&#;t be able to get an answer.

Sometimes goat is simply called &#;capra&#;. I have been told that Capra defines the softest goat hair, the first-cut with the tips still intact. This hair quality is also sometimes called &#;Squirrel substitute&#;. In the Inglot brush catalog, you can read &#;Squirrel substitute&#; on some brush descriptions, I remember asking at the shop but I had no explanation at that time, reading brush articles for this post is how I came across the actual meaning of squirrel substitute.
The lower-cut (or blunt-cut) is the lower quality hair, intended for machine-made brushes.

From left to right, the brushes are categorized from the softest to the less soft. Unfortunately I was not able to know all the specifications of the hair of these brushes but clearly the baby goat chest hair wins !

My friend Carol who is also a brush lover, contacted Hakuhodo about the different goat hair of the J Series. Hakuhodo said that some of  their J Series are made with highest quality hair, like the J110, J, J, J116, J532 and J122 for example. They are indeed incredibly soft !

Today I cannot use my Mac brushes anymore (the black goat ones), my skin has become very sensitive and they feel too scratchy, I just can&#;t stand them anymore, that&#;s why one day, a looong time ago, I had to start looking for softer brushes.

Goat is often mixed with synthetic. Sometimes the synthetic fibers extend slightly further than the goat hair in order to deliver a more flawless finish or to pick less amount of product and don&#;t overcharge the brush.

I had the Mac 187 and the Hakuhodo G544 but I didn&#;t use them, when I got the new J and it&#;s little sister J and the cousin J544, I fell in love with &#;stippling&#; again !! Sometimes it&#;s the same material, but not the same quality and that makes a huge difference !

The J501 and J220G are also mixes goat-synthetic and they are insanely soft ! You can&#;t feel synthetic fibers in them, to me they feel like very soft goat brushes.

Other types of goat hair

Soikoho
Softer and more delicate hair than that of Sokoho. It is hard to find and quite rare and expensive.

Sokoho
Long, thin, and soft. It is ideal for various brushes such as a powder brush, a finishing brush, a blush brush, a highlight brush, and an eye shadow brush.

Jotsumeho
Rather rough and elastic, suitable for firm brushing.

Ototsuho
Nice texture, elasticity and coloration and is short and thin. Particularly good for a blush brush.

Saichoho
Similar to Sokoho but slightly rougher. Easy to form a full shape and excels at coloration.

Yano
Water-resistant and suitable for liquid-based products.

Region or type of hair

It&#;s very unlikely that you will be able to get this information when buying your brushes, but if you come across the description it might give you a hint on the quality and finishing you will be getting. The softest goat hair I have encountered is baby chest goat hair. Usually, they are categorized as follows :

• Neck : Long, soft and thin. Powder and blush brushes.
• Backbone region : slightly coarser and denser. Powder brushes.
• Shoulder : Short and thin, firmer, good for color and highlighting. Blush and highlighting brushes.
• Thigh : Coarser but has resilience. Blush brushes.
• Chin and jaw : Long with no resilience.
• Abdominal : shorter hair.
• Lower back : long and coarse.
• Tail : long with resilience.

Sable

Sable is the name trappers use when they refer to martens, but sable hair comes basically from the same animal family which is weasel (Mustelidae). Sable actually has to be seen like an investment since it will last you a lifetime if you take proper care of it, but there are several types of sable brushes, in the same weasel family you will find plain sable, red sable and kolinsky.  I will try to keep the description simple because it can get reeeally complex and confusing.

Kolinsky
The best sable hair  is the Kolinsky, it comes from the western part of Russia, it&#;s very rare and very expensive, the finest comes from the male winter coat of the kolinsky. Today &#;kolinsky&#; denotes hair either from the Asian minks of Siberia, Northern China or Korea.
The color of Siberian kolinsky hair is brown with a distinctive yellowish-red tint, the Chinese is slightly darker with less red.
The tips are thinner and longer and the brushes have the best porosity for the application of the most intense color, the best layering of color and also for creation of gradations thanks to its strength and ability to retain its shape.

Weasel
Like kolinsky, weasel hair comes from the Mustela family, the hair is similar to Kolinsky but slightly of inferior quality, shorter and with less thickness.
The hair is usually more reddish compared to the golden brown color of kolinsky sable, not as long as kolinsky, it&#;s soft, elastic, resilient and durable.
Great for producing great coloring and can be used not only with powder but also with liquid or cream makeup.
Multipurpose : lip, eyeliner, concealer, eyeshadow brushes&#;

Plain or brown sable
Usually obtained from varieties of the marten, or also left overs from other sable brushes. The quality varies greatly and depending on the quality, it might be equivalent to go for a synthetic sable brush.

White or Gold sable
These are synthetic filaments developed and manufactured in Japan. Created By the Simmons Brush Company.
The synthetic hair are not very absorbent so it makes the control more difficult. The main advantage is the price and also that a good synthetic filament can be better than a bad red sable.

Pahmi
The brushes are made from a weasel-like animal but smaller and thinner. The hair is a little tougher and shorter than that of the weasel. It is usually used together with weasel and horse hair.
Pahmi hair is relatively inexpensive and when dyed can resemble sable or red sable.

I am adding a little drawing to have a quick idea of how they are related together :

I only started using sable and kolinsky brushes recently so I don&#;t have much experience with them.

When I saw the price of the Shu Uemura 12, I just couldn&#;t get it. But one day, I found one at half-price and I went for it. I don&#;t regret it at all, it&#;s sooo good. The Chikuhodo 12-3 is also a nice brush but not the same shape and perfection as the Shu, but of course also not the same price tag.

I thought I would reach more for the two Addiction brushes but not really, with the recent J Series invasion it&#;s hard to share the love&#;

But since the Addiction P is weasel, I do use it with soft cream shadows or concealer, I can&#;t use it with paintpots for example since it&#;s too soft and flexible.

I use the weasel brushes, like the Kokutan WS for paintpots since it&#;s more firm it&#;s a fantastic brush to apply it close to the lash line and blend towards the crease.

Pony
The hair has a cylindrical shape, equal thickness from root to tip, the tips are not as pointy as squirrel hair, it&#;s durable and strong.
Usually less expensive than squirrel but more expensive than goat.
They are often used blended with squirrel or goat.
Blush, powder, eyeshadow, excellent for contouring due to the strong snap. Can be used damp to deliver a more opaque coverage.

They are not of bad quality but my eyes are extremely sensitive and I can&#;t use these brushes on a regular basis. Same for the blush brush, they are not soft enough for me but they do blend well.

Horse
The most common used in the production of makeup brushes, but like goat hair can vary in quality.
Harsh texture and difficult to bundle. Inexpensive. Often used blended with other natural hairs to deliver more elasticity and enduring, it has the ability to adapt to your skin the more you use it.
Blush or eyeshadow brushes, produces great coloring.

I use the G on a daily basis because I find the shape to be the perfect definer for my eyes , the others I don&#;t use them very often,  but these are actually softer than the pony ones.

Camel
The term &#;camel&#; describes makeup brushes made with a mix of goat, squirrel, or pony hair.

Water badger
The hairs have rough, thick and elastic roots white the tip is very thin. Ideal for eyebrow brushes

Ox
Ox has the springness similar to that of sable but does not  have a fine tip. Still in use because sable are very expensive and synthetic fibers are not absorbant enough so customers may turn towards ox.

Raccoon
The hair has natural spring and is very pointed at the tip, highly prized as it&#;s strong enough to be used with sticky pigments.

This must be the biggest disappointment of . I haven&#;t found a single way to use it&#; too much fallout, too firm, too thin.

Brush shapes and functionalities

Another subject of discussion, you may be overwhelmed by all the different shapes: square, angled, tapered, dome, blunt, point, slant, round, flat, etc&#;

Most of the time it&#;s common sense and it is easy to find out which brush is for what purpose, but sometimes it can get a bit more confusing,  just a few examples :

• A flexible and soft brush will deliver a sheer finish and more diffused result.
• A coarser brush will deliver a heavier result.
• A denser brush will deliver a stronger coloring and more coverage.
• A round brush will create a softer and diffused result.
• A flatter brush will be more adapted to deliver a glossy finish.
• An angled brush will be good for creating a more defined blush or contour application.
• A pointier brush will allow more precision or gradation depending on the density.

And when you think you are done with the theory, here comes &#;technique&#;&#;

With the right technique you can go even further, I was often wondering why I couldn&#;t get the same result as somebody else while using the same products and the same brushes. There is a reason, the technique. I am not a makeup artist but thanks to some friends of mine who are, I got a few interesting tips that totally blew my mind. I can share a few of them that I am thinking of :

Tip 1
Take any flat (or round) synthetic foundation brush, damp it in warm water and remove the excess water, then apply your foundation, you will notice that the foundation is applied more evenly and the brush is not sucking so much product into the bristles.
Tip 2
When applying liquid or cream blushes after you applied the foundation, mix some product with a little foundation and blend together. The result is amazing and flawless. &#; thanks Dena for the tip  &#; &#;
Tip 3
When applying your foundation with a round and flat synthetic or goat brush, instead of swirling, start applying it with a stippling motion, the product will have a more flawless finish and this technique will really help with the redness and the pores. Well, again, thanks Dena &#;
Tip 4
The finishing. There is nothing better than a good blending and finishing, it can also totally change the appearance of a blush or a powder, I mean, don&#;t burn your face with the buffing but just adapt the work with the sensibility of your skin and the products you are applying.

I could carry on for a while, but I just want you to understand here that depending on how you use your brushes and your products, you can slightly change, or sometimes totally change, your finished look.

Since I am getting older using the right technique can really make a difference, I don&#;t want to appear cakey or overly made up since it will age me dramatically. On the other hand, I still want to play with smokey eyes or brighter lipsticks and in order to be able to do that, I need flawless skin and a bit more coverage, this is why having the right brushes and the right technique can be so important.

Brush care

First of all, as I said, the more you use your natural brushes, the better they get, so use them &#;

The storage should be done in cups when you use your brushes in a regular basis, if you don&#;t, put them away from the dust and lay them flat inside their packaging.
If I store my powder brushes flat, the shape is altered until I wash them, then they will revert to their original shape, if I store them in cups and don&#;t use them in a regular basis, dust is accumulated in the hair and bacteria develops&#; this is why we shouldn&#;t have thousands of brushes but I just can&#;t help it &#;
The maintenance takes me a while but it&#;s a relaxing process so I don&#;t mind.

You can clean your delicate brushes gently with a tissue to remove the powder residue daily but once in a while they need to be washed. If they are very delicate (squirrel for example), I use mild shampoo and sometimes also conditioner. Absolutely no aggressive soaps. It&#;s better to prepare a little &#;bath&#; and only wash the head of the brush very gently (don&#;t let them soak with the ferrule inside), rinse them carefully, remove the excess water, shape them and lay them flat to dry, away from heat and away from direct sunlight.

For the slightly tougher brushes that can stand easier maintenance, like goat, sable, synthetic, I only use mild soap. I have just order the &#;Masters brush cleaner and preserver&#; based on some recommendations I received. After a few days I noticed that some white brushes were stained very lightly with some cream color residue on the bristles this is why I will be trying this soap&#; as soon as I receive it&#; it must be somewhere over the Atlantic right now.

Conclusion

Whenever you can, go try the brushes, choose quality over quantity and take good care of them because you will keep them for many years.

I hope this has brought some light to those who were a bit lost in this big brush world&#;

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit FUYI Brush.