I think part of what makes mineral foundation look great on me has to do with the kabuki brush I use. The Charm Retractable Kabuki Brush first came to my attention when Sophie posted a photo of it on her Facebook wall. Pink is not my favorite color, but I was so attracted to how freaking cute it looked on the bristles. When I sent in my purchase form for Ellana mineral foundation, I decided to ditch my el cheapo powder brush (which sheds faster than my geriatric Siamese cat) and buy this from Beauty and Minerals. I’m happy to inform you that the Charm Retractable Kabuki Brush is more than just an adorable addition to my growing collection of makeup things. Of course, I only have my inferior powder brush to compare this to but I can see a significant difference – the kabuki brush is softer and provides a more opaque, even coverage.
DO LIKE
* The overall quality of the bristles. The bristles are full, fluffy, densely packed, and oh-so-soft. It feels just like a ball of cotton against my skin, and it doesn’t shed at all.
* The size. It’s small enough to fit in my purse, but large enough to hold comfortably in my hand.
* The color and packaging. As mentioned earlier, it was the cuteness factor that got me interested in this brush. The bristles are pink and white, and it’s got a metallic pink cover closes perfectly around the hairs. I was worried that the pink dye on the brush would bleed out when washed, but it didn’t! I’ve had this brush for about three weeks now and the pink is still as vibrant as when I first got it.
* The price tag. Only P500. Not bad for an excellent brush.
DO NOT LIKE
* Takes forever to dry. I made the mistake of washing my brush at noon on Saturday, thinking it would be dry and usable in six hours. Boy I was wrong – it took 24 hours for the brush to be completely dry, even though I placed it in front of the fan all afternoon. If you buy this brush, I suggest you wash it on a day you don’t intend to use your mineral foundation.
* Stains. If you’re prissy about the appearance of your brush and dislike washing them often, this one isn’t for you. The pink and white bristles get easily stained, and I wash this brush once a week because I hate how dirty it looks after several days.
CONCLUSION
I made a good call when I bought the Charm Retractable Kabuki Brush: it provides great coverage, the bristles feel heavenly on my skin, and it’s inexpensive. My only real beef is that it takes so long to dry, but I suppose it’s normal for densely-packed synthetic brushes. In any case, I’m very glad that my first kabuki brush turned out to be soft and reliable, and I hope it lasts a very long time.
WILL I REPURCHASE?
While I’m very contented with this brush, I’m on the fence about repurchasing when the time comes to replace it. I want to try out other kabuki brushes, preferably one that doesn’t take so long to dry. Any recommendations? What kabuki brush do you use?
PS. I just found this awesome YouTube tutorial on how to dry kabuki brushes. Hanging the brush upside-down doesn’t make it dry any faster, but it’s good for when I want the fan pointed at me for a change.
We use the kabuki brush from The Body Shop which is about Php 995, made of very very soft synthetic hair (animal cruelty-free). A good dupe is Ellana’s kabuki brush which reatils for Php 300 :)
i’m not sure if you’ve heard of brush guards…some say they help brushes dry faster and help preserve the natural fluff of your brush.
I have no idea what brush guards are, but I shall do a Google search! Thanks for the heads up. :)
if you haven’t found it yet, the website is http://www.thebrushguard.com/ . askmewhats has a review about it and it is sold locally at multiply. it’s up to you if you’d like to give it a go! :)
Check Michelle Phan’s channel (www.youtube.com/user/MichellePhan) on youtube. She has a tutorial on washing brushes and features the brush guard to help dry the brushes.
On another note, I use Sigma Retractable Kabuki brush. Really nice! They ship internationally! (www.sigmamakeup.com) Densely-packed, soft and looks really adorable in it’s pink case. Though you can choose other colors, which may better suit your style– black and red are available.