Review (3/5): I think not all are natural, some are synthetic. Very soft hairs, but some shed A LOT at first
I thought it was really interesting that promoted the “sterility” of these brushes. They said, “Each makeup brush will undergo professional aseptic processing, Ensure that all users will not receive harm due to the product.” It said that “sterility - more assured.” They are in “food grade packaging” that is “sterile sealed packaging.” I’d never seen brushes promoted like that, so I was really interested to see it!
These come in a bubble mailer with the brushes inside and they are each individually sealed. They are each in the sealed sleeves that they show in the product photos. There’s even a paper insert. It says that the “Pro-18” brushes are “made of real animal hair, the handle is made of natural wood, will not shed hair, and is very soft. It is not easy to breed bacteria. Combination of 18 brushes, more professional.” It goes on to say that “his set of makeup brushes has been disinfected.” Finally, it says, “Because the hair density of makeup brush is relatively high, it is easy to breed bacteria in a humid environment. Please keep the makeup brush in a dry environment. When using the makeup brush, please use UV disinfection every 2-3 times (do not use high temperature disinfection to avoid damage to the hair). It is recommended to replace every 3-8 months.” I thought that last part was pretty interesting/odd. They are saying these are disinfected and that these are made of animal hair and “it is not easy to breed bacteria.” But, then it goes on to say that “because the hair density of makeup brush is relatively high, it is easy to breed bacteria in a humid environment.” So, apparently, they aren’t easy to breed bacteria, UNLESS they’re in a humid environment, in which case they will be easy to breed bacteria.
As I said, each brush is in its own sealed package. It’s kind of like a sealed ziplock bag, you rip off the top to reveal the ziplock part and open that to get to the brush. Most brush sets, the brushes come in individual plastic sleeves and you just pull the brush out of it. That can be annoying, but still be able to be done fairly quickly. This way is definitely a lot more annoying - having to rip each of the 18 packages open, then undo the ziplock, then take the brush out. It doesn’t take too much longer though. And, you end up with a lot more garbage with each of the packages. They didn’t have a chemical smell like some brush sets have. The product page said you can use them immediately, but I still washed mine first like I usually do with brushes.
I like natural hair brushes. I find that they apply my eyeshadow better. Natural haired brushes are good for powder products. Synthetic brushes are good for cream/liquid products.
I don’t like how the product page focuses so much on how the brushes are disinfected prior to getting to you and individually sealed, but they don’t provide much info on the brushes individually. They state that the brushes have wood handles. They don’t say what the ferrules are made out of. I’m pretty sure they’re plastic. They say that the hairs are animal hairs - horse hair. However, usually, when a brush is made of a specific type of hair, the brushes with that hair are the same color. These brushes have different colored hairs. For example, the 3 bigger brushes have black hairs, then some of the smaller brushes have brown hairs, and the flat paddle foundation brush is white with brown tips. So, it kind of makes me think they all are not animal hair - horse hair. It’s possible the black and brown hairs are both horse hair, but I can’t be sure. The flat paddle foundation brush I think is synthetic. It would make sense for it to be synthetic since it’s a foundation brush, and liquids work best with synthetic brushes. So, I don’t mind that. But, I wish they focused a little more on describing each brush and it’s hairs than they did on the brushes being sterile when they get to you.
I will say I almost didn’t get this set of brushes when I saw it said they were horse hair. I’ve had other cheaper brush sets before that had natural haired brushes, and the ones that were horse hair were always extremely soft and worked great, but shedded like CRAZY. So, I initially wasn’t going to get this set. But, they sounded like they were worth a try.
The brushes feel very lightweight, but durable. The handles are matte black with the brand name on them. There’s no other labels. The ferrules are silver.
You get 4 big brushes -
A large fan brush. This has black hairs. It’s very soft. I don’t get these brushes. For me, I only would ever use a fan brush to apply highlighter. I never like huge fan brushes like this one to apply my highlighter, so I never know what to do with them!
A fluffy powder/bronzer type brush. This has black hairs. It is very soft. The hairs seem to be cut evenly and I didn’t have any shedding so far.
An angled blush brush. This has black hairs. This one seemed to have uneven hairs. When I touched the hairs, a bunch started coming out. After a decent amount came out (see photos) I didn’t seem to have any more come out so far.
A flat paddle foundation brush. This seems to have synthetic hairs. Its silky like synthetic hairs can be. It’s soft. I never use flat paddle foundation brushes, but if you do use them, this one seems nice.
You get 14 smaller brushes
A fluffy angled brush. The hairs are black. This could be used for concealer, to powder under the eyes, etc. The hairs don’t seem cut very evenly (see photos, I tried to show it best I could). The brush is really soft, but with the hairs cut so unevenly, it makes me not really want to reach for it. But, I haven’t noticed any shedding.
A large shader brush. This has brown hairs. They’re really soft. This shed A LOT. When it kept shedding everywhere, I really worked the hairs and a lot came out but then it finally started to slow down. I haven’t noticed much since then, so hopefully it was just initially and it won’t shed anymore. I really hope it doesn’t shed much anymore because I do like it. It works great to put color in my crease and blend it out. With my small, hooded eyes, I need smaller brushes that are precise but I still need brushes to blend. This gets product where I want it and blends it out.
A medium shader brush. This has brown hairs. They’re really soft. This also shed A LOT. It was just like the large shader. I got out a ton of hairs and now I haven’t noticed much shedding, so hopefully it’s done with that! Like the larger shader brush, I really hope this doesn’t shed much anymore because I like it. Again, it’s smaller so it gets product right where I want it, but it’s still fluffy enough to blend out edges.
A fluffy kind of pencil brush. This has brown hairs. They’re really soft. I was really excited for this brush. I like pencil brushes for my small, hooded eyes. I really like them when they’re a little fluffy so I can use them to blend out small areas. This is perfect for that. Unfortunately, like the shader brushes, this shed A LOT, worse than the shader brushes. I think I got most of the hairs out that were shedding and haven’t noticed much since then, so hopefully it’s done with shedding because I really like it.
There’s 2 small shader brushes. They have brown hairs and are really soft. One is small and one is even smaller. They both shed a little but nowhere near as bad as the other ones I’ve mentioned so far. I like these to pack on color, put color on the outer corner, apply eyeshadow to my lower lash line, etc. They work great.
There’s a short kind of shader brush. It has brown hairs and is really soft. This would work good to apply product onto the lid, like a shimmer or metallic. It also works well to highlight the inner corner and brow bone.
There’s 3 other brushes that have brown hairs with dark brown or black tips. I think these are synthetic but I can’t be sure, but it would make sense for them to be synthetic. They’re all soft.
Angled brush. This works well for liner or brows. I like it for my brows because it’s really thin and can make great hair like strokes.
A flat brush. This works well for liner.
A tiny concealer type brush. I love this to use to cut my crease. Any brushes this size and shape are my go to brushes to cut my crease. I also like them to apply my inner corner highlight. They work well to use to spot conceal specific small areas too.
There’s 4 brushes left
A eyelash/brow comb/brush.
A smudging brush. This has like a hard sponge kind of tip. If you apply gel liner, you can use this to smudge it out really well. I don’t use brushes like this often because I feel they’re kind of harsh, tugging on the eye to smudge it out. But, it’s nice to have one or two for when I want to smudge out liner.
A thin eyeliner brush. This is really thin. It works well.
A spoolie. This is soft, not scratchy at all when brushing your brows out with it.
Overall, I think this is an okay brush set. Right now, I like it. I love how soft the hairs are. They work well. I really hated all the shedding I had with most of them, but since kind of working the hairs I seem to have gotten past that. As long as they don’t start shedding a lot again, I will really enjoy them and use them daily. If they start shedding a lot like they were initially, they’ll be going into the garbage! So, right now, I’d recommend them as long as you know they might have a shedding issue that might be able to be taken care of by kind of working the hairs to get those loose hairs out. I am going to continue using them and will update my review if they start shedding a lot again. So, right now, I’m giving them 3 stars. If they start shedding a lot again, I will come back and update my review and lower my rating. If they don’t start shedding a lot again, I will come back and update my review and increase my rating.