Beauty Product Reviews

It's a tad bit smaller than the pics make it seem

I bought this brush to kind of test out how soft the bristles were in this line (before I splurged on the rest) and I thought this brush would be a larger MAC 217. (It's not)

The bristles itself are soft and luxurious. The way it is packed makes it a little hard for me to use.

You can't really tell from the pics, but the brush is really packed at the base -- packed until it's a stiff brush. However, the last 2 or 3 millimeters on the top (where it starts to taper in) -- the hairs are less dense so there's more movement there. It gives more of a 'flicking/springy' motion rather than a 'blending' motion.

I have to use two hands if I want this brush to perform well. One hand to hold my skin taut so the stiff/springy bristles can do its work. If I don't hold the skin taut, the flicking causes a lot of fall-out.

If I had known that this wasn't a 'soft blending brush'-- I wouldn't have gotten it. However, I'm pleased with the luxurious quality of the bristles that I'm willing to try the larger brushes.

I don't get the hype... :(

I was attracted to the foundation mainly because of the "dew." However, I found it quite matte and now understand why other reviewers say they don't need to powder it. I have dry skin -- foundations such as Armani Lasting Silk (which is supposed to be matte, seems more dewy on my skin).

The shade 3 is true to its description. It is a peach. However, if you look online for swatches, the swatches don't really show how peachy it is.

Hit: Bronzer; Miss: Highlighter & Brush

First off -- the packaging is gorgeous. The pics don't do it justice. However, the design is on a thick sticker-like material (those tiny crystals aren't embedded in the metal casing).

The brush -- it looks bigger than it really is. I've shown it against my apple pencil so you get a sense of the size. The bristles are soft (but not chikuhodo soft).

The bronzing powder -- a nice (but not perfect) combination of matte/sheen. I'm very fair (usually the 2nd/3rd lightest foundation shade. The bronzer's color pay off is nicer than the highlighter. Although I can't imagine anyone with a darker skin tone to see much pay off... The highlighter could be a little more highlightery...more sheen, more sparkles.

If it were $15, I'd give it 4 stars

It's TOO TINY. It's like 3 free samples for $25.

The picture will show you how tiny it is against my phone charging cable.

However, texture is nice and creamy. No complaints there.

NOT for Dry Skin. So Overhyped.

Awfully patchy on my dry skin. (Nars Creamy Concealer and even the dryer Shape Tape works well on me)

I used it with the JS cotton candy smelling powder. The whole concoction collected itself in an unflattering, creasy, patchy way after 6 hours (I was indoors with air conditioning the whole time).

Thick. Blends. Dry. Not moisturizing. But not high-coverage.

Overhyped; smells too chemically cotton candied

It's like all the other mica, talc, silica powders out there (it's like a mix between the Nars Reflecting Loose Setting Powder and Make Up Forever Ultra HD Powder).

It arrived with the contents lightly covering the entire package (even though the safety seal was on). It didn't bother me on this front because I figured the powders are prob very finely milled. However, the following really took off points.

What it's not: moisturizing or revolutionary.

For Dry Skin -- it is okay, but koh gen do is better (per gram wise, at roughly the same price); but the scent knocked it from 3 to 2 stars.

Scent: Too much. Unnatural. It reminds me of children's makeup. There is a cotton candy scent for sure. But it is so chemically scented. And that is a big put off. I find the Chanel rose scent quite obvious (and to a certain degree, it could pass as somewhat natural); this cotton candy scent is even more obvious in a totally unnatural way.

Yes, it's soft and luxurious. BUT...

While I agree with all the other reviews about how beautiful this brush is... no one really talks about:

- the hairs are long (and that is why it's special) -- but they are not dense. If you want a brush to lightly swish away powder, to lightly apply powder or highlighter, or to lightly (super lightly) buff, then this brush does it. (Although you're not supposed to use such luxuriously long hairs to buff because it may ruin the ends of the bristles. It's only meant to sweep instead of buff.) It does all these things very nicely, with the emphasis on does it very LIGHTLY. It is not any better than other high end brushes.

If you're looking for a heavy hitter: a buffer, a worker -- no, this is not the brush.

It's beauty and special long hairs are also it's weakness. The hairs are so delicate. you have to take care of it so so well. I accidentally put a spooley brush next to the P8 in the container and left it there a few days, the hairs on the P8 got all kinky because of the friction from the spooley brush :(

I own pretty much all the high end japanese brushes: Z series, Hakuhodo Red, and Suqqu. With this experience, I feel that this brush is NOT worth the money. Not in terms of breaking the bank for it. I got it because I was just curious about what a 400 dollar brush would feel like. If I were to be frank, I'm a little disappointed. There are other brushes that do the same thing without sacrificing any ounce of softness and luxury.

The Suqqu face brush is softer, silkier, less expensive (although it is a different hair type and shape). The Hakuhodo S102 does many of the same things as the P8, but is not as densely packed as the P8. The Chikuhodo Z9 is a lot denser, but perhaps is not as much of a dupe as the above 2. The Takumi T1 diffuses and buffs a little more than the P8.

Streaky

It's unfortunate this brush didn't work for me. I love all other SG brushes, but this is not as good as my Artis, Sigma, or Real Techniques for applying foundation. It's a duo fiber and not as densely packed as her other brushes (or the dense Artis). So there is more 'give' in the bristles when applying foundation -- rendering streaks upon application. You have to use very little foundation and apply in layers if you want to avoid the streaks and to have more coverage. On this front, I guess it works. But it just takes too much time that I often don't have.

Wonderful! Overall a little smaller than the original set but just as amazing

What was surprising was the smaller size -- only because the original eye brushes were rather wide and thick. Not to say that this set is of any less quality -- they're just as great.

The main difference I'd say is this set will allow for more pinpointed placement of color and shape -- because of the smaller size. I can create a nice up-lifted wing shape with my eyeshadow with the 2 brown brushes (Blender Pro + Builder Pro): one for placement and the other for blending that diffuses the shadow, yet keeps the shape in place because it is a denser and thus stiffer brush (but soft). I imagine you could blow the colors out more in a more controlled blending process.

The pencil brush -- I feel is very similar to another hakuhodo pencil brush. Still great though: it does what a pencil brush does and is also soft enough to drag and diffuse color.

The Crease Pro -- white pointy blending brush is like a mini of the brown pointy one. It's diameter is smaller than the brown one.

And white Worker Pro that looks like a mac 217 is very similar to the brown one -- just a tad less dense and so offers the ability to diffuse and blend color a bit more. (There's a Hakuhodo brush that's very similar to this...I think the J5523) For the Worker Pro, the tips can splay out a bit more than the brown one -- likely to blend and diffuse color a little more than the brown Builder Pro one.

Lastly, if you go to Sonia's IG -- her descriptions are spot on (obviously) in case you wanted to get a little more insight into this set.

The zoomed in pics of the brush don't really do it justice -- because honestly, it looked meh to me -- but after getting the set -- they are really a work of art.

This is just a glammed up Naked 1 Palette

This is my 4th ND palette and base on the pictures / swatches -- the colors looked so vibrant and GOLD. After receiving the palette, my first reaction was of disappoint. The dark teal color wasn't vibrant. The others are just brown. The glitter shadows that don't show up well... ND style.

Quality wise, it's the same as all other ND palettes. Very nice. But not as amazing.

Save your money if you already own a nude palette. If you don't, then this is a great option.