Beauty Product Reviews
Blending? We don’t know her
This is pretty much the only Chikuhodo brush I own that I don’t adore. It’s very soft and looks lovely, but I just don’t find it actually works. When I apply contour with it, it lays down patchy. When I use circular motions as the product usage suggests to try to blend, nothing really happens. Maybe I’m just doing something wrong since this gets such great reviews, but for me personally this one is a regret.
Great but a few things to note
As others have said, this is a great dupe for the discontinued natural hair Tom Ford bronzer brush. For the purposes of bronzing, it’s a fabulous brush. It’s not the softest natural hair brush I have but I actually really love that about it as it’s brilliant at picking up products that other brushes might struggle with (such as stiffer formulas, more tightly pressed formulas and baked gelee formulas). For its intended purpose of foundation, I’m not a fan. Personally I find it leaves streaks and is a bit too rough on my highly sensitive skin. This doesn’t really bother me though as I always intended to use it for bronzer. What DOES bother me is the material the handle is made from. I have quite a few brushes from various Japanese makers, including others from Koyudo, and this has been a problem unique to this brush. The material the handle is made from is evidently too soft. Throughout use, regardless of how careful I try to be with using and storing it, this brush handle ends up looking pretty unfortunate as it dents whenever it knocks against a harder brush. When I’m investing in high quality Japanese brushes, part of the joy is the elegance. This one definitely doesn’t look as elegant these days. It’s made me reconsider buying others within the same line as I’m assuming they’re all from the same material. Ultimately though, it’s definitely only a cosmetic issue and it’s a brilliant brush in terms of its function. Buuuut if, like me, you take a lot of enjoyment out of the appearance of some of your more luxurious purchases, maybe look elsewhere.
So many positives, but...
I have pretty much all the eye brushes Wayne Goss has released (except the synthetics) and as a general rule they’re all wonderful. The shapes are so well thought out and the way some of the blenders have such a fine tip to them because of the way they’re tapered makes them so unique and versatile for my hooded eyes. The goat hair range is wonderfully soft but they’re also often much easier to use compared to their squirrel hair counterparts. The squirrel hair range are even softer, but this sometimes actually works against you as they don’t really have the strength to pick up and blend some shadows (partly depending on the shadows themselves). The goat hair range, however, never misses a beat and can handle every shadow I’ve thrown at them and blends everything quickly and beautifully. However, after a long time using them, I’m a bit conflicted. What I’ve learned is that over time it seems like the goat hair don’t hold up quite as well. It’s possible I just got unlucky, and I’m by no means suggesting they fall apart quickly (these are years old in my collection at this point), but two that I have from the goat hair range have started to struggle. Given that I’ve had many of my other Japanese made eye brushes (both Wayne’s squirrel variety as well as other goat hair versions from other brands) for longer, this really surprised me. The bristles have started to kink and lose their shape, becoming splayed in odd ways. It’s not a big deal - one is more noticeable than the other and even then it’s only two out of many and I’ve still had several years of good use out of them. They’re still useable and I imagine they’ll continue to be for some time yet, but it does make me reconsider buying more in the goat hair range, particularly now that there are competitive brands like Rephr around nowadays which have similar shapes and materials for similar (and sometimes cheaper) prices (though I haven’t had the Rephr long enough to know if they’ll have a similar outcome, but I also didn’t pay as much). On the whole though, I do recommend these. They’re wonderful and you’ll get a tonne of use out of them. But if the possibility of eventually having to replace them some years from now bothers you, then maybe start with a selection and try a few brands before you fully commit to a set like this.
Incredible foundation, questionable packaging
This foundation is absolutely stunning - it's hands down my favourite and to say I've tried a lot would be an understatement. It has the perfect natural finish but makes my skin look great. I have combination sensitive skin and it handles my dry patches and my oily t-zone without hassle. It doesn't cover my rosacea completely but I would neither expect nor want it to, as only a very high coverage (often cakey) foundation can do that and I'd rather use a very controlled amount of concealer. The issue with it is, as others have mentioned, the packaging. I've found that you absolutely must have it standing up, not lying horizontally, for it to work (which means it's no good putting it in a drawer or a makeup bag). When I didn't do this I had no end of trouble getting to the product and actually thought it was faulty. I also have mobility issues in my hands so even when it's working properly the packaging really isn't ideal, as the button presses are surprisingly fiddly if your hands don't work properly like mine. The price is also a bummer - I use a lot more than the 1-2 drops recommended and it's such a small amount of product to start with that I worry I'm going to speed through it. In saying all of that, I still think it's worth the hassle and expense. I've not had another foundation like it at all. I just wish Surratt would address the packaging and price.
Falls apart
I want to love these lashes as they look so fluffy and lovely, but they're absolutely not worth it. The first pair I had fell apart before I even got it onto my eye. Beautylish customer service was lovely as always and sent out a replacement, and so I put them aside waiting for another event. Took a while before I had an occasion to try them again, but when I finally did and went to trim them to suit my eyes, they fell apart again. There's something about the way the fibres are attached to the band which makes these flimsy as all heck. I have no idea how you could make these work unless you had super large eyes and didn't have to trim them. But even then I imagine removing them would almost certainly result in shedding. I don't believe it would be at all possible to come anywhere near the number of wears they claim. Very disappointing for something so expensive.
Patchy, fades, and no amount of instruction changes that
I was davastated by this palette. I wanted to love it so much because I loved the colours and it swatches beautifully. I tried so hard to make it work and followed all the instructions on the helpful reviews here and none of it made a difference. It wasn’t even just the dark cool colours that didn’t work for me either - even the bottom row was a shambles. They didn’t blend and they didn’t last on my lids (creased and faded) no matter how I applied them and no matter what I used as a base (with primer, no primer, a different primer, different brushes, packing motions instead of blending, blending, using fingers... all nope). I followed so many tutorials and reviews and I could not make it work. Props to beautylish in being able to return it but I live in Australia so I still lost out $40 in shipping to return it. I have the sunset palette as well as a five palette from ND so I trusted that the quality would be there and I’m devastated it wasn’t. I simply don’t understand how some people are making this work. Not sure if it’s a batch issue or if it just doesn’t work with my oily lids but I don’t see why that would be the case as the sunset palette is perfection. And, just putting it out there: for a consumer palette at $129, you shouldn’t HAVE to change your application method to make it work. Gutted and really frustrated by the loss of money on this one. If you’re in Australia, don’t buy it. Not worth the risk and cost of return.