I would say Japonesque is my all-time favourite brush brand; they’re not cheap, but my gosh do they last well. I was sent a little selection back in early 2012, and whilst most have disappeared due to my lacking organisational skills, the blush brush has been used every week as my main powder blush since it arrived, and it isn’t even as if I’ve taken particularly good care of it, it’s just a brilliantly made brush that will no doubt go on forever, proving that Japonesque brushes are very much investment pieces. The latest collection of brushes that I’ve been trying from the brand are the angled brushes, of which I have five. Years ago I used to bend my mascara wand to make application easier, so I’ve always thought that angled brushes make more sense than straight, however, having tried these, I wouldn’t say the angle makes a huge difference, but that could just be because I’m such a brush fiend that I’m so used to straight brushes now. Anyway! Let’s take a lot at each brush in the set:
Interestingly, the Foundation Brush is the one I thought I’d be all over, but, whilst the angle is handy for getting into nooks and crannies, I don’t actually find the brush itself that effective at blending foundation, and instead it tends to smear it around a bit, so you then need to follow with another blending or buffing brush. However, as a starting point for getting foundation all over the face, this does the job.
The Eye Shadow Brush is an interesting one, as it’s quite an unusual shape – when I think of eye shadow brushes, I tend to think of almost dome-shaped, flat brushes, but this one is round with a flattened finish. The jury is still out as to whether it makes application of eyeshadow easier or not, but it effectively and evenly applies shadow which is what you want, isn’t it?
The Eye Shadow Crease Brush is a brilliant product for both applying a fine line of shadow to the crease, but also for blending all other shadows together to get that seamless finish. This is an example of where I think the angled handle does make things easier, as you can very quickly work product into the crease, and as the bristles are lovely and soft, the finish is very natural.
I’ve got a few eyeliner brushes with angled handles, so I know that it makes eyeliner application handy. The Eye Pointed Liner Brush is slender, well-made and easy to use and the angled handle means you can see where you’re putting the liner as you go along, which is great if you’re rubbish at applying pot/powder liners as I am!
I’ve saved the best ’til last, which is the lovely Highlighting Contour Brush. This is the Goldilocks of contour and highlighting brushes as it’s firm enough to ensure you get a decent colour payoff during application, but soft enough to achieve a diffused finish. I use this pretty much daily to apply highlighter, and every so often when I contour too. It’s my favourite of the bunch and the angle allows for a very easy contouring experience. There we have it! A mixed bag of brushes, with some a little pointless, and some are rather fab. They’re currently a QVC exclusive for £54 here – link.
*PR Samples
