Monday, April 27, 2009

My Synthetic Retractable Brushes


Seen above is a picture of my retractable brushes.

Here is a pic of them from the top:



A retractable brush is the only type of brush I bring around, because I don't have brush guards to protect my brushes so I prefer retractables so brush stays protected. Since it's the only type of brush I bring around, I expect it to be multi-purpose: I can use it to retouch my finishing powder and blush. It's also an added bonus if it can act as an emergency mineral foundation brush, although it's not really necessary. So let me briefly describe my brushes (Please note that these brushes are synthetic):

ELLANA RETRACTABLE BRUSH
Price: 499 (around $10)
Available locally

This brush looks very similar to The Body Shop retractable brush but the TBS brush head is smaller. As you can see with the picture, it has the longest head out of all my three brushes. It makes a good touch-up brush for blush and finishing powder, yet I was surprised that it could also be used as an emergency kabuki brush for mineral foundations, if I sleep over in a house where I don't have any brushes.

Rating: 4/5

BLUSCHE RETRACTABLE BRUSH
Price: P480 (around $9.50)
Available locally

This is the cutest out of all the brushes because it's small and it's pink! What makes this different from the three is that it has a flat top head. I feel that this causes the brush to have an identity crisis because flat tops are normally used for foundations and yet the brush hairs are flimsy. Although you can remedy this by not pulling the metal sleeve all the way down, I find that this metal sleeve is a bit loose so it makes it hard to stay in that position. I'm also not comfortable using a flat head for blush because it gives an "in your face" look instead of a soft blush.

Rating: 3.5/5

ECOTOOLS RETRACTABLE BRUSH
Price: $9.99 from the Makeup Mix Shop

The great thing about this brush is that it's made from recycled aluminum so it's earth-friendly! It also doesn't have a shiny metal finish unlike the other two brushes I have which makes it very scratch-resistant! This is the most kabuki-like among all three. It's quite dense making it a good mineral foundation brush but it's still workable as a finishing powder and blush brush for touchups.

Rating: 5/5

Hope this review helped
!

22 comments:

donnarence said...

nice review.. :D are the bristles of blusche flat top brush soft?thanks crystal

Chrissy said...

Good afternoon, sis!

Very nice comparison! Thanks for reviewing these, I really do want to have a retractable brush too because of the portability. I just bought a buki though, so I'll have to save up for a while, especially since I have to get money for contest prizes. Lol.

- - aika - - said...

thanks for the review :D

Crystal said...

donnarence, yes the bristles are soft. actually, all three have soft bristles.

chrissy, yes a retractable brush is really portable. good luck with the contest!

aika, thanks!

Crissy said...

I saw this in the store. I just bought some ecotools and I must get the retractable one now! :D

Sarah said...

Ohh great review!!! I am totally shallow, I would go for the middle one basically because it looks pretty! Ha, I guess that explains why I own a lot of crap! Granted it is pretty crap :P

Crystal said...

crissy, ecotools is nice isn't it? and it's inexpensive too.

sarah, lol! it's cute isn't it? i wouldn't say that the blusche is crap, it's just that i like the other retractables better :P

Bijin Blair said...

The pink one is the cutest but lousiest hahaha

Really? The Kanebo counters in Phil are that bad? Gosh...

Soapaholic said...

Hahaha, identity crisis? Lol.:D

Yay thanks for this post! With your influence I ordered an Ecotools retractable brush from ebay. Haha.:)

OD said...

Ive been waiting for this comparative review, thanks to you!

I so agree with having a retractable brush as perfect tool for travelling, now I hope some company can come up with a retractable stippling brush ;)

Crystal said...

blair, i wouldn't say lousiest, i'd imagine some people really like this.

soapaholic, there's someone selling it on ebay? i hope it's reasonably priced.

grace, haha maybe we can petition a brush company to make a retractable stippling! that would be great!

AskMeWhats said...

wow, thanks so much for the review, I saw the Blusche in person, super cute!!!

Laura L said...

hi dear, thanks for dropping by, your subscription meant a lot for me. thank you! yay, is eco tool brush. wow, I didn't own that xD. hmm, small and cute <3

Crystal said...

nikki, it's cute noh?

ning*star, no prob. ecotools isn't widely known yet, but it's really gaining popularity.

Ida said...

yay great review! :) that should help me decide. i think ecotools :)

MiuMiu said...

nice blog =) i think you have pretty good reviews

Crystal Gale said...

Hi sis! great review! I'm thinking of getting a retractable brush coz ellana's baby buki is too small for me hehe...how's ecotools brushes? are they as soft as ellana's? and about this retractable brush, does it shed and have strange smell? thanx!

Crystal said...

ida, yey ecotools!

miumiu, thanks!

gale, the ecotools brush is really soft, no shedding. there's a bit of a smell but it should go away in 2 washes or so.

FuN and MakeUp said...

i wana get me some of those brushes.. nice review thanks for sharin!



word verification: fackman

haha sounds like "fuck man"

Crystal said...

seriously, fackman? omg! haha that's what you get when blogger just tries to put words together. hehe.

Pammy said...

Now I know which brush the Blusche pink retractable reminds me of. The Too Faced Teddy Bear Retractable Brush. They're both pink! ^_^

And i'm with you on the EcoTools retractable kabuki, it's a 5 for me too.

Crystal said...

hi pammy! yes the too faced retractable brush looks so much like the blusche brush. i'm glad you like ecotools too!

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