Beauty Product Reviews

SUPER Soft.

I have slightly hooded eyes and a small eye area. I saw other reviews that this is a large brush and that’s exactly what I was looking for; I wanted this for “one and done” looks. I tried this with a Pat McGrath shadow (purple to make sure it’s obvious how it has blended the colour and to leave no room for mercy). Well this brush blended like a dream. It has much better pick up power than you might imagine, I guess the goat hairs are primarily perfuming that task. The pinched ferrule means you can turn this on its side (see photo) and get more detail in application (such as in the outer “v” of the eye) and you can blend in the crease area. I held the brush closer to the ferrule when I wanted to deepen the outer corner and it layered the colour well but was still quite subtle. I also used the brush to pull the colour under the eye and it worked really well. As this brush is flatter than say the T-6 (with a round ferrule) this brush really slots into the crease and I didn’t feel it was too big for my eyes. The brush is actually quite firm and you could use this to set powder on the lids or under the eye or in very small areas. I can’t say that I would use this to highlight as I like a little more airiness to my highlighter brushes. I love all the GSN series brushes that I have (GSN-1 and GSN-3) and this is no exception. The softness is unrivalled and whilst the T-6 is incredibly soft, this is just that bit more luxurious. The handle is long so this may not work so well if you need to be up close to the mirror.

I have added some pictures comparing this to the T-6 (I have a review of that brush too) and the Sonia G Jumbo Blender. I much prefer this and the T-6 to the Sonia brush as I find that the Chikuhodo brushes just blend so much faster and without any drag. This would be a great "fixer" brush too to sort out harsh lines or good for a transition shade. I'm now looking at getting the GSN-9 and the T-7.

Blending Dream

I got this as I'm going for more of a "one and done" shadow look for daily wear and don't want to spend a lot of time over it. If you are looking for a high end large eye brush then you may also have looked at the GSN-7. I have a review of the GSN-7 eye shadow brush with photos for comparison. This brush blends like an absolute dream. I love it. Simple as that. I have slightly hooded eyes and a small eye area. I used this with a Pat Mcgrath shadow starting in the crease and then taking the colour on to my lid. This brush picks up colour amazingly well as you would expect, and blended better than I've ever experienced another eye brush blend out. It was also fast. I used a bold purple colour to really test this brush to see if it would blend the colour out well and I was not at all disappointed. I was then able to deepen the outer corner to add more depth to the look and give the illusion of doing more work than I had done. This brush is large, as stated in the name, and the round ferrule means you can't be as targeted in your application, so whilst I was able to deepen the outer corner it's not easy to create that "outer v". I also used this brush to take the colour to the lower lash line and it does the job but not maybe as close as I usually would apply it. But you would never turn to this brush to do either of those jobs so it's not at all a criticism of this brush. I'm just pointing out that it's possible to use this brush for those tasks as well. I have the T-1 and T-4 brushes and I don't find them all that soft so I was surprised at how soft this brush is. This would be great to blend out any harsh lines in the crease or outer corners. It would be a great transition shade brush. I'm so happy I got this and I know I will use it not just for "one and done" but also for my transition shade for those more intricate looks. It has a shorter handle than say the Sonia G brushes meaning you can get closer to the mirror (for e.g. my mum has to be closer to the mirror to see what she is doing so this would be better for that task than Sonia G or the GSN-7).

Super soft but not for harder baked products

I got this after watching some online reviews as I was looking for my "go to" cream shadow brush. I have a couple of the eyes to mesmerize colours (Charlotte Tilbury) and a few of the Trinny London Eye2Eye pots. This brush worked very well with the CT formula which is like a whipped cream. It picks up and lays down well and blends very well in the crease. It actually has a lot of pick up power with that formula and you have to be careful not to start with too much product. The brush is SUPER soft but has the right amount of density to actually blend. I did find that it dragged my skin a little though. I have slightly hooded eyes and my eye area is small. This brush fits nicely in my crease and on my lids. Now when I tried this with the Trinny London formulas this just didn't perform. The TL formula is a harder cream and this brush just could not pick up the colour. I found my Zoeva cream blender was much better at pick up of that formula. So I still have to use my finger to apply the TL colours making this not my "go to" cream shadow brush.

Why didn't I get the set? Well, I have almost all Sonia G's brushes and after seeing helpful reviews only got this of the set as I already have the Detail brush from the Mini Keyaki set, I saw one review that the builder brush in this set applies a very sheer wash of colour (and I wanted something with more pick up power) and I don't need the jumbo worker from the set as I have other fusion brushes for cheeks etc. I'm happy that I didn't get the set as I really think this brush is all I need.

Doesn’t wash well. Surprising customer service

I got this brush for me and one as a gift for someone after all the reviews and after watching some online videos. I didn’t need another brush. I have almost all the Sonia G, Wayne Goss and Chikuhodo brushes. I like quality. As usual, I washed the brush as soon as I got it and was very disappointed with the way the outer hairs frayed. I’ve not had this happen with any other Sonia brushes even those with the same mixed synthetic and goat hair brushes. No one has posted wet and post wash photos - so I’ve added some to help others. I contacted Beautilish customer services who said others have noted the same about this brush and whilst they offered me a replacement I would have to pay for the cost to post it from England to the US (and the postage cost would be credited to my beautilish account). Not really what I expect from a company selling high-end products. It essentially means I have to pay to return something that’s not at the standard I expect. Maybe they can add an update to the listing as to how the brush will wash so people can buy it with full knowledge? I’ve now used the brush and can say it is very soft and you feel the density of the centre of the brush and that density allows the brush to quickly blend out colour very quickly and evenly (I used it for cream blush a couple of times). You can build colour quickly too. It feels like a beauty blender in some ways if you use it in a stippling motion. The hairs around the side (that are all frizzed out!) don’t pick anything up. I only use the middle part. You could get the same results with a beauty sponge but using this brush is quicker as there is no need to make it damp before use. I also think it might be slightly faster and more even. I usually buy spares of the Sonia face brushes. Won’t be buying a spare of this one. I don’t hate it but I’m disappointed with the way the brush has washed.