Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Shiseido Perfect Foundation Brush

I was on a mission recently and spent a considerable amount of time looking for a brush that would be suitable and have firm enough bristles to deposit foundation in a thin layer, evenly all over my face. As I was shopping one day, I came across this brush from Shiseido – a brand which I did not care for nor explore due to a bad experience many many years ago. Japanese and Korean brands I have found do not really cater for women of color and I was told once by a rude SA that the brand is for fair skinned people only.
That aside, my prejudices against a brand did not stop me from exploring it again and I did come away (thanks to a sweet SA that day) with not only a brush but with the most gorgeous shade of purple cream eyeshadow! (Review coming!)

I have used this brush almost everyday for about two months now and I must say that I am ready to throw out my sponges as well as some other foundation brushes which are in the category of “blah” at this moment.

The bristles are firm but has a soft rather velvety feel to it and therefore able to hold and spread the foundation thinly and evenly without scratching your face to bits. Also, the bristles are very tightly packed so you are able to pick up as much of the product as you need. In order to have the coverage that is ideal for you, you can pick up a little bit of your foundation and work it in a thin layer all over your face for light coverage or if you are going for more coverage, then you can slowly layer on the foundation until you reach your desired coverage. For me to be able to do this well with the brush, I use the back of an old CD to pump my liquid foundation on and then work the brush into the product picking up as much as I need or less depending on the look. I always use two foundations on my face, one the exact shade and another in a lighter shade. This is done to create some depth on the face. I start off by using the lighter shade above my eyebrows, bringing it down under my eye and then around my nose and the sides of my lips. Then I blend the color that is my skin shade all over, overlapping the first shade. This brightens up the area around my eyes and creates a look that is not flat. 

Works well with liquid, cream or powder as the website claims but I have not used it with powder so I am unable to tell how effective it is. Its not a flat top but its angled a little and this is brilliant because it allows for the brush to reach the crevices especially around the nose and undereye areas.
The handle is a little on the short and thick side and does take a little getting used to. Initially when I used it, my fingers would hurt a little from the thickness of the handle but I am now used to it.
Using this brush results in even application of your foundation be it liquid or cream and the best part of all, you get an airbrushed quality application. Since I have used this, several people have commented on how smooth my face looks which I think is testament to how well this brush performs.
The price is quite reasonable at  around RM96 and a good bargain too seeing that I use this everyday to apply my foundation. If you are looking at investing in something that delivers well then I say go for it.
I rinsed before I used the brush and was pleasantly surprised that there was no shedding and after a week of using the brush, I washed it with a washing liquid that I purchased from Daiso. Again, all the product residue came off the brush but no shedding.
If and when I find another brush that I like, this will be my go to brush for a while!
Please note that the picture of the brush above was taken from the Shiseido website as for the life of me, the pictures that I took right after I purchased this cannot be found - it must be somewhere in the black hole of missing photo's!