Finally, A Decent and Affordable Brush Set

I decided to buy some decent brush sets.  I have never really owned any except for the cheap drugstore garbage.  No I didn’t get the overpriced MAC ones.  Even though lots of people swear they are best brushes around (and I’m sure they are), the cost of those are ridiculous.  There are some pretty good comparables out there.  Instead I ordered mine from some eBay sellers in China.  They are really decent and quality brushes at a very low cost.  Especially for how many you get in the sets.

 

One set is a 28 black handled Pupa set.  Some makeup Youtubers gave them good reviews.  So far, I’m loving this set.  When I washed them, there was a little shedding which most big or fuller brushes do when you first get them and a bit of black dye coming out in the wash which is also not uncommon with synthetic brushes.  Usually both of those things stop after a wash or two.  I got tons of eye brushes in this set.  They pick up and put on shadows awesomely!  (is that a word?)  I won’t go through every brush as it’s pretty typical with eye brushes, powder brushes, blush and contouring brushes, a big fan brush, eye liner, lips and lip liner, foundation, pencil brushes, smudger, spoolie and so on.  I am loving them so far. 

 

 

 

 

I also got a 18 piece set.  It’s not any particular brand but they had light purple handles and I couldn’t resist.  The seller even threw in two shimmer powder eye shadows.  I washed the brushes and started using them.  Not bad at all.  Very, very, very soft!!!  Like a baby’s ass.  When I washed them there was NO shedding or dye coming out which surprised me because even really good quality brushes (like MAC) shed when you first wash them.  I won’t use these brushes for eye makeup though.  I love the fan brush and the blush contour brush in this set.  The smaller brushes I’ll use for concealer, eye primers or creamy stuff as they are too flat to be used effectively for powder eye shadows.  So having both sets really worked out.

 

 

 

*Tip:  You should always wash brand new makeup brushes when you get them (as well as on a regular basis) with a gentle shampoo and water.  Factories usually spray them with something so you don’t want those chemicals on your face.  Plus it helps to just get any excess dyes or shedding done.  When drying them, lay them on their sides, NOT standing up with bristles up.  Otherwise the moisture will seep down into the handle, loosen the glue and ruin them.  It’s good to have a brush cleaner too to do some spot cleaning in between applications. 

 

**UPDATE:  One thing I forgot to mention was that I was very tempted to order a whole set from the company Sigma.  The lady of this company has created the most comparable brushes to MAC and for a lot less.  These have been getting really, really positive reviews from many makeup gurus.  People are really raving about them and they have been selling out.  Looks like they just re-stocked again.  I didn’t order the set because of my unemployment situation.  However I did order one brush and that was the SS187 comparable to the MAC 187.  I really wanted a good dup for this really expensive brush.  It’s $8 at Coastal Scents, $16 at Sigma and a whopping $42 at MAC.  I would have ordered the CS one but a lot of people are complaining at how much shedding they get with it.  Other dups have also gotten flop reviews.  Some people have even said that they are liking the Sigma one better than their MAC one.  I have always been a big believer of going for the middle cost of products a lot of the time.  So…. got this foundation stippler brush at Sigma.  I have not gotten it yet but I’ll let you know how I like it after I use it.