A mixed review ~ bareMineral brushes.

5 September 2012





Normally I wouldn’t do a post like this, usually if I don’t like a product or a product doesn’t suit me I just leave it out of my reviews or simply say that it doesn’t work for me, as I’m not one to go out and slate a product purely based on my experience. I think makeup and skin care are so subjective and it completely depends on so many factors about your skin and personal preferences, so if a product doesn’t work for me, it doesn’t necessarily mean it wont be good for you or anyone else. 

However, with these brushes I have a major love hate relationship with them. And I want to share both sides of that experience, otherwise any other review would just be false.

So, I got these two brushes in the bareMinerals starter kit, I’d never used any bM brushes before so I didn’t know what to expect. I even did a little review of them in this post when I first got the set and initially I did have concerns which I mentioned but hoped would resolve over time, but no. Dispite this I still used them daily so obviously they can’t be said to be all that bad.

I thought I’d break it down to the pros and cons of these brushes to make it clearer.

Why I love these brushes:

They are pretty stiff, the bristle are quite short and very course and thick, certainly not a soft brush at all, but this makes the application and ease of buffing, really really great. The stiffness of these brushes just made buffing so easy as you could pick up plenty of product on the bristles and really swirl it in and then give a good buff on the skin without loads of product being deposited in one area. I got really great even and full coverage with these brushes.

The smaller brush I used mostly for warmth and blush and the shape was perfect for lining along my cheekbones and sweeping across my jawline and temples. The handles are nice, thick and easy to grip without being too clunky or heavy and they are a good length.

Sounds all good right? On to the cons…

Why I hate these brushes:

They molt, I have never, never had a brush that sheds as badly as these do! In my first post about them I pointed this out and thought that after a gentle wash they would be ok, I thought maybe it was just because they were new….wrong!

Seriously after each and every use I would end up looking like a short briskly ginger haired cat had been climbing and shedding its fur all over my chest shoulders and face (yes my face! They would be left clinging on to every inch, it’s so unattractive!). The bristles were awful, they ended up everywhere, in my hair line, in my eyes and stuck to my eyelashes (seriously not cool!) down my top, on my shoulders, my legs and basically on anything that was within a meter of my face.

Now I know what your thinking, your thinking, well with all that buffing action she was evidently doing from the pros section no wonder they molted. No no, I assure you these damn brushes would start shedding as soon as you started swirling them in the lids of the foundations, something that should not be happening. Heck I could simply sweep one across my hand and it would leave behind a flurry of bristles.

When I washed them, I did it super carefully, using lukewarm water (to avoid warming and loosening the glue), washing the bristles pointing downwards (to stop the water going in the base and swelling it up and again loosening the glue and bristles.) Drying them bristles pointing down (ditto, see previous)…you name it, to preserve the brushes I did it all, to no avail.

So as great as the coverage these brushes gave (which obviously lessened over time due to the patches that appeared due to the missing bristles), these brushes have had to go.
I now have some Neal’s Yard Remedies brushes that are so different that it wouldn’t be fair to compare them to the bM brushes, but so far so good. They are the softest, smoothest silkiest bristled brushes ever and in over a month I have honestly only seen 3 bristles fall out!

Of course, I’m picky and think these brushes aren’t without their minor faults, and so the hunt for the perfect brushes continues….but for now I think I’m pretty happy.

Ps. If anyone else has experienced this with the brushes I would love to know, or if you think they are amazing please do share that too, because who knows, maybe I just had those 1/100 rogue brushes?!

1 comment

  1. I agree with you about the brushes. I have a love/ hate with the flawless face brush. I bought it with a bm foundation. For the money I spent, I expected better quality. It sheds like a mofo! Even after washing! But I can't get the same coverage with other brushes.

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