Brushes!

Rose Golden Luxury Brush Set by Zoeva.

Thanks to two fab gals in the blogo/videosphere, I am now privy to two brush brands that have rekindled my love of makeup brushes: Zoeva and Sigma.

Not known  to many (or most, if not all) in my current work and social circle, I dabbled in makeup artistry during my beauty editor days. Wait—it was more than “dabbling”: Hair and makeup gigs supplemented my magazine editor income in kind of a major way. At the height of this alterna-career, I worked on print ads, music videos, various shoots, TV guest spots, and weddings. Bridal makeup provided a fairly steady revenue stream. Now that I’m reminiscing about it, oh my gosh, that was super fun! Some days were exhausting—i.e. music video shoots that ran until the wee hours of the morning—but worth the effort! I met so many people and made a lot of friends.

Anyway, back to the BRUSHES… 🙂

My coworker Eileen, who is the beauty and brains behind Miss Whoever You Are, wrote about Sigma brushes back in March (“Beauty Destination: Kenig + Alcone”) and I ended up practically quizzing her about everything on that post. Sigma brushes are made of exclusive Sigmax® fibers that “do not absorb product.” Eileen also mentioned that, unlike other brushes she’s tried, these don’t shed on your face. I am particularly keen on the F86 Tapered Kabuki™ Brush, designed for liquid and cream products such as foundation, BB cream, and concealer.

Now, now, now, I just need to say this. Given that I’ve worked with Product Development teams in the current iteration of my beauty career, I’ve become aware of the actual cost of brushes when cosmetic companies source them directly from manufacturers. Hence, I am very, very wary of shelling out $ for makeup brushes, that the last time I bought brushes (before the other day’s Classic Mini Mineral Brush from Sephora) was over a year ago and they were from Duane Reade, from their in-house beauty brand, Prevail—about $10 for a full mini-brush kit. That price sounds just about right.

Sigmax® Kabuki Kit

That said at the $12 to $30 range, Sigma and Zoeva brushes are fairly and reasonably priced—if you factor in all the costs involved: manufacturing, marketing, salaries, advertising, and so forth. As a general rule, do not— repeat after me—DO NOT buy brushes in the $40 to $80 range. That is a total rip-off. Message me privately and we can discuss this further.

Moving along…

The second brush brand, Zoeva, I learned from the wonderful Zoe Sugg a.k.a. Zoella (ooh, quite the aliteration!). New York Magazine did an in-depth feature of YouTube superstars in the recent cover story “The Weird Wide World of Internet Celebrity” and the British wunderkind made the cut. And at 4.4 million subscribers, I am obviously not her only fan!

Zoeva brushes are made of vegan, synthetic taklon bristles. In her Fresh Spring Makeup Tutorial, Zoella picks up the Zoeva #102 Silk Finish Face Brush to apply foundation. I love how she says, “None of my brushes are clean. But..it’s just ’cause I use them! I need to wash them though.” She keeps it real. Here’s the video:

Images courtesy of Zoeva-shop.de and Sigmabeauty.com