[athena123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kokometro

That looks like a pretty cool set of brushes.

My brush experience..
I have a few Smashbox ones that I adore. I love the Smashbox arched liner (#21)and wouldn't trade that for anything. However, the Smashbox #9 liner is too fat to even be called a liner brush. I hate it. I'd feel like I wasted my money if I'd gotten that in a set because I really think it's lousy.

I have one Mally Beauty Blush brush that is really cool but it's not cooler than my Mac blush brush but it's very heavy!!!

I have swapped for most of my brushes and been glad because I've gotten a chance to test specfic brushes and brands and compare them. Mac is my favorite over all.


My suggestion is to not order brushes off the web, but to head to sephora and feel the ones they have before you buy. I prefer the weight and handle lenght of the Mac brushes. Nars has a stellar Kabuki and Smashbox has a very cool Kabuki (also used as a bronzer). Too faced has some very very yummy brushes that are synthetic but feel like real hair in their teddy bear brushes. Just feel it one time and see what you think. I'm blown away.

I even have a few sephora brand brushes I got on sale that are spectacular.

Even BE has some cool brushes.The soft focus ones are really fun and go for a song on ebay.

In that Billyb brush set: I don't see a duo fiber aka skunk (mac 187)brush in and that's one that's a must have IMHO.I also don't see a kabuki/bronzer!!
I also don't see the a pencil/smudge brush for the smokey eye (unless it's the nine brush). Must have!!!

If I were going to buy a set, I'd buy a Mac LE SE set. You cannot beat the price of those sets. They are wonderful. If I had to pick a set, I'd check out the Sephora brush sets. For 250 you could piece together quite an arsenal of brushes you'd use and not get stuck with ones you may or may not love.

Koko, you do make a lot of good points. I sometimes find that when I buy an entire set on anything, there will always be tools I never use and those that I'm constantly reaching for; Then I find myself wishing I wouldn't have gotten the entire set and wind up selling the unused pieces. Perhaps I'm a little OCD - I like my sets to have matching pieces to begin with and supplement with others. This may be a good one to start off with, LOL!

I agree it's best to go into a store and feel the brushes, but the best deals are on line, so I have to depend upon the reputation of the company and good return policies in case something doesn't work out.

Fortunately, I already have the essentials you mentioned: kabuki [3 of them!] skunk brush [not MAC] and a kolinsky sable eyeliner [this is one of my tiny liner type of watercolor brushes that is just too small for me to ever paint with but perfect for eyeliner [except the handle is too long]