My New Brushes from Coastal Scents

Hello ladies,

How are you doing today? I hope you're having a wonderful day ahead of you. For those of you who've been following me so far, you already know that I am a brush fanatic. Whenever there are good and affordable brushes, I would get them and try them out before giving my two cents to the internet world. I've heard about Coastal Scents for a long time but did not get a chance to make a purchase from that website until last Thanksgiving when they had a 25% off sale. CS is known for their affordable and well-made brushes, which makes a lot of people buy from them. However, the reviews on CS brushes are split: either they are made from a really good batch or a really bad one. The consensus drew to the same point about their natural fiber brushes that they are not as reliable as the synthetic versions. Since I did not want to take a risk on buying some brushes that I may not be able to use, I decided to get two synthetic brushes from CS. Also, I kind of needed a synthetic eyeshadow brush for foiling, which motivated me to buy these two brushes.

Top: Synthetic Shadow Brush
Bottom: Black on Black Taklon Angle Liner

1. Synthetic Shadow Brush ($2.95 USD)

A close-up at the head of the brush: the tip is dyed darker and I just applied some pink eye shadows so it looked kind of pink!

Initially, I purchased this brush to foil my mineral pigments since synthetic brushes do not absorb a lot of materials. However, this brush failed to foil my pigments because the head is big: it is much bigger than a regular MAC 239, which is 3/8 inch across! I was a bit disappointed at first but then it caught me by surprise:

This brush is unbelievably soft! Moreover, the bristles are dense enough to apply my mineral eye shadows dry. Unlike the other synthetic brushes, this one has the finest and softest bristles ever! It's like hugging your teddy bear to your eyes: no scratches whatsoever, just softness. Also, the wideness of the brush makes it easier to blend as well. This brush probably is a combination of the 239 and 217 brushes in synthetic fiber. I've been using this brush for a while now and love every single minute with it. My MAC 239 and Loew-Cornell 3/8 maxine's mop are underutilized these days.

2. Black on Black Taklon Angle Liner ($1.85 USD)

Close-up of the brush head

Top: CS Black on Black Taklon Angle Brush
Bottom: MAC 266 SE Angle Brush

Although I already have a MAC 266, when it comes to applying gel liner this brush does not give me a crisp line. The line is simply too thin and reapplying the liner sometimes is out of question: there are days that I just cannot draw a line! So when I saw this taklon angle brush at CS, I decided to give it a go and hopefully lining fluidlines would get a bit easier with this brush.

Unlike the synthetic shadow brush, this one has both a black handle and a black metal ferrule which makes it look very similar to a MAC brush. In fact, its length probably is the same with the full-size 266 as well. The only differences are the golden taklon fibers, shiny handles, and slightly smaller brush head. The smaller size actually makes it easier to apply gel liner than the 266. Also, the brush is slightly denser in both the brush head and handles. I find the brush packs on the material much better than its more expensive version from MAC. Since I got this brush, MAC 266 is no longer my liner brush, it has another mission which it happily performs.

These brushes are easy to clean, although the first one takes a bit longer to dry. With their current price tags, they are flying off the shelf very fast so catch them if you can. Although I have my reservations on CS brushes, at least these two proved me wrong. If you need new shadow or liner brush, they are for you.

Take care ladies,
Your Makeup Blogger

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