Welcome, lovers of Japanese brushes! If this is your first time visiting, I’d like you to know that I have a page that’s accessible on the left menu bar with every Fude post linked, as well as a description of the topics discussed in those posts and a list of which brushes are in which posts. For cell phone users, this page is visible by clicking on Navigation. If this is not your first time here, welcome back!

Regarding my measurements, “hair width” is measured from the widest part, regardless of the overall brush shape. I don’t measure thickness. Anything with an asterisk indicates that I had to measure that one myself as those numbers were not listed on the website. All figures listed in inches are converted estimates.

With costs of materials ever increasing and supply of certain hair types being harder to acquire, brush prices also increase. So, the prices I’ve listed might not reflect what is current, though I will do my best to keep them updated.

*DISCLOSURE: To those who have been using my affiliate link to shop from CDJapan, thank you so much! I am truly grateful!
The commission from that was used to partially pay for one of the brushes in this post. Otherwise, all other brushes discussed today (excluding the one accidentally shipped to me) were purchased by me with my own money. Non-highlighted links in bold blue font (Example) are standard non-affiliate links. Links marked in bold black font with a light blue background (Example) are affiliate links. Affiliate links allow me to get a commission if purchases are made directly using my link. Whether you click to shop through them or not, I appreciate you visiting and I hope you find the information I’ve provided to be helpful!

Chikuhodo

The Zen Collection became available at various retailers in very limited quantities. On CDJapan’s website, they stocked 5 of each brush individually and 5 complete sets. Within the first 5 minutes, most of the brushes were in low stock. Within 10 minutes a few sold out. By 20 minutes, everything was gone. They did not allow the purchase of more than 1 brush per person in order to allow more people to get their hands on them. There have been several restocks since the initial launch that were less restrictive in quantity. I don’t know how much supply there was in total, but Fude Beauty emailed customers stating the line is discontinued.

I love the look of the brushes, which was enough to make me want something from this collection, but I was also curious to know the difference between Chikuhodo’s standard and premium Silver Fox Hair. When I put them on my face, I can’t tell a difference. The softness is the same. It’s only when I feel them along the strands, not the tips, that I can tell the premium hair feels silkier, as if the bristles have been conditioned. I’m not sure if treating the bristles is what makes them special, if it’s the difference in the hair color, or if the premium hair naturally has some other quality I can’t detect that makes it “premium” above the FO series hair. Since the tips feel the same to me anyway, I recommend just choosing the shapes one likes most between the FO series and Zen series while there is stock left.

In my opinion, the Chikuhodo Premium Silver Fox hair feels the same as the silver fox hair used by Koyudo in their Yoshiki SF line.

It was also interesting to me that the ZEN series has Granadillo wood handles, just like the discontinued Homare line. I don’t know if that was to make use of leftover stock of handles or because the brand just likes that wood, but I’m not complaining. The wood is beautiful and I hope they use it in yet another line in the future.

Chikuhodo ZEN Series ZE-5 Eyeshadow Brush

• Full Length: 145mm / 5.7 in
• Hair Length: 30mm / 1.18 in
• Hair Width: *13mm / 0.51 in
• Bristle Type: Premium Silver Fox
• Handle: Granadillo Wood

Of course, I was drawn to nearly all the brushes in the set, but because I already own so many FO series brushes, I wanted the ZE-5 for its intriguing shape that added something different to my collection. I wanted it specifically for highlighting because it reminded me of my beloved Bisyodo CH-HC brush, just thinner. It’s interesting that this is intended to be used for eyeshadows since it’s so huge for that purpose. I have round-shaped eyes, and I think this is why I don’t enjoy using it for even eye tasks as simple as single shadow looks.

For highlighting purposes, it’s better with loose pressed products. The hair is resilient enough to pick up firmer pressed highlighters, but it’s more prone to dispersing in a stripe if it’s a wetter formula that sticks where it’s placed and needs to be blended and/or buffed in. My favorite use for this brush is with the Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Multi-Glow Highlighter because that one contains four color strips and the pointed tip allows to me pick up an isolated shade without the other colors getting mixed in. It’s also great for spotlighting, which I tend to take a brighter highlighter shade from one of the other four strips and precisely place it in one strategic spot at the very highest points of my cheekbones. The Bisyodo brush is still my favorite, but this has been my second most used since purchasing it.

If it ever comes back in stock, the link to it is HERE.

Chikuhodo ZEN Series ZE-6 Eyeshadow Brush

• Full Length: 135mm / 5.32 in
• Hair Length: 20mm / 0.79 in
• Hair Width: *14mm / 0.55 in
• Bristle Type: Premium Silver Fox
• Handle: Granadillo Wood

There was a mixup with my order, the only time that ever happened to me via CDJapan in all the years I’ve been purchasing from them. That’s how I ended up with this brush. I never planned on buying it because I thought it was going to be like the FO-5, which I ended up selling. However, this brush is so much softer than that one and gentler in the corner of my eyes. It’s a great brush to quickly pack on a lot of color to my lids and crease. I’ve found myself using it more often than I expected over the past year!
In addition to using it for eyeshadows, it also works as a highlighter brush too. Sometimes in my massive collection, I end up misplacing my favorite brushes, so in times that I’m in too much of a rush to look for something else, I’ll wipe off the shadow on a microfiber cloth and apply my highlighter with it.
The third and final use for this brush is for contouring my nose. It’s the right shape, and picks up and disperses the product gently.

At the time that I’m finalizing this post, the brush is on backorder for 5500 YEN available HERE.

Chikuhodo ZEN Series ZE-3 Blush Brush

• Full Length: 155mm / 6.1 in
• Hair Length: 40mm / 1.57 in
• Hair Width: *33mm / 1.3 in
• Bristle Type: Premium Silver Fox
• Handle: Granadillo Wood

This brush is more rounded than the FO-3, which slightly ovular. I like this aspect. The two brushes are quite similar, but the reason I ultimately bought it is because the FO-3 is one of my favorite blush brushes of all time. I even have a backup of it. So, if there was a chance to get a premium version of it, I just had to take it! I am happy to say I have no regrets on this decision. It really is like having another FO-3, but even better shaped to my preference.

This picks up a good amount of product with one dip into a pan of powder blush (though baked gelee formulas need a lot more pressure and swipes). It’s dense enough that I can buff, and is still loose enough to lay down blush in a way that isn’t too heavy upon the initial application. I can use it for applying face powder, but the splay isn’t super wide, so it takes longer than with my typical powder brushes. I can also use it with bronzer, though I have to be careful not to use it with my more pigmented bronzers, or else it can apply too much at once.

As I mentioned, it’s like an even better suited FO-3 for me, so I’m extremely happy I bought this.

If this brush ever returns in stock, the link to it is HERE.

Beautylish Presents

Beautylish Presents the Year of the Rabbit Lunar New Year Powder Brush

• Full Length: *170mm / 6.69 in
• Hair Length: 47.6mm / 1.87 in
• Hair Width: *40mm / 1.57 in
• Bristle Type: Blue Squirrel

This brush is very similar to all the other Lunar New Year ones thus far from Beautylish, which means it’s similar to Chikuhodo’s Z-9 brush as far as I can tell from my research online (I don’t own the Z-9).

It’s soft and just dense enough to keep it from feeling floppy, ensuring one has full control of the direction of the bristles while moving it, and airy enough to disperse a thin layer of product. It makes a great brush for a light (not fully sheer) powder application, and for large mostly-diffused bronzing purposes. I’m in love, yet again, with the design. As long as these brushes remain the same price each year for this quality and craftsmanship, I will continue to recommend them. They’re very much worth it to get if you’re a lover of Japanese fude.

Because this post took so long to complete, I can say that as of the end of January, I also own the newest Beautylish Lunar New Year Brush in the Dragon design. I have not used it yet though, so I’ll have to include photos in another fude post in the future. Just looking at it though, the quality appears to be just as great as the others.

Eihodo

Eihodo Makie Powder Brush Goldfish Silver

• Full Length: 173mm / 6.8 in
• Hair Length: 55mm / 2.16 in
• Hair Width: *50mm / 1.97 in
• Bristle Type: Gray Squirrel

This brush came with a gold or silver ferrule color option. I chose the silver because I felt it matched more of the makie powder color in the handle design. The silver ferrule was also around $7 lower in price. In hindsight, after getting another brush in the goldfish handle (brush isn’t tested enough, so I can’t include it in this post yet), I should have gotten the gold since it’s more of my preference, but silver still looks nice.

This brush is on the floppy side, due in part to how long the bristles are and the brush not being as tightly packed. Due to the more rectangular shape, I can get away with using it as a bronzer brush, but it has to be a pigmented bronzer since it would take too long to build up with my sheerer bronzer formulas and with shades that are too close to my skin tone. It just isn’t dense enough to my liking to use for blending or buffing, so I prefer to use this exclusively as a sweeping brush to apply a sheer layer of finishing powder to my face. I could set powder with it as well, but since I prefer a setting powder brush that has resilient enough hairs or is packed tight enough to do a little bit of buffing/blending while applying, it’s better for me as just a finisher.

Above are size comparisons to the Chikuhodo FO-9 that I consider nearly rectangular in shape to show how much more rectangular the Eihodo brush looks.

At the time of me posting, this brush is 17000 YEN and available HERE. The gold ferrule version, which is also accessible through the link, is 18000 YEN.

Ordering From Fude Beauty

My first order from Fude Beauty arrived while I was overseas and had been unpacked for me, so I didn’t see how it was originally shipped. I just knew that it took about a week to be delivered after I received the initial shipping notification.

With my second order via FedEx, I bought three brushes and was shocked to see them arrive in a large poster-board/paperboard envelope with no additional padding/protection other than the (admittedly beautiful) pink bubble wrap. Up until this point, all my orders from other Fude websites came in boxes to help give extra protection against being dropped, stepped on, thrown, or even from the weight of another person’s heavy package being placed on top of it. My envelope looked like it had been stepped on, and one of the three brushes had a large dent in it.

I contacted Fude Beauty’s customer service and they asked if I wanted a refund for the brush or a replacement. I knew there was a Fude Beauty exclusive brush I still wanted, but was waiting to purchasing during a coupon event, so I asked them for a refund so I could add the replacement brush to that future order and they wouldn’t need to spend their own money on shipping.
I ended up deciding not to reorder the brush (and not reviewing it for the blog either), but I did make that third order.

The third order was via DHL. I specifically chose that option hoping I’d get better shipping packaging because my DHL orders always came in a box. It turned out that it didn’t matter. My Fude Beauty order came once again in an envelope. The envelope isn’t the biggest issue for me, and it’s more about not having at least a smaller box on the inside to help protect the brushes, the way that Rephr ships their brushes (eco-friendly recycle-padded envelope with a small carboard box housing the brushes on the inside). Considering Fude Beauty’s shipping costs are the same as everyone else in Japan, yet they pack the brushes in the least protected method of the other retailers I’ve purchased from, it’s quite irritating. As I said, the bubble wrap with the flower logo sticker is a beautiful touch, but I prefer to have my brushes protected over a pretty presentation, especially since it’s coming thousands of miles with plenty of opportunities to be damaged along the way. When I’ve bought brushes from Mercari, it was understandable to get them in bubble-mailers because I didn’t request a higher shipping option (typically $5) and it was coming from within the US. However, getting a similar experience with $20 shipping is unacceptable. Even though I’m a CDJapan Affiliate, I can honestly say CDJapan has the best and most protected packaging. I once got an order where they even bubble wrapped a card! The usual card with every order that has washing/care instructions on it. Brushes that automatically come with Paulownia boxes are still wrapped with care by them. Plus, they have a much better free shipping minimum than Fude Beauty!

While Fude Beauty’s customer service is great (I contacted them another time when their website was having problems issuing the coupons), I’m so displeased with the way their items are shipped that I will only order from them again for brush exclusives on their website. Even though the company is willing to replace or refund damaged goods, the fact that these gorgeous brushes with rare hairs and special handles will be unwanted and wasted in someone’s collection, or even tossed out (since they can’t be fixed and resold) due to carelessness bothers me as a lover of fude. Considering Fude Beauty is seemingly the most popular of the Japanese brush retailers with their early access to products, exclusives, and the number of semi-large influencers I see affiliated with the brand, I expected way more consideration for their packaging and deliveries.

There are of course pros and cons with every retailer of fude, so I wrote up a chart to help with comparisons between them as things stand to my current knowledge. In the future, these things may be different.

Eihodo Maiko Powder Brush Makie Series

• Full Length: 167mm / 6.57 in
• Hair Length: 47mm / 1.85 in
• Hair Width: *42mm / 1.65 in
• Bristle Type: Gray Squirrel

This is the brush that was in my first ever Fude Beauty order. It was originally listed as a limited release (of I believe only 100 brushes total). It had been available as a pre-order and for months was only available via Fude Beauty. Eventually, Fude Beauty restocked it in low quantity numbers and CDJapan got their hands on a few, but not many.

This brush remind me of the Beautylish Lunar New Year brushes due to the shape and quality of the hair, plus the shiny black ferrules and handles with such a beautiful makie design. It’s exquisite! Even though I paid more money buying it from Fude Beauty, I have no regrets.

This can be used for all over face powder, bronzer, and blush depending on what one’s preferences are. All over powder is the main function, but because there’s a significant amount of hair in the bundle at about medium denseness, it can buff fairly well (for a squirrel hair brush) in addition to applying a light to medium amount of product. It’s not going to be ultra sheer because it’s not wispy or loose, which is what I like about it. With bronzer, there’s a large surface area, but I can pick up some on the side instead of the tips to prevent the area of application from being too wide for my liking. Again, the application won’t be as diffused as it would from a brush with a wider hair splay, but it’s still sheerer than my typical bronzer brushes. So, I still use it with more pigmented bronzers. For blush, it’s definitely too big for my preference, but it can still work if product is picked up in a small area and if the blush is a more neutral nude type of color. I still use it mainly for powder (and/or bronzer if my bronzer brush favorites aren’t nearby).

This brush is currently 21000 YEN and available HERE.

Eihodo (Z11) Makie Blending Brush Sakura Black

• Full Length: 115mm / 4.53 in
• Hair Length: 20mm / 0.78 in
• Hair Width: *10mm / 0.39 in
• Bristle Type: Gray Squirrel

I’m fairly certain I once owned the Chikuhodo Z-11, but I believe I might have sold it long ago. I liked the softness, but the length of the hair made it too floppy while blending, which I discovered that a slightly firmer blend with less movement is my preference with eyeshadows. This Eihodo brush is extremely similar to that one. However, mine is bundled a bit tighter, so it isn’t as floppy. The hair type is the same and nearly as soft in quality. It’s still not my preferred blending brush, but I honestly wanted it for the handle pattern. I don’t mind using a reasonably short brush, but this is shorter than I tend to reach for. If I’m going to use it in the crease, it’s with lighter transition shades that just need to be a wash of color anyway, and not something to build up depth.

This brush at the time of posting is 3850 YEN and available HERE. There is also a handle version in red.

Eihodo RE10-1 Makie Eyeshadow Brush Sakura Black

• Full Length: 105mm / 4.13 in
• Hair Length: 12mm / 0.47 in
• Hair Width: *7mm / 0.28 in
• Bristle Type: Gray Squirrel and Weasel

I also bought this brush for the handle, but because it has a more resilient bristle (weasel) mixed in, I get stronger blending power along with precision application from the pointed tip. My two most similar shaped brushes are pictured below.

The Koyudo brush is my favorite of the three because it has the most defined point, which means I can use it to apply a highlighting shade to the inner corners of my eyes without the shimmer going everywhere. It’s also easier to use precisely on the lower lash line. The Eihodo brush is still better at being able to diffuse a smokey look in the outer corner and crease than the rephr brush, but the rephr brush is still nice for working with darker shadows in the outer corner. The Eihodo brush is softer feeling than the Koyudo brush because there’s enough gray squirrel hair in the mix. I like this brush, and find it even more useful than the Sakura blending brush, but I still tend to not use it as often because of the total brush length.

This brush is currently 3850 YEN and available HERE. There is also a red handle version.

Eihodo Face Mask Applicator Brush

• Full Length: 147mm / 5.78 in
• Hair Length: 28mm / 1.1 in
• Hair Width: *35mm / 1.38 in
• Bristle Type: Raccoon

This works for applying face masks evenly, but I wanted to use it with cream bronzer and contour to see how precisely I could shape my face with this. It applies those products perfectly well, but it’s the matter of blending it out that isn’t as easy, since the brush isn’t shaped for that purpose. So, I may as well use a regular brush that can do both.
Also, this is softer than my other raccoon hair brush. I read that raccoons have guard hair that’s coarse and stiff, as well as underfur that’s softer. Even though the hair in this brush is softer than the Koyudo y-8, it doesn’t feel that much softer that I’d suspect that they came from two different areas of the raccoons.

Muragishi Sangyou

MS-4 Mai Sakura Eyeshadow Brush

• Full Length: 138mm / 5.43 in
• Hair Length: 13mm / 0.51 in
• Hair Width: *10mm / 0.39 in
• Bristle Type: Gray Squirrel

I was a bit shocked to see this labeled as Gray Squirrel because it feels synthetic to the touch. It’s so firmly packed that even though it’s soft, there isn’t much movement in the bottom third of the brush closest to the ferrule. When used on the eyelid to apply shadows or adding color to the crease, the movement is almost entirely from the tip to halfway down at most. This stiffness in the bottom half, yet the amount of give in the tips, allows it to feel gentle when used in the eye area while performing more like a goat brush. I’ve never had a gray squirrel brush work as sturdily as this (only other unusual one I own is the Mizuho MB125) because they’re usually designated for lighter washes and diffused eyeshadow looks rather than packing on color, but I think that gives this brush a wonderful balance. I consider it one of my workhorse eye brushes. I’ve even been using it more than my beloved Sonia G Builder Three and Builder Pro. The flat shape is thin enough that I can also comfortably apply eyeshadow to my lower lash line, making it even more versatile. In fact, I can do pretty much every eyeshadow step using this one brush (and I have done that plenty of times).

This brush is 3200 YEN, at the time of me posting, and available HERE.

Wayne Goss

Wayne Goss Brush 13

• Full Length: 165mm / 6.5 in
• Hair Length: 30mm / 1.2 in
• Hair Width: *25mm / 0.98 in
• Bristle Type: Goat

This brush is wonderful. It’s one of those that I like to compare to applying a product on the face with a bunny tail. It’s soft and bouncy with the majority of the movement remaining in the tips. It’s great for blush and bronzer, and I actually got this as a set with Wayne Goss’ Bronzer/Contour duo.

I can buff with it, but it doesn’t apply too much at the start either. The way that it’s bundled keeps it feeling airy even though there’s a lot of hair packed in and it feels medium density overall. The downside of the brush is that it sheds a lot. I love using it, but I’m fearful about how it will perform after a few years, so I bought a second one when it was half off during a Beautylish sale. Then, nearly all of Wayne’s remaining brushes sold out and I would later learn a new fundamental collection was being created.

The F2 brush in that collection is like a smaller, slightly denser, and even softer version of the #13 brush. I posted comparison photos on my Instagram. The downside is that for the past month that I’ve had the F2, it sheds even more than the 13!

Rephr

On the topic of their “using natural fibers” labeling, it bothers me that rephr isn’t more forthcoming with listing their hair types. I’ve discussed this in the past and gave them at least some credit when they started listing brushes as “goat” and explained in their FAQ that most of their brushes are some combination of what would be considered saikoho and sokoho depending on what purpose the brush served and which types were needed. Then they finally started listing some of their brushes as synthetic or partly synthetic. However, when they list in the description “using natural fibers,” it doesn’t clarify whether that means it’s a 100% natural animal hair brush or if they use animal hair in addition to synthetic. Also, choosing to say “natural fibers” instead of “natural hair” leads me to wonder if they aren’t even referring to animal hair. Plant fibers would be considered “natural fibers” and there are brushes made of that (such as from Pure Colors Cosmetics). So, the wording leaves wiggle room that the brushes could be animal hair mixed with plant fibers, flat out plant fibers, or some other natural non-animal source.
What lead me down this rabbit hole is the fact that some of my brushes from rephr weren’t listed as synthetic, yet they felt like synthetic mixed brushes. This made me question the entire labeling system until I thought more about their wording and how it leaves them open to using other means of avoiding a “synthetic” label.

The reason this is important is because of their pricing and authenticity. We all know natural hair sources in the upper tiers are expensive because the supply of high quality ones are dwindling. If, for example, I bought a brush “using natural saibikoho” and I bought it thinking I was getting an insane deal on the price, but in reality the brush was made “using saibikoho” along with some other types, then I’m not getting what I thought I paid for. I’m not actually experiencing what a true pure saibikoho brush feels like. If the quality is lackluster, someone would think saibikoho wasn’t worth buying and/or they would think the other companies were overcharging theirs. So companies producing authentic goods could potentially lose business because of another company ruining the reputation of saibikoho with misleading labeling.

Ultimately, things are worth what the consumer is willing to pay. If the brushes perform as well as similar counterparts, the material technically doesn’t matter. However, I do tend to see a quality difference and half of my rephr brushes feel worth their discounted prices (never full price) while the other half don’t. I really started liking rephr more and have been giving them more of a chance, but I go back and forth on whether I want to continue buying their products and reviewing them because of their unclear descriptions.

Rephr 37

• Full Length: *168mm / 6.6 in
• Hair Length: *30mm / 1.18 in
• Hair Width: *27mm / 1.06 in
• Bristle Type: Natural Fibers

This brush head is nearly identical in size, shape, and density to the Wayne Goss 13. The rephr brush is decently soft, but Wayne’s is much softer. This purchase was also to ensure I’d have a backup brush since it performs the same way as well, but it managed to shed far less. Since rephr has sales/concept store offers of 40-50% discounts fairly frequently, this could be a more affordable alternative. Granted, the Wayne Goss brush is still softer and holds its shape better. Compared to other rephr brushes though, this one doesn’t splay as wide as most other shapes of theirs (which is a good thing in my eyes).

I should mention that this is one of those brushes that felt like it wasn’t entirely made of animal hair, and I later noticed it was just listed as “natural fibers” on the website. So, this could factor into whether someone wants this brush or not. Even if it is made entirely of animal hair, perhaps someone won’t like that it doesn’t feel that way to the touch, in my opinion.

Rephr 36

• Full Length: *157mm / 6.18 in
• Hair Length: *15mm / 0.59 in
• Hair Width: *18mm / 0.71 in
• Bristle Type: Natural Fibers

I have a few brushes that are shaped this way that I really enjoy, so I hoped this would be a great multipurpose brush. The best part about it is how dense it is, because it seems to help me get the most coverage out of my products. The downside is the shape. I would have preferred a flatter and less wide portion where it angles and tapers, so I could have been able to get between tight spaces easier on my particular face shape.

As it is, the best use for it is applying eyeshadow primer. The size makes it difficult to control the area for concealer (and between the eyes and bridge of my nose). Not having a section that can diffuse what was applied makes it not ideal for applying contour to the hollows either. Since I have other brushes that can apply eyeshadow primer in addition to concealer, I haven’t used this brush again. I only kept using it long enough to test it thoroughly.

Rephr 35

• Full Length: *155mm / 6.1 in
• Hair Length: *18mm / 0.71 in
• Hair Width: *15mm / 0.59 in
• Bristle Type: Natural and Synthetic Fibers

This brush is small enough to fit in the hollows nicely for cream contour use, and very quickly covers the eye for priming. So, it’s already more useful to me than Brush 36. However, I wish there was a version that’s oval instead of round so I could get more sharpness. Although I can use it for cream contouring and/or bronzing, it doesn’t surpass the brushes I regularly use for that purpose (mainly the Patrick Ta Contour Brush).
Also, one thing I like about Sonia G’s Jumbo Concealer brush is that I can get maximum coverage, but still easily blend out the edges. This brush is dense enough to pack on product, but I feel like it also lifts some of it back away and blends the outer edges a little too well. So, it’s a useful brush, but not enough to replace anything currently in my routine.

Rephr 26

• Full Length: *147mm / 5.79 in
• Hair Length: 11.5mm / 0.45 in
• Hair Width: *7mm / 0.28 in
• Bristle Type: Uncut Natural Hair

I discussed this a bit already in the Eihodo RE10-1 section. My favorite use for this brush is applying a dark eyeshadow to the outer corner/outer v. I can pick up the product with the side, not the tip, and just lay it onto the outer corner like a stamp. It gives the right amount to smoke out the eye look without it turning too dramatic or putting in much effort. I bought this because of Sofia Sees Beauty’s recommendation video and how it might be the closest dupe I was going to find at the time for Sonia G’s Crease One brush which has been discontinued.

I got this brush for such a niche purpose, but I can’t deny it works well enough for me to keep it around. It’s a bit too chunky for applying shadows to my lower lash line, but I can do regular crease work with it instead.

Rephr 29

• Full Length: *137mm / 5.39 in
• Hair Length: 2.4mm / 0.1 in
• Hair Width: *4mm / 0.16 in
• Bristle Type: Uncut Natural Hair

I purchased this for its lining ability. I’m forever looking for a backup to my tiny Smashbox brush that was discontinued. That brush works so well in applying a good amount of product to my lower lash line without making a mess, being able to blend it out, and also applying highlight shades to my inner corner while being precise about it. Naturally, I expect all tiny brushes to be as good, but they really aren’t. The way the tips are shaped on this brush, I constantly accidentally flick powder shadow into my eyes while trying to apply shadow to my lower lash line. It sweeps it up along those edges that splay out. This can be seen in the photo below compared to the extremely similar original Wayne Goss 08 brush.

I’m used to having to sometimes use the aloe trick to reshape my rephr brushes. So, I’ve been able to get this brush to work better for my needs, but I have to reshape it every so often. Realistically though, I just keep going back to the Smashbox brush yet again, or I use my Wayne Goss equivalent if it’s dirty.

Surratt

In a Surratt review from 2015, Sonia G mentioned that Chikuhodo makes Chicca brushes. Chikuhodo also lists Suqqu as one of the brands they produce brushes for on their website. Both of those brands have brushes similar to Surratt’s, so it stands to reason there’s a high chance Chikuhodo makes Surratt brushes as well. Since Chikuhodo is one of my favorite brushmakers, I figured I would like Surratt’s brushes, but the premium price is what kept me from getting them. Occasionally, Surratt has a 30% off sale on their website. Even more rare are when select brushes go for 40-50% off via them or Nordstrom. The only brush I currently own of theirs came from one of these Nordstrom sales. However, I have purchased from Surratt’s website for other products. They shipped fast with the products presented nicely and securely inside.

Surratt Artistique Petite Classique Eyeshadow Brush

• Full Length: *128mm / 5.04 in
• Hair Length: 9mm / 0.35 in
• Hair Width: *6mm / 0.24 in
• Bristle Type: Canadian Squirrel

Nordstrom had 50% off all Surratt products on their website. By the time I learned about the sale, the majority of the brushes were out of stock and this was the only one left that I wanted.

Because the hair on this is comparatively long for a small brush, I don’t feel I get enough control to apply the amount of product I want to my lower lash line. This brush is soft due to the hair type and also doesn’t pick up as much product, so I’m unsatisfied with the wash of color. However, I like a natural looking brightened inner corner, so this suits my needs for applying a highlight shimmer to my inner corners and highlighting the arch under my brow bones. The small surface area doesn’t make it ideal for me to use in applying shadows all over my eyes, so I haven’t gotten much use out of this brush. I don’t mind because I wanted to experience what at least one Surratt brush was like, but it’s a brush that can be skipped.

Hakuhodo

Hakuhodo B133GS (September ’22 Limited Edition Red handles & bronze ferrules)

• Full Length: *128mm / 5.04 in
• Hair Length: *14mm / 0.55 in
• Hair Width: *11mm / 0.43 in
• Bristle Type: Goat and possibly Synthetic

I assume the GS in the name means it’s a goat and synthetic hybrid brush considering Hakuhodo has been transitioning more towards goat and synthetic mixtures from 2022 and onward. The newly released brushes with pure goat tend to be part of special sets and is no longer the norm. I bought this brush, and all limited edition Hakuhodo brushes from Fude Japan. That website usually has very few details listed. I tend to avoid buying goat and synthetic hybrids, but at least with this one I don’t notice much of a difference between the way this performs versus a fully natural hair goat brush from Hakuhodo. So, that’s a good thing in my books.

This brush is a traditionally shaped shader brush, but it’s wider than most. Viewing it from the side, its widest part is in the middle or belly of the brush, but because the hair is so long, it performs like a fully flat shader brush. I can get a bit more picked up if I lay the brush flatter, but for the mostpart, I get less pickup in one go than I usually want. This just makes time using it to apply mattes or shimmers to my lid take a little longer. Picking up mattes is satisfactory, but I don’t like it as much for shimmers.

Hakuhodo G/J5545 (April ’22 Limited Edition Mint Handle)

• Full Length: 178mm / 7 in
• Hair Length: 38mm / 1.5 in
• Hair Width: 8.6mm (thick) / 0.34 in
• Bristle Type: Blue Squirrel & Goat

Black and white mixed hair brushes are so pleasing to my eye, which is the main reason I’ve been interested in them lately. It gets a little tricky when the hair types are so different though. Blue squirrel and goat mixes, in theory, should be the best of both worlds combining the resilience of goat with the softness of squirrel. However, this works best with makeup that is buildable and blendable. Ultra pigmented products that are harder to blend will make the squirrel hair useless to get an even application and the blending work falls on the goat hair, which can result in a patchy look. This is also the case with dry powders that like to stick to the skin where it first touches and is difficult to move around. As I discovered with a brush I’ll discuss at the end, certain shimmer formulas and tighter packed products are too tough for the squirrel hair to pick up, and so the work falls to goat once again.

All of these potential issues, thankfully, was not a problem for me with this blush brush. Sure, it doesn’t pick up a lot of product at once, but that’s fine with me when it comes to blush and not wanting to overload my brush anyway. I don’t want to generalize, but based on the Hakuhodo squirrel/goat mix brushes I’ve used (in this review and future ones to come), it appears to be a trend that they keep these brushes on the sheer to the lightest side of medium denseness at most. My Hakuhodo brushes tend to be airier and have even less blending strength. I like the shape of this brush, as it makes for a nice sweeping application on the cheeks, and I like the performance. The hair mix compensates for the lack of density, giving me better results than an equivalent brush if said brush was a pure squirrel mix. However, for someone who prefers the pure softness of blue/grey squirrel, just choosing a denser squirrel brush (even if it’s more expensive) would probably be preferable. And for someone who likes more buffing power, a pure goat brush (above sokoho grade) would probably be more preferable than this one too. This particular brush works as an in-between and is close to having a “best of both worlds” situation, but I forewarn that not all brush shapes of this hair mix will have that kind of result.
I’m thrilled to have this brush. I can use it in a few other ways, but only with my softest and most blendable bronzing and contouring powders. This brush works best for me and my preferences exclusively for blush.

Hakuhodo B004 (April ’22 Limited Edition Green Handle)

• Full Length: Around 4 inches?
• Hair Length: 11.5 mm/ 0.45 in
• Hair Width: ?
• Bristle Type: Pine Squirrel & North American Squirrel

*I always list the official website specifications of sizing whenever they’re available and forgo including my own measurements. In this instance, I forgot that the limited edition brushes are smaller than the standard sizes, so I did not remember to measure this by hand before I left it in the US.

I’ve seen some information referring to North American Squirrel as Chipmunk. I’ve been looking for a “chipmunk” or “tamias” labeled brush for four years now, ever since I missed out on this one Koyudo Brush, so I don’t know if I’ve technically reached my goal or not. I’m going to continue to assume North American Chipmunk is different from North American Squirrel unless I learn otherwise.
Pine squirrel brushes alone tend to be slightly coarser than this, so I welcome the addition of that North American squirrel hair. The shape and softness is quite comfortable to use on my sensitive lower lash line, though when I apply eyeshadow there, it’s a little thicker than I usually have when I use my go-to Smashbox brush, but sometimes a look calls for that extra drama. It picks up nearly as much hair as goat and grips onto the powder very well. I don’t have to worry about product dropping onto my face before it reaches my eyes, except for eyeshadow formulas lacking good adhesion or ones that are extra powdery, which doesn’t apply to the majority of my collection. So, this is a really enjoyable brush to use! There are very few squirrel hair eye brushes I actually like to use, and this is one of them. However, this version of the brush with such a tiny handle is the reason I don’t reach for it nearly as often as I would if I had a larger handle version. I ordered this one for the color, but I was making a conscious effort to reach for this for testing purposes. Otherwise, it’s short size would have kept it from being used because of having to dig around and search for it at the bottom of my brush holder. I have a lot of eye brushes I enjoy, so my typical routine is to just grab the first thing I see in the shape that I need.
Hakuhodo currently sells a G004BkSL for $44. I’m not sure I like it that much to buy it for that price, but if Fude Japan ever lists a longer handle equivalent of this brush at a lower price (as can sometimes happen), I’d consider buying it.

Hakuhodo B005 (April ’22 Limited Edition Green Handle)

• Full Length: under 4 inches?
• Hair Length: ?
• Hair Width: ?
• Bristle Type: Horse? Goat with a little bit of synthetic?

*I always list the official website specifications of sizing whenever they’re available and forgo including my own measurements. In this instance, I forgot that the limited edition brushes are smaller than the standard sizes, so I did not remember to measure this by hand before I left it in the US.

I cannot confirm what type of hair this brush has because I purchased it from Fude Japan and that detail wasn’t listed. In addition, there aren’t any equivalents that I could find on the Hakuhodo USA website. The closest I could find to the shape is the J005BkSL, but the hair type is listed as goat and synthetic mix. The hair in my brush feels like horse or sable. It’s coarser than goat to me, which is why I don’t like using it. It’s so small that I only get the urge to use it for lining/detail work, but with it being rougher and on such a tiny handle, this just doesn’t get used in my collection. I don’t like it.

Hakuhodo 2023 Valentine’s Day Brush

• Full Length: *140mm / 5.5 in
• Hair Length: 40mm / 1.57 in
• Hair Width: 30mm / 1.18 in
• Bristle Type: Goat and Synthetic

The gorgeous design overshadowed the fact that this brush is a goat/synthetic mix brush, which I tend to skip out on. For a mixed brush though, it’s very enjoyable to use! It’s about a light-medium density that holds well from the base of the bristles to about the middle of the brush with the benefit of a slightly wider splay of wispy tips. It’s fully round, but because it’s tapered at the top, it doesn’t feel intuitive to use a fully circular motion while applying products. I treat it a bit like the original Real Techniques blush brush and use a combination of patting motions to apply and swiping back and forth to blend. So, I tend to use this brush more on the side rather than the tips, except for additional blending in the areas that I didn’t tap my brush into the powder (and won’t add extra product to my face).
I’ve used this brush for sweeping bronzer on and applying contour, but the majority of the time I use it as intended for blush purposes.
The performance and airiness reminds me of the Chikuhodo T-4, even though their shapes are a bit different.

Hakuhodo J210 (Feb ’23 Limited Edition Shining Pink Handle with Gold ferrule)

• Full Length: 132mm / 5.2 in
• Hair Length: 29mm / 1.14 in
• Hair Width: 30mm / 1.18 in
• Bristle Type: Goat and Possibly Synthetic

This brush, purchased from Fude Japan, didn’t have any specs listed. The J210BkSL Round Blush Blush is listed as being only goat, but mine feels partly synthetic, so I listed that in my details above just to be safe. This limited edition version may very well still just be fully goat. If it is, it’s quite softer than most other pure goat hair brushes I have from Hakuhodo.
It looked like it would be a thick and flat-head brush based on pre-wash photos, but it widens beautifully after the first wash. It’s another one of those “bouncy bunny tail” brushes that I love. It’s softer and still denser than my similarly shaped and performing rephr 37, Wayne Goss 13, and Wayne Goss F2. Unlike those, this brush seems to be bundled tighter and doesn’t have the same kind of shedding issue as the others.
Considering how gorgeous the pink handle is with the gold ferrule, combined with the performance, this is one of my favorite limited edition purchases. I wanted to buy a backup, even though the handle is on the shorter side of what I like to use for face brushes, but it sold out and never restocked. Because I have so many brushes of this style that I’ve collected over time, I don’t intend to buy the permanent version. However, if a limited edition version gets released again, I’d definitely be tempted.

Another thing I noticed about the J210BkSL version (other than the high price I definitely did not pay and is currently still $20 cheaper on Fude Japan’s website versus the Hakuhodo USA site), is that it’s listed as being useful for powder in addition to blush. Because of the small splay area, I personally wouldn’t bother using it for powder purposes. It’s also much too dense for all-over-powdering in my opinion. I recommend sticking to blush with this one.

Hakuhodo F7344 Ougi Angled L

• Full Length: *162-166mm / 6.38-6.53 in
• Hair Length: *23mm / 0.91 in
• Hair Width: *30mm / 1.18 in
• Bristle Type: Blue Squirrel and Goat

This is the brush I referred to in the 5545 section. This highlighter brush is very flexible and wispy if used in a dusting motion in the vertical direction, but there’s a lot less movement if used horizontally following a line along the cheekbone. This brush is fine for use with typical powder highlighters that aren’t too firmly pressed and aren’t too wet. With baked gelee formulas and smoother slippery ones that compress down into the pan, this doesn’t pick up an even amount of product and can look splotchy in the application. Since it’s not intended to be dense, it doesn’t blend that forcefully, which makes correcting the mistake with this brush quite the challenge. For that reason, I found myself continually reaching for my other highlighter brushes. Even the F6210 with less luxurious hair does a better job for my needs. I prefer highlighters that aren’t intense, so I thought the squirrel would give me the sheer wash and the goat would buff it out, but to get that, I have to use that horizontal motion and I prefer to use candleflame shapes if I’m going to use it that way. This motion isn’t a problem for my other fan brushes because those are mainly goat, which require less pressure to get the desired effect.

I included the photo above as an example of different fan styles from Hakuhodo, not as a comparison of how they are similar. They both perform and feel very differently.

So, to sum it up, this brush is fine with my standard powder highlighters only. I have many other highlighter brushes I’ll continue to choose over this one.

That’s everything for today! I apologize for this taking so long! I hope it was worth the wait! I have Fude 7’s photos all uploaded as a draft, and I’ve been testing them alongside Fude 6, but the writing/reviewing portion will take me quite a long time to complete. It might be another few months.

UPDATE/EDIT: I’m also throwing in here the fact that I decided to take two weeks off of blog posting so I can focus on completing wedding preparations and some relaxing time afterwards.

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤