Furless Make Up Brushes Arrival and First Impressions

After driving home from - what seemed like a long - shift at work last Friday, I walk into my room to get ready to go to a house-warming party afterwards and find a lovely package waiting on my bed.

I love packages! Especially well-wrapped ones:)

My Furless Brushes order had arrived: I had ordered two days before, they shipped it the next day, and then it arrived the day after. Shipping was super quick and I really appreciated that they shipped so soon after Christmas (I believe I placed my order on Christmas afternoon)! Unlike many websites which are off duty until some time after new years, it was a really nice surprise to find my order, well-packaged, and at my place so quickly! :)

So naturally, I used this kit to do my make up for the party afterwards. The look that I was going for was very sophisticated and feminine - which is not a big challenge for my staple favourite brushes, but unfortunately was difficult with these brushes. :(

The pink fluffy brush is an to me - an all rounder eye brush, it's good for applying a base colour and blending, and it is a free gift which was included in my order.

The free gift pink brush is a fluffier version of the PRO2E brush.

I bought the Must Have Professional Make Up Brush Set which is sold for $149.95 AUD (CLICK HERE to check out this set) and the Purple Power Make Up Brush Set which retails at $49.95 AUD on the official Furless website (CLICK HERE to visit the page for this set). The Purple Power set is in the zebra print tissue and the other set is wrapped with dark navy blue tissue paper. I also ordered a dark mineral bronzer sample in the shade "Brazen" and a medium mineral foundation sample in the shade "Progressive".

The website ships internationally and has a flat rate of $5 AUD for orders within Australia (1-3 expected delivery time - amazingly quick), and $12.50 AUD for international orders.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with this brand or website in any way at all. This first impressions post in all my own personal experience and thoughts with this set. Everyone has different opinions and what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. :)

The company has an affiliate program, free make up templates you can download from the website, and a Blogger or Vlogger discount application. To apply, CLICK HERE to go to the page. I received a 50% discount on my first order since I am a blogger and blog often, however I am not an affiliate. The aim of the discount is to provide an incentive to purchase the brushes/make up from the brand to review (and if it's good, to buy more, etc.). I paid for all of this with my own money, my order totalled to $104.95 (including shipping) with the discount. If you own a blog or YouTube channel which is active, I highly suggest applying for this discount if you are planning on buying this brush set! You're not obliged to do a review either.

About the company/brand:
> PETA Approved
> Vegan and Cruelty Free company
> All synthetic brushes (I love synthetic brushes so that wasn't a deal-breaker at all)
> No animal testing

Honestly, the name of the company kind of explains it all - "Furless", they don't do anything that could potentially harm animals or wildlife in the making and testing of their products. :)

For once, Intagram does not do the aesthetically pleasing brushes justice! They look amazing in real life.

These brushes are incredibly beautiful in appearance. They are well-made in the physical sense, from the ferrule to the handles. The purple power brushes have deep burgundy purple handles, black ferrules, black bristles with vibrant true purple tips. All brushes in both sets have a glossy finish (unlike Sedona Lace and MakeUpByToni which has a matte finish to their brushes). The professional brush range has a dark royal blue handle, clean and bright gold ferrule, and black and/or white bristles.

They are slightly larger than average full-sized brushes in height and very pleasing to hold as the handle is tapered to be thinner towards the end (opposite of the bristles).

A design flaw: I needed to put a thin coat of clear nail polish on top of each brush over the brush name and brand name or else it will rub off (similar problem to the Real Techniques or original Bubbi brushes). For a kit that is named "professional", putting a top coat should have not been necessary - in my opinion. This was also necessary for the Purple Power Kit!

The Furless Brushes (and other brushes) drying after their first deep-clean after use. :)

I have only used this set twice and I deep clean/wash my brushes after every single use (I'm still a germaphobe), so my opinions of this set may change and will further develop as I use this set for a longer period of time and in a wide variety of ways.

The Professional Kit comes with 6 face brushes (the code ends with an F).

 The Professional Kit comes with 7 multi-use brushes (the code ends with an M). 

 The Professional Kit comes with 6 eye brushes (the code ends with an E). 

Another design flaw: The code for the eye brushes are not sequential, it's missing a 3E and a 5E. I did not lose any brushes, the kit makes a total of 20 brushes. Not a big deal but a bit of an annoying trait.

And last, it comes with 1 lip brush (ends with the letter L).

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE PROFESSIONAL SET:

> The brushes are stunning to look at, sophisticated and elegant in design. Although I own far more expensive brushes, these easily look more expensive.


> A few of the brushes shed noticeably after the first wash - the ferrule is sturdy so I'm going to see how these turn out and how it affects application. No further shedding has been observed so far.

> Not many brushes which are suitable as eye brushes (see image below). They are too large and would make better face brushes then eye brushes.

Some of the eye brushes which are included in the kit which are large enough to be included with the Sigma Essential or Sedona Midnight Lace face brushes (made to imitate your fingers for make up application). 

> Bristles are incredibly soft, similar to the softness of my MakeUpByToni brushes (definitely softer then Sigma brushes), but the brushes are also very flexible. This caused some brushes to form streaks when applying make up (I had to blend with a wet sponge or use patting motions with the brush).

> Most of the brushes do not come with the plastic guard which is usually included in these sets. There are only three guards: one for the fan brush, one for the eyeliner brush, and one for the lip brush.

> The flat top brush known as the PRO4F (which I was most excited about), is too soft and not dense enough, so it will move your concealer and leaves streaks in your foundation. It is one of the brushes which shed after the first wash and application of liquid foundation is difficult, I will be trying this brush with powder later on - hopefully the results will be better.

> The thin flat concealer-like brush known as the PRO4M has very long bristles which make the placement of concealer easy - just not the blending as it leaves noticeable streaks and does not buff the product into the skin! I will be using this brush for application of base eye colour instead from now on (since it's a multi-use brush) to see how that goes.

> The fan brush or PRO5M is too large and dense for precise application of highlighter, and too soft and flexible to brush off excess powder from the face! I will be trialling different uses for a while to see if I can find a good use for this brush (perhaps for body?)

> The brush roll that this set comes in doubles as a make up belt, which is useful to own when applying make up on someone else! Very pleased about the innovation of that make up roll, however (unlike the other make up roll which I own from MakeUpByToni which has received rave first impressions from me) it does not feel like a well-made, sturdy, expensive case. It feels poorly made, the faux shiny plastic material is very thin, there's no elasticity in the slots and the design of the roll will damage the shape of your brushes - unlike other good-quality rolls. So personally, it is only great as a make up belt, not so much as a travelling storage roll. If you are ordering internationally, keep this in mind that the brushes may arrived slightly bent and deformed from transit and travelling time - but that's nothing that a good brush guard cannot fix!

> The large powder brush, aka. PRO1F, is super soft and applies powder foundation well. But due to it's shape being round instead of oblong, it does not brush off powder well. The same design flaw which I found in other brush kits.

So far, these brushes have not met my expectations. :( Although there is still time for that to change.

Overall, this set was a bit of a let down. Whilst you can expect there to be a couple of bad brushes in any set, out of the 20 brushes included in this set, around 10 of them didn't meet the mark. There's still time for that to change and I plan on continuing to use these brushes until I can find a good use for them. The other brushes in this kit, I have yet to form an opinion of - although the stippling brush seems to be a good brush (I have yet to use that one). So far, it isn't looking so good for this set, I really hope it all changes and I find good uses for my in-depth review in a few more months.

From first impressions, I am glad I didn't pay the full price for this kit or I would possibly be sending it back for a refund. There are better kits out there for the full price of this kit, at least, for initial first impression.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE PURPLE POWER SET:

> I had only bought this set to take full advantage of the discount for the first order (50% off total order up to $100 discount), I absolutely love this kit so far.

> The brush case is a well-made, hard-cover light lilac purple zippered case with individual slots which have enough elasticity to keep the brushes in place when travelling.

> All brushes in the kit are the perfect amount of softness, density and firmness for even, streak-free application that does not move your skin (or concealer) too much.

> The covered lip brush is ingenious. I don't know how I could have survived without this kit for so long. It's a travel-sized lip brush with a cap which you can put on the end of the brush and turn it into a full-sized brush. It's brilliant for on-the-go lip colour application (especially for bold, vibrant colours such as MAC Morange or any bright red), and the cap makes it perfect for putting it in your make up bag. This kit is honestly worth purchasing just for this brush, amazing! :)

I like the purple power lip brush much better then the PRO1L, it is more defined and perfect for getting the sides of the lips. I would only use the PRO1L for concealing around the lips.

How ingenious is this: the cap can be attached to the end to make a full-sized brush, it can then work as a cap to protect the bristles and colour while travelling in your bag! :)

> The eye brushes in the Purple Power kit are more suited to eye make up application then in the Professional kit, the size is smaller and the bristles are soft. :)

Purple Power wins again! :)

> The large powder brush is oblong in shape which helps when applying powder and brushing off the excess - therefore, avoiding cake face! :)

The purple power powder brush has a dented ferrule which improves the shape of the brush.

Three guesses which one I prefer for avoiding cake face. ;)

After their first drying! I have yet to try out the mineral samples.

The free gift pink brush is actually a good blending brush. I used it for a cut-crease look and it managed to do it's job well. It was a surprising success; in fact, this entire order was a surprising mix. I had some brushes really impress me for application (and they were the brushes which I was originally not very interested in, i.e. the Purple Power Kit)!

Whilst I need to try out the sets more to make a more educated review, first impressions were a combination of good and bad characteristics.

In conclusion: The professional kit failed to impress me initially whilst the purple power kit managed to surprise me with it's quality. The professional kit would only be good for beginners or students of make up, if you realistically want to work in the industry professionally, I suggest only using a few of the exceptional brushes from this kit, and investing in a better set.

I own over 150 make up brushes, most of them are pictured here. 

The above picture is a snapshot of the brushes which I am comparing these sets to, I'm not just pulling this stuff out of thin air. ;)

I plan on purchasing more brushes from other brands and am going to start with high end brands from next year. :)

This first impressions review is very in-depth because a number of people have been interested to know what I thought about this set as they were planning on making a purchase, and since they did give me 50% discount - I felt I owed it to make more of an effort in this entry. :)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this entry. Please favourite, bookmark, subscribe, or follow if you have the time! New posts three times a week! All opinions are my own and will always be my own. :)


Stay Beautiful! xx

Beauty Problems! - Sigma Stained Brushes! (RESOLVED)

Shortly after receiving my much-wanted Mrs. Bunny Brush Set from Sigma, I washed them with some soft baby shampoo and dried them completely. The day after they had dried, I used these brushes for make up application for my little sister's formal.

My Sister's Teal Eyeshadow look! :)

It suited her dress very well and these photos really don't do it justice! :(

Now here's a little fact about Synthetic/Vegan brushes, they are incredibly multi-use because they do not absorb product into the actual brush bristles, especially when compared to animal hair brushes (even high quality natural bristles have a higher rate of product pigment absorption). After using a brush for an extended period of time (usually this means years), the staining of a make up brush is basically inevitable (there are many methods to prevent this for many years though which I will explain in a future blog). Cream and liquid products are a lot more likely to stain bristles then powder/dry products. Therefore, synthetic bristles are well-suited to being used for all types of products (cream, powder, liquid, etc.) without the same risk of staining as natural brushes.

Anyways, back to my Sigma brushes. I used a lovely teal blue colour which suited my sister's dress as an powder eyeshadow for her look that night. It turned out beautifully and I immediately spot cleaned all my brushes including my F70 Concealer brush. After an hour, I went to deep clean my brushes and the F70 was stained. It didn't matter how much I deep cleaned that brush, the stain would not budge! I owned multiple make up brushes at the time and I had never had a problem with staining or the eyeshadow which I had used. I had also used that exact powder eyeshadow with my other brushes from the same kit and there was no staining. I am aware that this brush is intended for concealer use but the beauty of synthetic brushes (or any kind of make up brush) is that you can use it for whatever function you want! This rule applies more  with synthetic brushes!

Brush after several deep cleaning sessions, the bristles are clearly stained with a deep teal colour! >:(

My biggest frustration with this is: a synthetic brush which I used for the first time after cleaning with a powder eyeshadow managed to stain, an hour after usage and spot cleaning, when other brushes from different brands and even brushes from the same set resisted staining.

Now don't misunderstand: the F70 brush applied product like a dream and was incredibly soft and precise. Also since staining is inevitable over time, it doesn't matter how "pretty" a brush is, as long as it does an amazing job, it should not be thrown out. However, I was still frustrated so I emailed customer support at Sigma and received a reply within 24 hours offering support with the situation. Once they realised that the brush was clearly stained, they sent me a new one which arrived today!

Aaannnddd... you're officially forgiven. :)

Now I'm not sure if I had received a faulty brush (considering synthetic bristles should not have stained that easily/quickly), or if it was to do with the white bristles (despite the other brushes with the white tips being stain-free after using the same way), or that the brush is really not for eyeshadow (concealer can stain too! So I'm not entirely sure what this brush is 'for'). After much searching and asking around I found that a lot of people have had the exact same problem with teal blue powder shadows staining! So it may have been the colour selection and I just got unlucky.

Anyways, the lesson is:
> Be careful with using white tipped bristles with pigmented shadows.
> Be wary of the beautiful vibrant teal blue colours as they are the colour which is most likely to stain even the most expensive of brushes (e.g. MAC).
> Sigma has good customer service and will graciously offer a replacement brush.

Stay Beautiful! xx