The Line Up Project: Brushes
Review by MUA's Cavewoman

I'm taking a little break in my liner reviews to talk about brushes, and the reason for that is I am finished reviewing all of the liners that I have that came with their own brushes. All of them were from the drugstore brands. I have more liners to review, but they come from the department store cosmetic lines, and none of them have brushes included with the liner. Many of these lines have brushes that were designed to be used with the liners, and on QVC some of the Smashbox liners are available to be purchased with a brush as a set, but I haven't done that yet. If I do, I'll post that review in the same format as my previous reviews. And so, in order to test out the rest of the gel and cream liners for Blogdorf, I've been digging around in my brush cases, and I've even purchased a few so I can do some experimenting.

In the first photo: top to bottom: Sephora, Stila, Smashbox (red), BeneFit, Sonia Kashuk, Stila, MAC #22, Chanel, and Shu Uemura 5F.


In the second photo, left to right, Dior (in the navy blue sleeve), Kashuk close up, MAC #22, Chanel (there's a story to this one below),and Shu Uemura 5F.

There are so many different shapes and styles of brushes for lining the eyes, and I present a few of my little arsenal here. Some of them I have had for a long time (two Stila, the slant-tip MAC, and the two Chanel) and some I have purchased recently just to be used with these gel and cream liners (Shu Uemura, Dior, Kashuk, and BeneFit) -- as I wrote in my preview, it would take forever to try all of the liner-brush combinations.
When I found the red-handled Smashbox brush in my storage case, I remembered buying it several years ago at Sephora, because it was the latest "greatest" style of eyeliner brush, to be used with their own cream liners, but I wanted to use it to line my eyes with shadow and not with cream liner. I found it to be too wide to work with, and not the right shape for the shape of my eyes. I stored it away with the Stila flat brush that had come in a travel set of brushes. Neither of these brushes work well for me, and they're going back into storage.

There are two Chanel brushes. One has a short, stubby shape, and it actually was a lip brush. I have had it for ten years. I took it on a trip to Italy 9 years ago, and it was too long to fit in my makeup case, so I whacked a few inches off of the end with a wire cutter, sanded the rough wood with an emery board, and painted the end with a black Sharpie. Instant travel size brush! I don't recommend doing this, since now there are such great short-handle brushes at all the counters and drugstores, and when I mention it to my Chanel SA Chris, she laughs but she laughs with a little bit of a cringe! Still, this brush has served me well over the years as a liner brush with other products. The other Chanel brush is their liner brush, thin and longer, flexible but not too soft.

The two bent-handle brushes are the Sonia Kashuk which I've already been using and talking about in these reviews, and the BeneFit version which is almost identical but with a shorter handle and slightly thinner tip.

I have not used the MAC #22 brush yet, the one in the photo with the slant edge. I'll report if and when I use it with future testings.

The Shu Uemura was a find at the Lancome outlet last year. It's the 5F and I have a feeling it's another lip brush. I used it today for the first time with another one of the gel liners. Review to come!

There are two Stila brushes, one short tip and one flat tip.

The Sephora brush is a nicely balanced brush for those who prefer a long handle. The head of the brush is thin, with long bristles.

Last but not least, the latest brush I've added, in the navy blue sleeve, this is the Dior liner brush. I have high hopes for it. The head is flat, but the edges of the bristles taper a bit, as you can see, in contrast to the sharp flat shape of the Stila and the Smashbox. The Dior is smaller, and I think that the rounded edges will work much better with my eye shape. I can't wait to try it! And I will, soon!

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this review were purchased by the reviewer.