Chikuhodo x Beautylish Brush Collection

Beautylish recently released their collaboration with Chikuhodo - the Sakura Collection. I was given the opportunity to pre order the five brush set of hand crafted Japanese brushes, and of course I jumped at it. I have been contemplating making my first Chikuhodo purchase, so this was a perfect opportunity for me. This post will be picture heavy, so everything else will be under the jump.

I placed my order right after a (very lengthy, and probably better as an email) conference call on June 24th. MY set shipped on June 30th, the day pre orders officially opened, and was at my door on July 2nd, the day sets were available to be purchased outside of pre orders.

Everything came wrapped up in sleek black Beautylish paper. Beautylish always wraps everything by hand, and it is a lovely personal touch. The box for the brushes was tucked into a Beautylish dustbag, which was a great little bonus.

Inside the dustbag, an envelope addressed to me in gold ink was inside, along with the box housing the brush set. The envelope contained a notecard with photography from the Sakura collection, along with a handwritten note thanking me for my purchase. As I mentioned, Beautylish never skimps on the personal touches. There was also a small envelope with some brush care instructions.

Inside the box, there were the brushes, each individually sealed with a plastic brush guard around the bristles, a travel case, and some usage instructions in Japanese. The bottom of the box was a black fuzzy sort of velour like material. Very luxe packaging all around for the set.

The travel case folds in half, and has a clear plastic folding top to protect the bristles. The set of brushes fits nicely inside, with more room to accommodate additional brushes as well. 

Why did I not keep up with my Japanese??

I've only used each brush once, but I wanted to share my first impressions.

The Powder brush is a mix of grey squirrel and goat hair. The blended hairs allow for the brush to be soft, yet not floppy. The top of the brush is rounded with a slight taper, but the shape is not entirely full. I used this for loose powder and to apply my Ambient Lighting Powder. It was soft, but had some resistance and did not mush against my face. 

The Cheek brush is made entirely of grey squirrel hair. Soft is an understatement. It felt like I had a combination of butterfly kisses and angels stroking my cheek. I tried it out to apply highlighter (pressed), blush (loose), and bronzer (pressed), and it was able to apply all very nicely. Sometimes with my other highlighting brushes, there is a bit of redness on my face since the bristles are a little stiffer, but not with this. 

The Crease brush has the most unique shape in the collection, and now out of all of my brushes. This brush is also all grey squirrel. The very pointed tip allowed for precise placement of shadow into my crease, which was very nice for my tiny eyes. It felt like I was working with a little kitten tail with how tiny and soft it was. Though it initially deposited shadow, moving the brush back and forth then blended the product out nicely. It's a very unique shape, and I'm looking forward to getting to work with it more.

The Shader brush is another grey squirrel brush, and although it is soft, it is also densely packed. I did not try it with a cream product, but instead I used it to pack shadow onto the lid and used the edge of the brush to blend out the shade. I had been looking for another shader style brush, and this one is lovely.

The Detail brush is another unique brush to my collection, the only thing I currently have shaped like this is my Bite Beauty lip brush. The hairs on this are a blend of fitch and horse. They were quite packed and stuck together upon arrival, so I had to break them apart. I test drove this to do my brows - it worked nicely with brow powder. It wasn't so fine a point to get a super detailed tail on my brow, but it did allow to get a natural looking finish on my brows. I also used this for eyeliner, picking up product off of a pencil liner and smudging it along the lashline. I'm excited to put this brush to work, it seems very versatile.

Here is a close up of the brush handles. Each one is beautifully crafted. As you can see, one side says 'CHIKUHODO / Beautylish' with the rest of the handle decorated in delicate sakura branches. The handles are lacquered, so the designs will not flake off. 

All of my brushes are currently happily living inside of the travel case for now - I'd like to get a separate brush cup just for them. I like how the case has extra room, I think it will be my new go-to travel pouch. It is much more sleek than my Eco Tools brush roll. (Though that brush roll holds a LOT of brushes!)

I'm really happy with my decision to pick up this set. Not only are the brushes aesthetically pleasing, but there are several shapes that I did not currently have in my collection. 

The Chikuhodo x Beautylish Sakura Collection set is Limited Edition (of course.) Pre orders appear to still be available for the shipment going out on August 30th if you would still like to pick up a set!