ZOEVA BRUSHES
Alright guys! Let’s talk brushes, shall we? Before I start my favorite brushes series, I want to post a ZOEVA review that I did on instagram awhile ago.
Before we get into it let me give some background info. I bought these brushes as a set (LUXE COMPLETE SET, $132). It included 15 brushes and a nice leather (faux) bag. But I’ll be including the individual prices for reference. Also ZOEVA charges a flat rate of $16 to America for shipping, regardless of how much you spend. I really like ZOEVA’S face brushes. I like most of the eye brushes too but overall I like the face brushes better. When applicable I’ll mention if there’s a SIGMA or MAC dupe. I’m sure there’s MORPHE dupes for a lot of these but I can never remember their names. I plan to organize my favorites series by function and I’ll further compare a bunch of different brands then.
142 CONCEALER BUFFER ($10.80)- SYNTHETIC. Dupe for the SIGMA P82 ($19). I use this brush for applying undereye concealer. I like it because it’s small enough that you can be precise in your application. Meaning you can apply the concealer exactly where you want it without messing up your eye makeup. It’s also a great brush for applying eye primer. I find it to be softer than the SIGMA. REAL TECHNIQUES also has a similar brush, I think it’s called ‘crease brush’
126 CHEEK FINISH ($18.80)- NATURAL/SYNTHETIC BLEND. The closest thing I have is the MAC 116 ($35). I use this one for blush and bronzer. It’s actually one of my favorite blush brushes
102 SILK FINISHER ($18.80)- SYNTHETIC. Dupe for SIGMA F82 ($24). This has been one of my favorite foundation brushes since getting it. It’s very soft and hadn’t shed at all. I’ve been having issues with my newer SIGMA KABUKI brushes shedding like crazy.
101 LUXE FACE DEFINER ($26.60)- NATURAL. I don’t have anything similar from MAC or SIGMA. It’s a huge tapered powder brush. It’s my go to brush for applying loose powders. It’s very light weight and has held up well over time and repeated washings.
105 LUXE HIGHTLIGHTER ($16.80)- NATURAL/SYNTHETIC BLEND. Comparable to the SIGMA F25 ($33). I use this one for setting my undereye. It’s another favorite of mine.
I highly recommend all five of these brushes. I prefer them over my comparable brushes from SIGMA and MAC. They’re also very affordable. Again I included the individual prices but I got these as a set, 15 brushes and a vegan leather bag for $132 (>$9 per brush).
All of these brushes retail for $10.80 and are a blend of NATURAL and SYNTHETIC bristles but they have a VEGAN OPTION for most, if not all of them. I’d recommend buying a set instead of the individual brushes, as they’re a better value. I’ve listed a few similar brushes from SIGMA, MAC and MORPHE. But when I do my favorites series, I’ll take a lot of side by side photos. Also worth noting- ALL SIGMA BRUSHES ARE NOW SYNTHETIC and all the MAC and MORPHE BRUSHES that I’ll be talking about in this post are NATURAL.
227 LUXE SOFT DEFINER – DUPE for MAC 217 ($25) and SIGMA E25 ($14). It’s slightly flatter and more squared off than the 217. I prefer the ZOEVA version over the E25 because I find natural bristles to be more effective.
224 DEFINED CREASE – comparable to MORPHE M514 ($6), same shape as SIGMA E36 but 3x more dense. This is my favorite eye brush from ZOEVA. I don’t own anything that’s exactly the same. The MORPHE M514 is close but more tapered. The shape of this brush is ideal for hooded eyes. The long bristles allow you to both apply and blend color into the deepest part of the crease.
234 SMOKY SHADER – comparable to MAC 228 ($20). Thinner than SIGMA E55 and MAC 239. This is a small thin eyeshadow brush, ideal for packing on lid colors.
228 LUXE CREASE- comparable to MAC 224 ($32), MORPHE M441 ($6), SIGMA E35 ($16). This is a fluffy crease brush, good for applying transition colors and all over blending.
221 SOFT CREASE- comparable to SIGMA E38 ($16) and MORPHE M513 ($6). Similar to the ZOEVA 228 but less fluffy and more blunt.
When I first got this set, I found ZOEVA’S eye brushes to be most comparable to MORPHE. However after having them for about a year now, in my opinion they’re better than MORPHE. They’ve held up really well over time and are still very soft, with little to no shedding. I keep these brushes in my freelance kit and I use them all of the time. As I mentioned previously, ZOEVA charges a $16 flat rate for shipping to the US. So I recommend saving up and placing a big order to make it worth your while. The wifey, @colourpopcult, and I ordered together and got a bunch of makeup and brushes and split the shipping charges.
I’ll be starting my favorites series with foundation brushes!