Things I Buy - Coastal Scents 22 Piece Brush Set

Makeup brushes are one of the most essential tools in a makeup artist's or beauty blogger's beauty box.  Every beautynista and makeup artist should have a great set of brushes in their makeup kits. Without the right kind of brushes, it is quite tough to achieve that perfect and desired effect and a makeup kit is not complete without the right type of brushes. It is for this reason that I have been on the lookout for the perfect makeup brushes for my makeup kits.

Also, this will be a picture heavy post, so don't run away if the pictures take time to load. ;) :D

Being a beginner in the makeup segment, I didn't want to splurge a substantial amount of money on expensive brushes, such as MAC and Inglot. Basically, I didn't want to buy them and then ruin those awesome brushes them while practicing. All this while, I have been using the Vega brushes and although they do deliver what they are supposed to deliver, I haven't been all that satisfied with them. So, I did some research on the net, looked over some international beauty bloggers and found out about the Coastal Scents brushes. I have heard that they have awesome brushes, which rival the quality of MAC brushes and yet are very affordable. So, when recently Coastal Scents was having a sale I went ahead and ordered their 22 piece brush set from the site. Here is a picture of the entire set:

The actual price of this brush set is around USD 34.95, however, Coastal Scents often has these awesome sales with around 50 to 60 percent discounts on the products. On a similar sale, I got this entire set along with the leatherette set for USD 19.95! Not bad eh. Being a US website, I had to pay for shipping, which had amounted to around USD 15. So, the total amount I had to pay for the brush set along with the shipping had amounted to around Rs. 2000. I thought this was not bad considering that each MAC brush usually costs between Rs. 1500 and Rs. 1800 and I got the entire set along with the case for that amount. I had placed the order for the brushes on October 16th and received them around November 5th. Considering that America had been hit by Frankenstorm around that time, my parcel had arrived undamaged and perfectly packed. 

While, this seemed to be a great deal, I was a little skeptical about the brushes, despite reading about the brushes. But, when I did receive the brushes, I was absolutely blown away with their quality. They were awesome. The case is made of faux leather, but does not feel cheap at all and is a wonderful way to store the brushes. It also has a small zip pouch that can be used to store tissues and small powder buffers.

In the above picture, you can see how the case looks closed with all the brushes inside. The case measures L62.23 cm x H1.30 cm x W24.13 cm when open and L16.99 cm x H 4 cm x W24.13 cm when closed.

The entire set comes in a combination of synthetic, nylon, goat, and pony haired brushes and is divided into 8 brushes for the face, 9 brushes for the eyes, one brush for the lips and four brushes for the brows. The brow brushes can also be used for the eyes too.

I am sorry about the pictures, brushes are hard to photograph and I am still learning the tricks of the camera. Hope the second picture gives you a better idea about the brushes. All the brushes in the set are of really high quality and super duper soft. The brushes in the pictures above are all the face brushes. These brushes came with their own brush guard (a massive plus point) and when I swiped them on my face, they were super duper soft and didn't poke me at all. Here are is detailed description of the brushes. I have numbered them so it would easy for you to see which brush is used for what:

1. Large Fan Brush: This brush is made of synthetic hair. It can be used for sweeping loose eye-shadow off the face and light application of blush.

2. Powder Brush: This brush is also made of synthetic hair. It can be used to apply a light and even coverage of powder on the face.

3. Flat top Stippling Brush: Made of synthetic hair, this is an extremely dense and soft brush. This can be used for foundations and powder. It is known to provide a complete and even airbrushed look during the application of foundation.

4. Angle Blush Brush: This is the only face brush that is made of Goat Hair. The goat hair allows a even and precise application of blush to the skin. It can easily be used every day for blush on the cheeks. It can also be used for contouring.

5. Round Powder Brush: Another powder brush that is made of synthetic hair. It can also be used to apply blush.

6. Detail Concealer Brush: This brush is made of nylon hair. It is smaller than a regular concealer brush and can be used for applying concealer to small areas, such as, around the nose or underneath the eyes.

7. Foundation Brush: Made of fiber hair, it can be used to apply foundation on the face.

8. Doe Foot Blender Brush: This brush is made of pony hair. It is used for applying eyeshadow on the crease of the eye and also for blending eyeshadow on the crease.

9. Concealer Brush: This is a regular sized concealer brush that is made of nylon hair.

10. Large Shadow Brush: This eyeshadown brush is made of natural pony hair. It can be used to pack eyeshadow on the lids and is actually a very good brush for people with large eyes.

11. Blender Brush: This brush again is made of natural pony hair. Well as the name suggests, it can be used to blend eyeshadows. 

12. Medium Shadow Brush: Made of pony hair, this is an amazing brush to be used for eyeshadow application for smaller eyes.

13. Pointed Blender Brush: This brush is made of pony hair. It can be used to apply eyeshadow on the crease or on the corner of the eyes. It is often considered to be a good dupe of the MAC 226 brush.

14. Dome Shadow Brush: This brush is also made of pony hair. This is a stiff yet soft brush that can be used to apply eyeshadow more precisely in the crease of the eye. It can be used to create a V at the corner of the eye and also to darken the area.

15. Brow Brush: Another brush that is made of pony hair. It can be used to apply highlighter or eyeshadow on the brow bone and can also be used as a shader brush for eyeshadows.

16. Detail Shadow Brush: This small, tiny and very cute brush is made of pony hair. It is used to apply eyeshadow or highlight the tearduct.

A flat picture to see the thinness of the brushes

17. Dome Blender: This brush is made of pony hair. It can be used to apply eyeshadow on the crease and  on the V of the eyes.

18. Lip Brush: As the name suggests, it is used for applying lip gloss or lip stick on the lips. It is made of pony hair.

19. Large Liner/Brow: This brush is made of nylon hair and is a really, really thin brush. It can be used to apply eyeshadow as a liner to the eyes, as well as, filling out gaps in the eyebrow. 

20. Medium Liner/Brow: Another nylon brush. Can be used for eyeliner, as well as, eyebrows.

21. Small Liner/Brow: Made of nylon hair, can be used for eyeshadow, creating the flick or winged liner at the corner of the eyes and for eyebrows.

22. Smudger Sponge: A basic rubber-based standard smudger. Can be used to smudge kohl, kajal and eyeshadow for that smokey look.

I believe this is a great brush set for beginners as it contains all the essential brushes that a girl would require to create looks. The quality of the brushes are amazing and the brushes also feel quite sturdy. One thing I didn't like about the brushes is that the lack of names on them. I would have liked the name of each of the brushes on them as for a beginner it is a little confusing and hard to figure out which brush is used for what. Other than all these things, I think it is a great buy as it is affordable and does a great job. I will totally recommend the set to other beauty bloggers and makeup artists.

What do you guys think? Any of you used Coastal Scents brushes as yet?