Product Review: Ecotools Bamboo 5-Piece Makeup Brush Set



I've never been much of a beauty product junkie. The first set of makeup brushes I ever bought was an impulse purchase when I was 17, just 4 days short of prom when I realized I didn't even have a lipstick to my name and I was supposed to glam myself up for the event. Along with the drugstore eyeshadow and blush, I threw a cheap 5-brush set into my shopping basket. Fast forward six years, and those brushes have held up pretty well, but they've definitely seen better days.

This time around, I was older and wiser and knew exactly what I wanted out of my new brushes:
  • More luxe materials. My first set had plastic handles and synthetic bristles. The bristles were passable but not exactly soft, and they'd keep falling out of the brush. Plus, after a while, the plastic struck me as kind of tacky. My new brushes would preferably have wooden handles and better quality bristles.
  • More useful brushes. Specifically, I wanted a rounded eyeshadow brush, an angled eyeliner brush, and an eyelash comb.
  • An affordable price. Because I'm not a serious beauty product addict, I can't justify spending upwards of $20 on one measly brush, no matter how great the quality is.
Along came the Ecotools bamboo 5-piece brush set like a mirage that satisfied all of my makeup brush requirements. When I first saw these, it was the pretty packaging that drew me in, but as I kept reading I was definitely impressed by the product's green factor. The brush set boasts sustainable, recycled, and cruelty-free materials. The handles are made of bamboo; the metal bits are recycled aluminum; and the bristles are made of soft synthetic fiber. Plus, the cute reusable storage case that's included is woven from hemp. Pretty cool. I quashed the consumer's guilt associated with having to throw out my old brushes, and rationalized that the set was better quality and likely to last a decade in order to justify forking out the $15 for the set.

Once I opened the package at home I was even more impressed. The brushes are "I can't believe it's not bunny fur!" soft. The blush brush is a good size for providing even and non-streaky coverage on the apples of my cheeks, and the shape of the shadow and liner brushes is perfect. I used the shadow and liner brushes last week to apply bright green eyeshadow before going out for salsa, and loved how it gave my eyelids a perfect wash of sheer colour as opposed to the unblendable streak you get when using the swabs that come in the compact. Unlike other cheap brush sets that come with too-similar brushes and useless swabs, every brush in this set is actually useful, good quality, and works well. I also really like the hemp case, which rolls up and can be tied--a stylish and hygienic way to store the brushes when they're not used.

Update: I was just going through my receipts for July and noticed the price for the brushes at London Drugs was $12.99, not $15. Oops. But the good news is, they're even cheaper than I thought they were.

7 comments

  1. I'm looking for brushes too, how wa shipping to BC?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous: I actually found these brushes at my local London Drugs. Check there first. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. "I can't believe it's not bunny fur!" haha sounds amazingly soft.
    that's cool that it's eco friendly too

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looking at the set in your picture, I had thought it must be pretty expensive. But 15 dollars!!! I'm totally getting this brush set, Lisa. It's such a steal!:P

    I remember buying a new kind of undereye concealer at Clinique in the beginning of this year. Not being a girl who usually wore make-up, I did not really have any beauty tools for applying the numerous tints and shades. Thus, after the Clinique lady in the labcoat showed me how to apply the concealer, she asked smilingly, "would you like to buy our concealer brush with that?" At first I thought, hmm, I have an old one that is kind of cheap, so why not? It wasn't until she announced that the brush was more expensive than the concealer itself, that I decided against the decision and at the same time, had to keep my mouth from dropping open. "How much did you say it was?" I asked meekly. To keep this short (if that even applies to my already uber long post), I didn't end up getting the brush at Clinique...I thought, with my student income, I'd better look elsewhere. The Clinique lady's haughty reply towards my decision of not buying the brush? "hrmmmph, you can look anywhere, they are all at this price".

    Anyhow, later on, I found a Quo brush at Shoppers for about 12 or 13 bucks and was quite satisfied (smirking whenever I remembered the Clinique lady's last words)...but yes...this is such a steal...I am off to London Drugs now...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great post! Body Shop sells a great little traveller's pack of makeup brushes too for around the same price.

    A good tip to keep brushes new longer: wash brushes regularly with a bit of shampoo and store in a well ventilated area to prevent bacteria growth and to keep them soft.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This sounds like such a good deal! I'm always looking for a set of good quality brushes. Do you know if you can buy them online?

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  7. La Petite Fashionista: I just checked the link to AJM fashions in the post, and they're down to their last set. But apparently Walgreens carries them too (click here for the link) and they're $10.99 there.

    ReplyDelete

Back to Top