Monday, April 19, 2010

Ecotools Makeup Brushes Pictures and Mega Review

If you aren't familiar with Ecotools, they are an earth-friendly beauty company that sells makeup brushes, bath tools, bath and body products and cosmetics bags. I have a lot of their brushes, which I think are really great. The brushes are pretty high-quality, made with bamboo handles, synthetic hairs, aluminum ferrules and are 100% cruelty free. The little bags that some of the brushes come with are cotton and hemp and the plastic packaging that hold the brushes are recyclable and reusable.

I bought most of my brushes at Walmart in Canada, they range from about $4-14. I am sure in the US they are available at a lot more places. I know recently Ecotools came out with an Alicia Silverstone collection, which comes with a stippling brush! but I haven't found it anywhere in Canada.

I have several of their brushes, two sets including the 5 piece mineral set, the 5 piece bamboo set and some individual ones that I bought along the way. I think Ecotools are a great alternative to some other brushes like MAC for example, if you can't afford it. They will never shed or fall apart, do not irritate your skin and are good for the environment.

ecotools mineral set
Ecotools 5 Piece Mineral Brush Set
This one comes with a small makeup pouch and 4 brushes which are intended to be used with mineral makeup. The brushes include (left to right) eye blending brush, concealer brush, mineral powder brush and baby kabuki. 

Even though I find the makeup pouch useless, I like the brushes in this set. They are shorter than the regular line. The eye blending brush is really soft and I use it to blend in concealer under my eyes (I would buy this set alone just for that brush). The concealer brush is very nice. The powder brush is really nice, it's not very full, more flat and is nice for contouring. The baby kabuki is very lightweight and thin and flimsy, not a fan of that one, it could work for finishing powder application, but not much else. If you are a fan of short handled brushes, this may be for you. 


Ecotools bamboo set
Ecotools 5 Piece Bamboo Set
This set comes with a brush roll and (from left to right) a blush brush, eyebrow and lash comb, eyeliner brush, concealer brush and eyeshadow brush. 

This is a good starter set for Ecotools, you get a variety of brushes. The blush brush in here is one of my favourite Ecotools brushes, it picks up product nicely and applies well, it's a good size and is dense. The eyebrow comb is useless to me, I don't use those. The eyeliner brush is also very good, I use it to do my eyebrows. The concealer brush that's in here is the same as the one in the mineral set, just with a longer handle, it's good, stiff, yet soft and dense, it will cover concealer well. The eyeshadow brush is a huge disappointment, it has stiff taklon, synethic bristles which is totally useless for picking up shadows, I don't ever use this brush, maybe it would work for concealer or paint pots. However, I have read that Ecotools has redesigned this brush and now it's soft, fluffy and wonderful, but the one in this set sucks in my opinion.

Ecotools brushes

I will go over some individual brushes that I bought as well. 

From Left to Right
Ecotools Bronzer Brush - This brush is my favourite from all my Ecotools brushes, it is basically a kabuki on a stick. It's thick and dense and very, very soft. I use it to apply bronzer and powder. It also has a nice thick handle and the base is flat, so you can store this standing up. This brush is fantastic and I would totally recommend it. It is one of the more expensive brushes from this brand, may cost you about $13-15 CAD.

Ecotools Powder Brush - This thing is huge! It's almost too big for my face and the bristles aren't as closely packed in so it kinda goes all over the place. If you see the blush brush, just right of it, you can tell the size difference. The bristles are also really long, it doesn't work that great for me.

Ecotools Blush Brush - I already review this above, but again, I love this brush, it's one of the best from Ecotools. Very soft, works well.

Ecotools Foundation Brush - This foundation brush is really nice, as any typical foundation brush, but it's really soft. I use this for concealer moreso, and it works really well. Get this one!

Ecotools Eyeliner brush - Already reviewed this above as well, it's great.

Ecotools Concealer Brush - This brush is nice, it's stiff, yet soft and does the job.

Ecotools Eyeshadow Brush - I have two of these and I wish that I didn't because I don't like this brush, although as I mentioned above, Ecotools has redesigned this brush, and I have read it's great now, so I may pick up the new one.

Ecotools Retractable Kabuki - I was let down by this brush. It's soft, but doesn't really pick and hold product very well. My biggest problem with it is how it's difficult to put the cap on the brush, it doesn't quite bit. The material used is recyclable of course, which is great, but it also makes the brush really light and doesn't feel very substantial. The bristles also get caught in the cap every time I use this brush, which isn't good. For portability reasons, this brush is great for that, traveling and stuff, but I don't use it otherwise, the bronzer brush is a better bet!


ecotools bronzer brush

Here is a comparison pic of the Ecotools Bronzer Brush (left) and Ecotools Retractable Kabuki (on right). The bronzer brush rocks the socks off the kabuki, it's thick and more dense, I like it so much better.

2 comments:

HS said... Best Blogger Tips

I can't find the blush brush review, please enlighten me!

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

The blush brush review is with the 5 piece kit in this post. ;)