Yay, i finally got my Nikon and was able to take some pics, I'm not very camera friendly so i prob should have done these during the day but i woke up super late watching Scandal up to 5am eeek So here's my Hakuhodo story, I started purchasing Hakuhodos about 2 years ago because I started seeing my MAC 165 bristles bending and I was sad because it was LE. So i googled! I found that the G5521 was a really good dupe for it and I started doing more research about them. Now, the only time I had heard about Hakuhodos were from You tube Gurus and they always spoke about the S100 series I think that's why people steer clear because at first glance they are very expensive. I did more research and realized there were more series and that brushes from the other series had prices comparing to other lines I already tried out like NARS, MUFE, MAC and some Chanel. So I was all about buying brushes with the same prices but far more superior quality. Hakuhodos are the softest brushes but that's not what sold me what sold me is that they blend so effortlessly and beautiful. I feel like my blush and highlight glow within now using these brushes. So I started making a wish list about every 2 wks according to my paycheck to replace my mac brushes, so i just looked up mac dupes and made a wish list of brushes that each transaction I would order were to be no more than about $100 at a time. If i ordered eye brushes I would get about 5 and face maybe 2-3. Most expensive brush I bought from Hakuhodo so far has been my B103 it was $72 but I myself justified it because its a multi-tasker , i use it for powder, contour, highlight and bronzer. I saw this in the S series first and it was way more but what I do if i like a brush I drop the letter and search just the number and it brings up the brush in other series and if its in a set. The brushes are the same except that the fertles and handles are different. The 24K gold brushes are obviously going to be more expensive. I like my brushes all one color so i was going to stick with the black handles but that's just me. So for example there is the S142 i looked up 142 and it came up with the J142, yes it wasn't the blue squirrel hair but it had the same shape just in goat hair instead and was prob $30 cheaper, I cant live with that. I'm not saying go spend $100 on brushes every 2 wks for a year like i did I'm just saying that's how I got all my brushes. Its something that I wanted and chose that I wanted to invest in them. I have dry sensitive skin so I opt for the blue squirrel brushes but I'm not saying you have to hakuhodo has plenty of variety within each series. I have most of the brushes I want i my collection, each one of them have a purpose to me even if i have 3 blush brushes. My favorites of all are def my G503 for contouring G5538 for highlighting J110 for blush B002 for powder Eyes J5522 for allover eyes to blend with crease J533 to blend and smudge my under eye J5529 for detail crease work G5533 to blend out my crease its soooo soft Okay hope this helps, when I first started buying Hakuhodos this post only had posts about how crazy expensive they were or the fact that its ridiculous the fact that the Japanese state that they should comb through the brushes to dry them out, but living in Japan for the past 2 years I understand their pride in craftsmanship an culture. They are very humble and dedicated to their craft and you can def tell in these brushes. I am always in awe every time I get a new brush they are like that new car smell every time. I am so glad that more people are starting to share input because the site can be very overwhelming. Hope this helps!
L-R G545, B002, G5521, B103, G503, 214, 210, G5545, K020. K001
L-R yachiyo medium pointed, J210, J110, G5543, J4002, J544, G5538, J4003, G5552- 4mm, G5555- 2mm
J544, G5538, J4003, G5552- 4mm, G5555- 2mm
J110, G5543, J4002, J544
yachiyo medium pointed, J210, J110, G5543
L-R G5515 G5514 J220G J242G G5529 J146 J142 J5523 G5533 G5522 G5539 J125
L-R B264 B522 G5520 J533 B5528 G5505 J121G G5529 G5526 G5522 G5523 G5533
B264 B522 G5520 J533 B5528 G5505 J121G G5529 G5526 G5522 G5523 G5533
My storage! Its from muji