Xmas 2008: Shu Uemura x Mika Portable Brush Set

Lol, yea! I am indeed typing this post as of April 23rd 2010! And the item I am reviewing is an Xmas item from 1 1/2 years ago! =P


Recently I found several Shu Uemura x Mika items popping up on eBay. Probably there was some warehouse sale going on in Hong Kong or something lol.
The Shu x Mika collection was my favorite collection from Shu Uemura in the previous years.

I admit I also scored the Shu x Mika Gerbera lipgloss set as I just loved the cute pouch that came with the glosses and I won the auction for US$15 whereas the retail was more than double that. I was afraid the lippies might be off but they turned out to be perfectly fresh and fine. I might do a review later...let´s see =)


Anyways, makeup brushes stay fresh and I already fell in love with the Portable Brush Set when I saw pics 1 1/2 years ago but it was just too pricey for me (retail US$85 plus shipping) so I just admired it instead of splurging.

I scored this on eBay for US$38 (& shipping) so I am a seriously happy girl now! I saw a few more of these on eBay but not sure if there are right now.


The Portable Brush Set comes in a gorgeous bright cherry red pouch with the stunning rose print inside. I just love it!
The brushes have pretty red handles to match the set. They are all travel-sized and "remain uncut at the tip for the finest touch" and all are really soft brushes.
There are 4 short-handled brushes: face brush (27 brush - Goat), cheek brush (17 - Pony & Squirrel), eyeshadow brush (10 - Sable & Kolinsky) and lip/eyeliner brush (6M - Sable).

The face brush is honestly a bit too small to be useful for powder application but it makes an excellent blush brush. The bristles are extremely soft and give a pretty even lightweight look to the blush.

The cheek brush is a decent highlighter brush and feels a bit denser than the face brush. It´s somehow very tiny thus not really my first choice for blushes. This is my least fave brush out of the set.

The star of the set is the eyeshadow brush for me. When I saw it I thought it´d be only good for cream shadows or as a brush for applying a wash of shadow but it´s actually a perfect brush to pat on any color on my lids and blending it in the crease as the application is absolutely even, the brush packs on pigment really well and distributes any of my powder shadows perfectly. Right now this is my favorite eyeshadow for lid application and I am considering getting the full-sized one, too!

I first was a bit disappointed that there is a lip brush in the set but was happy to see they also recommend it for eye-lining. I always feel annoyed that nearly each brush set comes with a lip brush as I almost never use lip brushes at all.
This lip/eyeliner brush in the set is a perfect brush for deep crease and outer eye definition. It´s softer than the Sasa brush I´ve bee using for the past 4 years or so and gives a more even application. It´s also great as an eyeliner brush for applying either cream or powder liners.


All in all I think the set is very nice and useful, not just for traveling! It´s not a complete set of brushes but a good start. I personally need eyebrow brushes, a skunk brush, a fan brush (to remove eyeshadow crumbles and tone down blush) and couple of wider eyeshadow brushes for applying a wash or highlighter in addition (the best softest wide brush I have was a GWP from Inoui ID!).


The set was so worth its price and I am happy to be the proud owner of it now! Seems sometimes it´s worth waiting a little =)