16. Whats in a brush

When Rae Morris, L’Oreal Paris Make-Up Director since 2003 was first approached by Crown Brush to create a collection of brushes her initial reaction was to set impossibly high standards. “The only way this is going to happen is if it’s better than the worlds most expensive brushes”.

Added to that was a price point of no more than $35 per brush, recycled bamboo handles and PETA approval – a crazy request given that most natural fiber brushes retail for $100 on average (per brush!) However Crown Brush persevered and the result is an amazing 27-piece collection that sold out in Sydney over the weekend.

Made of the brushy tail of the blue squirrel; these fine hairs penetrate parts of the face fingers can only glide over and Blue Squirrel being the softest hair in the world allows the brush to apply makeup without moving the skin or in the case of applying eyeliner – execute killer precision with no stray hairs, bristle breakage, gobs or blobs.

Of setting up her range Rae says, “I wanted to go to the factory and I had been twice.  It was really important to me that I wanted to see the working conditions. I wanted to see how these squirrels were treated – amazing”. So from the highest quality materials which are ethically procured, each brush is crafted by hand by girls working 9 – 5.

My highlight of the collection, ‘the torture tool’ is Number 17. A metal comb and a most popular style of applicator used in Paris to apply mascara. For Rae this applicator “gets every hair strand by strand. It combs out every knot”. Also in the pipeline is an iPad sized makeup mirror. Why? With space in mind Rae wanted to develop a mirror the metallic in her brushes could flick to and stick to.

Why spend good money on makeup and use poor tools to apply it? My make-up routines felt a little stale of late and I personally can’t wait to take the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Written by A L F I E A N D E L L E for Daily Gloss

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