I have such a love-hate relationship with Rephr. Their eyeshadow brushes are my 10/10 holy grails, but their face brushes HORRIFICALLY shed no matter what I do.
I love my rephr brushes. I’ve bought them on sale and I’ve had no issues at all. Not for shedding and not for streaky application. The eye brushes are excellent especially. I do like BK beauty synthetics for the creams and liquids but I have some amazing Sigma brushes that I prefer for eyes. I really love the Nikki La Rose brushes from BK Beauty as a very versatile brush set. I love brushes from Wayne Goss (his new brushes) and Sonia G and I love my Japanese Fude brushes. They seem a bit precious to me so I use my rephr brushes more often. You might be interested in the rephr mini brush set for eyes. They are great for detail work. Thank you Tom ❤
I feel like when I first started buying rephr brushes they didn't shed nearly as much as the more recent ones. IDK if they're using lower quality hairs or what, but I do prefer the eye brushes in general. Especially when you're looking for a particular size/shape.
I have never had issue with the rephr face brushes shedding - a pet peeve of mine that I definitely would have noticed. Then one day, I was innocently watching a video in which you talked about the face brushes shedding as I did my makeup. And suddenly my bronzer brush left a lone hair on my nose. It’s like it heard you. 😂
Absolutely love this video -- I think your thoughts on the individual brushes validated my choices I made in my purchases so i'm quite happy lol. I never thought id be into brushes but after doing my makeup for a.. decade-ish, I've realized that they do make a difference especially as i've developed much stronger preferences with formulas and what exactly I want to do with the product. I have decided to try a few of the rephr brushes because I think their concept store is a little more accessible way to get a bit better of brushes and begin to dabble in natural hair brushes, because currently my "good" brushes are the ones I hand selected from the morphe counter at ulta rather than the walmart value pack. I like that they have a wide variety of shapes to experiment with (I picked a few that were both unique and functional to my collection and spent
Rephr are my first natural hair brushes and maybe that is why they impressed me. The founders have "engineers disease", but I keep coming back due to the prices. I do love tiny eye brushes for my tiny eyes and giant face brushes for my tiny face. The 29 is a workhorse for me. I fill my eyebrows with it, winged liner, and precise smudging.
I don’t do natural hair, so I was very excited to try their new synthetic brushes. I used them almost exclusively for about two weeks….and then I haven’t used them again since. My BK Beauty and Sephora Collection brushes are just much easier and faster to use. And I agree about the rounded brush handles - just didn’t work for me.
Love that you're doing this comparison, I feel validated (a comfort in these uncomfortable times) so thanks. I agree about the rephr handles. I got a Pro handle on the 5 for a promo, and I LOVE it as a larger cheek brush. My fav for powder bronzers all over is the IT Cosmetics 4, it's like the BK A507 (amazing, core brush), but whispier. I wish they'd make the BK A507 small like they did with the 109, I think the 112 isn't as dense though, is it? Totally agree about the Sonia and BK foundation brushes, the BK 109 is lovely for anything liquid/cream. I like the rephr 33 for stuff like powder all over eye, the lack of density works well. I think that rephr eye brushes vary, the 21 is an amazing brush for laying down liquid or creams. The 3 is too big for me, so the 23 is great for under eye. Their 29 is great for eyeliner stamping, I think you're right about the shape for smudging. It's also good for eyebrows. I agree about the eye blending brushes, my Sonia G and WG & misc. fude are much more effective for bending powder. I really like the Beautylish Units 112 for blending anything - it's inexpensive and effective. One very affordable Sydney Grace brush that I like is the E07 for a wee packing brush and smudging under eye, any medium. What I'd really like is an eye brush that works like a blotting sponge for some cream/liquid eye shadows (and those Surratt things) - for a watercolor effect - for now I'll just grab the tiny eye sponges from the store to see if they work (since I've tossed any that came in old eyeshadow packaging). Any suggestions for something like that aside from "what about your fingertip"?
I’m surprised you’ve had so many issues with shedding since mine don’t at all! I also got all of mine when they do one of their promo sales so I’ve never paid their listed brush. I think I prefer their eye brushes over my Hakuhodo- their shapes just work slightly better for my small hooded eyes. That being said, I haven’t tried any Sonia G brushes but next time I want to get a high end brush they’ll be the first brand I look at. So looking forward to if/when you do a review of those brushes!
Ok but after watching the rest of your video, now I realllllly hope you end up getting some Sonia G eye brushes and review them! Because I have had some blending issues lately…I thought I was out of practice but now I’m wondering if it’s the brushes! Going to pay close attention and compare my Hakuhodo experience.
I have the SG mini jumbo worker (from the recent kayaki set) and it’s a concealer favorite for me, especially for buffing in larger areas. Sad to hear that the Rephr complexion brushes had such poor performance, would be great to see them revise these brushes to mix natural and synthetic.
Rephr brushes look like dupes of Chikuhodo brushes from Japan. However, they're not exactly dupes since the price difference is very minimal. Maybe they're the same manufacturer? That being said, I've never owned any face brushes from Rephr since shipping is a pain and I have not read enough good reviews. Chikuhodo, on the other hand, is from Japan so it's much nearer to me. Their face brushes are very well made. I only experienced very minimal shedding in the beginning. Now that they're broken in, they don't shed on me anymore. In general though, Japanese brushes are painstakingly difficult to dry after washing hence why I now have reverted to my BK Beauty face brushes just cuz they make my life easier as an artist.
Speaking of brushes - I want to hear your thoughts on the new synthetic brushes from Wayne Goss. Maybe you will speak on it in the next Critical Sass. None of the shapes chosen seem that innovative (which might be the point?). It seems like baby's first brush set to me. Also, I'm not personally into the white/gold color combo. However, I am slightly curious to see how the #2 cheek brush compares to what bk already offers. As for rephr - I agree with some of your thoughts. My face brushes from them do shed (not to the point of complete annoyance but still). However, I enjoy the eye brushes from them and do have quite a lot of them. I also snagged their mini eye set when they first came out (now it seems to be somewhat permanent). I would not pay full price for rephr but I think their offering is decent. I also really appreciate how important feedback is to rephr as a brand.
I LOVE my Sonia G brushes and bought a buncha Rephr brushes to kind of play around with, and I'm having the same issue as you with the face brushes, to the point I regret spending my money on Rephr.
I love that these brushes are good for Hung Vanngo but not for you Tom😂😂 Jokes aside we all have a way we prefer our brushes to perform and if my Rephr brushes shed like yours I would be pretty annoyed for sure😅
6:06 Kevyn Aucoin has a synthetic brush shaped kinda similar to that one. I'm not sure if they still make it because I bought mine at TJ Maxx. I wanna say it launched with those neo bronzers. I use it for blush.
Only you and Marlena Stall have the courage to call out the shitty quality of Rephr. The 28 eye liner brush is ok but all of the other ones I’ve tried not so much.
I just can't with Rephr. Every influencer and their brother push these and their discount codes. Neither can I do brushes made of natural hair. They are not cruelty free. Squirrel hair -- is someone really combing hundreds of happy, live squirrels for their hair? Goats - again, unhappy goats suffering with baldness and skin infections, dermatitis etc. Reph are CHEAP but there is a terrible cost to the animals who are "harvested" or worse for their hair so that we can have the privilege of sticking eyeshadow etc on our face. I will not buy these brushes. There are some really, really good synthetic brushes out there - Westman Atelier, Lisa Eldridge, Hourglass and MyKitco's synthetic brushes - I have them and they are superb. I'm not plugging BK Beauty because they too are shilled to death by influencers. I have the BK huge bronzer brush (Kackie made me buy it in a moment of weakness) but tbh I'm not that wowed by it. This is my two pence for what it's worth.
👏👏👏 yes! I actually never went for bk because they are so hyped! Plus I own loads of luxie brushes with identical shapes & love them. In my mind the bk would be similar! & I completely agree about the hair brushes, I don't think any of it is ethically harvested 🥺😬
@@blendofdays Yes! Luxie is also excellent. I have one of their brushes. A soft long flat topped brush - I use it every day to apply liquid highlighter. It’s does the job so well. I’ve had it for about 3 years and still going strong!
Just for some perspective for you and @blendofdays , japanese and chinese natural brush manufacturers are mostly sourcing hair from byproducts of industries that would already result in those animals either being culled (in some countries there are permanent pest control marks on some species of squirrel and fox for example) or industries that would already be producing fibers regardless, such as goat farms that produce milk, shear them for cashmere, etc. To have independent hair suppliers that harvest these animals for the sole purpose of making brushes would be prohibitively expensive for brush brands utilizing squirrel hair, and would be unsustainable for goat hair due to the slower reproductive cycle of the animals. That's why higher quality hair is expensive despite the issues I mentioned before; they have to find the highest quality product as runoff from other industries. To call it completely cruelty free is definitely not accurate, but if these other industries stopped existing, natural hair would cease to be economical for brush makers, and they don't really affect the demand for the animals in question, since they're essentially getting byproducts.
@@blendofdays it’s the 512 small contouring brush and it’s on sale in their UK website too (just checked). I’m going to buy another one as it’s very very good
Tom you just keep putting out banger after banger & I truly appreciate all your hard work! 🤌 I've been interested in rephr for years but held off due to their pricing. I came closest to grabbing the 13 & maybe the 14 a few times because almost everyone with hooded eyes who uses them raves about them. Since I had brushes I loved, I just didn't know if they'd add anything to my tool selection.
I have such a love-hate relationship with Rephr. Their eyeshadow brushes are my 10/10 holy grails, but their face brushes HORRIFICALLY shed no matter what I do.
Yeah…I’m gonna need you to show us all your brushes💜
I felt a very similar way about their face brushes. 😭 But I love their eyeshadow brushes because they were made for my small eyes!!!
I love my rephr brushes. I’ve bought them on sale and I’ve had no issues at all. Not for shedding and not for streaky application. The eye brushes are excellent especially. I do like BK beauty synthetics for the creams and liquids but I have some amazing Sigma brushes that I prefer for eyes. I really love the Nikki La Rose brushes from BK Beauty as a very versatile brush set. I love brushes from Wayne Goss (his new brushes) and Sonia G and I love my Japanese Fude brushes. They seem a bit precious to me so I use my rephr brushes more often. You might be interested in the rephr mini brush set for eyes. They are great for detail work. Thank you Tom ❤
I feel like when I first started buying rephr brushes they didn't shed nearly as much as the more recent ones. IDK if they're using lower quality hairs or what, but I do prefer the eye brushes in general. Especially when you're looking for a particular size/shape.
I have never had issue with the rephr face brushes shedding - a pet peeve of mine that I definitely would have noticed. Then one day, I was innocently watching a video in which you talked about the face brushes shedding as I did my makeup. And suddenly my bronzer brush left a lone hair on my nose. It’s like it heard you. 😂
I’m so sorry your brush heard me 😂😂
Absolutely love this video -- I think your thoughts on the individual brushes validated my choices I made in my purchases so i'm quite happy lol. I never thought id be into brushes but after doing my makeup for a.. decade-ish, I've realized that they do make a difference especially as i've developed much stronger preferences with formulas and what exactly I want to do with the product. I have decided to try a few of the rephr brushes because I think their concept store is a little more accessible way to get a bit better of brushes and begin to dabble in natural hair brushes, because currently my "good" brushes are the ones I hand selected from the morphe counter at ulta rather than the walmart value pack. I like that they have a wide variety of shapes to experiment with (I picked a few that were both unique and functional to my collection and spent
Rephr are my first natural hair brushes and maybe that is why they impressed me. The founders have "engineers disease", but I keep coming back due to the prices.
I do love tiny eye brushes for my tiny eyes and giant face brushes for my tiny face. The 29 is a workhorse for me. I fill my eyebrows with it, winged liner, and precise smudging.
I don’t do natural hair, so I was very excited to try their new synthetic brushes. I used them almost exclusively for about two weeks….and then I haven’t used them again since. My BK Beauty and Sephora Collection brushes are just much easier and faster to use. And I agree about the rounded brush handles - just didn’t work for me.
I think you just saved me some $, so thanks!
Love that you're doing this comparison, I feel validated (a comfort in these uncomfortable times) so thanks. I agree about the rephr handles. I got a Pro handle on the 5 for a promo, and I LOVE it as a larger cheek brush. My fav for powder bronzers all over is the IT Cosmetics 4, it's like the BK A507 (amazing, core brush), but whispier. I wish they'd make the BK A507 small like they did with the 109, I think the 112 isn't as dense though, is it? Totally agree about the Sonia and BK foundation brushes, the BK 109 is lovely for anything liquid/cream. I like the rephr 33 for stuff like powder all over eye, the lack of density works well. I think that rephr eye brushes vary, the 21 is an amazing brush for laying down liquid or creams. The 3 is too big for me, so the 23 is great for under eye. Their 29 is great for eyeliner stamping, I think you're right about the shape for smudging. It's also good for eyebrows. I agree about the eye blending brushes, my Sonia G and WG & misc. fude are much more effective for bending powder. I really like the Beautylish Units 112 for blending anything - it's inexpensive and effective. One very affordable Sydney Grace brush that I like is the E07 for a wee packing brush and smudging under eye, any medium. What I'd really like is an eye brush that works like a blotting sponge for some cream/liquid eye shadows (and those Surratt things) - for a watercolor effect - for now I'll just grab the tiny eye sponges from the store to see if they work (since I've tossed any that came in old eyeshadow packaging). Any suggestions for something like that aside from "what about your fingertip"?
I’m surprised you’ve had so many issues with shedding since mine don’t at all! I also got all of mine when they do one of their promo sales so I’ve never paid their listed brush. I think I prefer their eye brushes over my Hakuhodo- their shapes just work slightly better for my small hooded eyes. That being said, I haven’t tried any Sonia G brushes but next time I want to get a high end brush they’ll be the first brand I look at. So looking forward to if/when you do a review of those brushes!
Ok but after watching the rest of your video, now I realllllly hope you end up getting some Sonia G eye brushes and review them! Because I have had some blending issues lately…I thought I was out of practice but now I’m wondering if it’s the brushes! Going to pay close attention and compare my Hakuhodo experience.
Thank you for the honest review!❤️
I have the SG mini jumbo worker (from the recent kayaki set) and it’s a concealer favorite for me, especially for buffing in larger areas. Sad to hear that the Rephr complexion brushes had such poor performance, would be great to see them revise these brushes to mix natural and synthetic.
I’m so sad you didn’t enjoy most of these! I really love my rephr brushes for face and eyes.
The beauty of these kinds of things is that some people will really love things I don’t and vice versa! I’m so happy they work for you!
Sonia G is the makeup brush/fude Goddess!! 💫 🌟✨ thank you Tom!!!
I use my Rephr 12 for that EXACT same purpose. It's the best for creams.
I spent so much on rephr brushes! I recently listed mine on Mercari because I just don't use them like my bk beauty ones.
Rephr brushes look like dupes of Chikuhodo brushes from Japan. However, they're not exactly dupes since the price difference is very minimal. Maybe they're the same manufacturer? That being said, I've never owned any face brushes from Rephr since shipping is a pain and I have not read enough good reviews. Chikuhodo, on the other hand, is from Japan so it's much nearer to me. Their face brushes are very well made. I only experienced very minimal shedding in the beginning. Now that they're broken in, they don't shed on me anymore. In general though, Japanese brushes are painstakingly difficult to dry after washing hence why I now have reverted to my BK Beauty face brushes just cuz they make my life easier as an artist.
Yaaaaas. 👏🏼 I was looking forward to seeing this video!
Love this very thorough video ;)!!! I do enjoy the 12, 3, 5, and their synthetic eyebrush (Something).
Love your reviews Tom! Thank you for this thorough review. I love Sonia G and now I want the jumbo base fml
lol it is a very nice brush!
Speaking of brushes - I want to hear your thoughts on the new synthetic brushes from Wayne Goss. Maybe you will speak on it in the next Critical Sass. None of the shapes chosen seem that innovative (which might be the point?). It seems like baby's first brush set to me. Also, I'm not personally into the white/gold color combo. However, I am slightly curious to see how the #2 cheek brush compares to what bk already offers.
As for rephr - I agree with some of your thoughts. My face brushes from them do shed (not to the point of complete annoyance but still). However, I enjoy the eye brushes from them and do have quite a lot of them. I also snagged their mini eye set when they first came out (now it seems to be somewhat permanent). I would not pay full price for rephr but I think their offering is decent. I also really appreciate how important feedback is to rephr as a brand.
I'm a cavewoman. All my brushes came from Ipsy.
You can really work Ipsy into sending you a brush EVERY time
I LOVE my Sonia G brushes and bought a buncha Rephr brushes to kind of play around with, and I'm having the same issue as you with the face brushes, to the point I regret spending my money on Rephr.
I am having severe issues with their face brushes too. Just sheds and sheds it’s endless. Not cheap either
I love that these brushes are good for Hung Vanngo but not for you Tom😂😂 Jokes aside we all have a way we prefer our brushes to perform and if my Rephr brushes shed like yours I would be pretty annoyed for sure😅
lol I think we all have different brush preferences and these ones just weren’t it.
6:06 Kevyn Aucoin has a synthetic brush shaped kinda similar to that one. I'm not sure if they still make it because I bought mine at TJ Maxx. I wanna say it launched with those neo bronzers. I use it for blush.
Sorry so many of your rephr brushes shed. I haven't had that issue at all and I adore my rephr's!
Only you and Marlena Stall have the courage to call out the shitty quality of Rephr. The 28 eye liner brush is ok but all of the other ones I’ve tried not so much.
I like some of their brushes but they’re so hit or miss for me. I’d rather just save and spend my money on Sonia G and Wayne Goss brushes
Yeah that’s where I’m at too but they do have some unique shapes I haven’t seen elsewhere specifically with their smaller brushes.
Am I the only one that doesn’t have shedding on any of my brushes? I love all of mine. Have had them for year and no shedding at all.
Which brush do you like applying the Lisa Eldridge seamless tint?
Fantastic video. Informative and entertaining! L💋VE Thanks for helping us to not buy s*it that's not worth it! xXx 💜💜💜💜😎✌🏼
I just can't with Rephr. Every influencer and their brother push these and their discount codes. Neither can I do brushes made of natural hair. They are not cruelty free. Squirrel hair -- is someone really combing hundreds of happy, live squirrels for their hair? Goats - again, unhappy goats suffering with baldness and skin infections, dermatitis etc. Reph are CHEAP but there is a terrible cost to the animals who are "harvested" or worse for their hair so that we can have the privilege of sticking eyeshadow etc on our face. I will not buy these brushes. There are some really, really good synthetic brushes out there - Westman Atelier, Lisa Eldridge, Hourglass and MyKitco's synthetic brushes - I have them and they are superb. I'm not plugging BK Beauty because they too are shilled to death by influencers. I have the BK huge bronzer brush (Kackie made me buy it in a moment of weakness) but tbh I'm not that wowed by it. This is my two pence for what it's worth.
👏👏👏 yes! I actually never went for bk because they are so hyped! Plus I own loads of luxie brushes with identical shapes & love them. In my mind the bk would be similar! & I completely agree about the hair brushes, I don't think any of it is ethically harvested 🥺😬
@@blendofdays Yes! Luxie is also excellent. I have one of their brushes. A soft long flat topped brush - I use it every day to apply liquid highlighter. It’s does the job so well. I’ve had it for about 3 years and still going strong!
Just for some perspective for you and @blendofdays , japanese and chinese natural brush manufacturers are mostly sourcing hair from byproducts of industries that would already result in those animals either being culled (in some countries there are permanent pest control marks on some species of squirrel and fox for example) or industries that would already be producing fibers regardless, such as goat farms that produce milk, shear them for cashmere, etc. To have independent hair suppliers that harvest these animals for the sole purpose of making brushes would be prohibitively expensive for brush brands utilizing squirrel hair, and would be unsustainable for goat hair due to the slower reproductive cycle of the animals. That's why higher quality hair is expensive despite the issues I mentioned before; they have to find the highest quality product as runoff from other industries. To call it completely cruelty free is definitely not accurate, but if these other industries stopped existing, natural hair would cease to be economical for brush makers, and they don't really affect the demand for the animals in question, since they're essentially getting byproducts.
@@petshopgirl39 yup! They're lovely synthetic brushes. I've owned mine for years & they're still in perfect shape!
@@blendofdays it’s the 512 small contouring brush and it’s on sale in their UK website too (just checked). I’m going to buy another one as it’s very very good
First ❤
Tom you just keep putting out banger after banger & I truly appreciate all your hard work! 🤌 I've been interested in rephr for years but held off due to their pricing. I came closest to grabbing the 13 & maybe the 14 a few times because almost everyone with hooded eyes who uses them raves about them. Since I had brushes I loved, I just didn't know if they'd add anything to my tool selection.
If what you have works then you certainly don’t need anything new!!