FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Where are the The Brush Stash brushes produced?

The Brush Stash brushes are handcrafted in the world capital of brushes – the Japanese town of Kumano, which is found in the mountainous area close to Hiroshima. The inhabitants of Kumano have been developing their unique handcraft methods for over 180 years, and today they have brought this amazing art to an unsurpassed level. Hence, it comes as no surprise that many of the most luxurious makeup brands in the world have entrusted the production of their brushes to the masters from Kumano. The production of brushes in Kumano is a deep-rooted and loved tradition, hence a greater part of the inhabitants is in fact involved in this specific industry, transferring their talents, knowledge and skills to the next generation. A large majority of the factories in Kumano are family businesses, and it is not rare that a number of generations from a single family are known to work in any one of the factories. Given that making brushes by hand is very delicate and complicated, at least ten years of experience and practice is necessary to acquire the title of artisan or brush master. Over 80% of all Japanese brushes are made in Kumano.

From what materials are The Brush stash brushes made?

The handles of The Brush Stash brushes are made from Japanese maple, and the heads from the highest quality and most refined saikoho goat hair. They are designed to represent the best of both worlds – supreme functionality combined with incredible gentleness on the skin and luxurious user experience.

How long will The Brush Stash brushes last?

The Brush Stash brushes are made to last and are an excellent long-term investment. They will serve you faithfully for many years, if properly maintained.

What is the most optimal manner of maintaining The Brush Stash brushes?

For your brushes to always be in top ‘condition’ (and consequently, your makeup also), please make sure to read the section “Care and maintenance”, where we describe in detail recommended washing intervals and the best way of maintaining your new beauties.

I have ordered two brushes of the same model, but they are not identical! Is that normal?

Yes, it is completely ordinary for this to happen to all handcrafted brushes, given that the production process does not use machines which cut the heads in an identical shape based on a given pattern, but are instead handcrafted. For this reason, and due to certain human factors, it is perfectly normal that there are minute differences in the shape of the head in two specimens of the same model, which in no way affects the effectiveness of a brush. Indeed, given that robots do not make these brushes, but are instead handcrafted, every brush is absolutely unique, a small work of art which only you possess, and no one else in the world! :)

During washing, a bristle (or a few) fell out of the brush – is there any reason for concern?

For most premium quality brushes, bristles do not fall out. However, it is completely normal for a certain percentage of brushes from the same production batch to shed a few hairs (especially in the first few weeks of use and first few washings), as long as the hairs that are shedding are not much longer than the visible size of the brush head! Specifically, this means that a bristle which has fallen out is a so-called ‘floating hair’, which means that during the binding of the head ‘root’, these specific bristles did not enter the ‘bundle’ and are in fact excess bristles which artisans, after the brush is completed arranged, normally comb out. But given that in some larger (or more densely compacted) brushes, there are about ten thousand bristles (or even more), it does occasionally happen that some of these unbounded bristles survive the final combing process (because at that moment they are squeezed together with adjacent bristles), and become loose during the first (or later) washing. So long as the bristles that fall out are not much longer than the visible head of the brush, and if not falling out in large numbers, you have no reason for concern because it indicates that they were not “bound” into the brush from the start (on the contrary, they would be much longer given that the brush bristles which are bound into the base structure extend much deeper into the ferrule). If bristles that fall out of a brush are indeed much longer than the visible brush head, only then would it mean that the base of the brush structure has been damaged. In 10 years of using Japanese brushes, this has absolutely never happened to me, so you have no reason for concern as long as you properly wash, gently handle and regularly maintain your new brushes.

What is the most correct way of using The Brush Stash brushes?

During many years of working with clients and holding personal makeup training courses where I have taught clients how to best apply makeup depending on the individual face shape, skin type, skin undertone, color and shape of eyes, etc., I have noticed that (from a technical aspect) the most often repeated mistake for most people is that most women when applying makeup on their eyes, press the brush too hard. In the desire to rapidly blend an eyeshadow, they often have the tendency of intuitively increasing the brush pressure, which in fact creates a totally opposite effect, given that the surface of the brush is the most important part and it does the entire “job”. :) When pressing the brush too hard, we in fact deform it and prevent it do so what it should, because we have flattened it out too much. So, if you want to quickly and successfully blend an eyshadow, for starters, reduce the pressure of the brush onto the skin! Trust me, this absolutely works! Of course, the pressure should not be too light either, but this is something that comes with practice and you will get a hang of it very quickly, especially with high quality brushes that do most of the work for you!

What payment methods do you accept and what options do you have for delivery of brushes?

You can read all the details on payment and delivery methods in the section “Payment and Delivery”.