A while ago, Emily tweeted about getting Louise Young makeup brushes, and asked if anyone wanted to jump in onto the shopping spree with her. I have to admit that till that day, I’ve never heard of Louise Young nor her cosmetics line. Oh yeah. Facepalm moment right there.

I had a browse on her website, and immediately liked what I saw. It was a risk for me to splurge on something I’ve never even tried, much less heard of, so I decided to just get one item, which is the blush brush. Even so, the brush was expensive. Was I nuts? Oh definitely. Did I regret the purchase? Well, read on 😉

Louise Young has been a highly successful make-up artist for over 20 years working in film, fashion, television and theatre. She regularly makes up some of the most famous faces in the world and also lectures in media make-up throughout the UK.

She has written HND and Btec National Diploma Courses in Media Make-up and currently contributes to various TV and radio programmes as well as working on some of the most popular films and TV series in the country.

When I finally caught up with Emily, she handed me the brush and I was stunned. It was a beautiful makeup brush, with the softest hair I’ve ever felt. None of my makeup brushes even came close to how soft this baby is.

I gave it a good wash before use. A tip: always wash your new makeup brushes prior to use. You don’t know what they went through from manufacturing to packaging, so it’s a good practice to wash and sanitise them first before it touches your skin (more importantly, your eyes and lips). Anyway, there was no bleeding of the brush. In fact, I’ve been washing it, along with my other brushes, on a weekly basis and never once did it bleed.

It feels like kittens on the skin. Okay, not that I’ve actually held a kitten to my face, but you get the gist 😛 It’s incredibly soft, none of that scratchy bits on the skin (which I get from the only MAC brush I have, which is the 150). It doesn’t pick up a whole lot of powder when you tap it on your blush. This is something I really like about the brush, especially with highly pigmented blushes from NARS. It picks up a tiny amount of powder with a single tap, which allows me to control the amount of colour I want on my cheeks.

Using NARS Exhibit A

The brush has only shed 1 hair ever since I started using it, and that was during a random blush application. It did not shed during washing. The website does not state what sort of hair it is for the brush, only that it’s natural hair. The handle is made from Forest Stewardship Commission protected kiln dried birch or beech (there was no specification of which for this brush).

Size comparison with several makeup brushes. I don’t have a MAC blush brush to compare with, so I used the #150 instead

Here comes the kicker. For something I’ve never heard or tried before till a few months ago, I splashed £26 on the blush brush. Say whatttt? That’s about AU$38 for ONE brush. I was so glad I took the risk because this has turned out to be the best, most luxurious makeup brush I’ve used to date. I’ve got my eye on the large powder brush, and a few eye makeup brushes now. That, or I could just get the brush set instead, which is £67.

Would I recommend this to you? If you want a high-quality blush brush with uber-soft hair, oh most definitely. It is expensive, but I’ve always maintained that good quality makeup brushes will last you for years. I have some which are almost 10 years old now, and they’re still going strong and working fine.

Louise Young makeup brushes and range of cosmetics are available on her website. International shipping is available at £6.99 for postage and packaging. Not bad if you ask me.

Do check it out. You might be inclined to leave with something. You have been warned.