By now, we all know how important it is to have a good set of brushes, so in search for a good all around eyeshadow brush, I checked out the brushes at Prescriptives. Now, I'm not that crazy about Prescriptives cosmetics, because I think that they are overpriced, however, I was very surprised with the price and quality their brush collection. The set of 6 basic brushes contains a brush for: powder, blush, eyeshaping (crease), eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lips.

The brushes are made of synthetic fibers as opposed to natural hairs such as goat or squirrel. One of the pluses of their synthetic fibers is that they are not that porous, and therefore pick up less powder and color than some natural hairs.

The powder brush is big and fluffy, and delivers a light dusting of powder for a sheer look, or you can add layers of powder for a more matte finish. When shopping for a good powder brush (or any brush for that matter), I always do a "tug test", in which I pull or tug at the bristles to see how many come out. This is one of the ways I test the quality and durability of a brush. If a lot of hairs come out, then more than likely your brush won't stand up to much washing, and won't last as long you would probably like. A good brush should last years, if not a lifetime, and be able to stand up to weekly washings. Prescriptives' brushes stood up pretty well against my abuse. Few if any bristles came out of all of the brushes, and trust me, I tugged hard!

The blush brush was also pretty good, although not as tapered at the top as I prefer. My favorite brush, and the one I bought, was the eyeshaper brush. This is an all around great eyeshadow brush. The bristles are very soft and angled. Once again, as with all of the brushes from Prescriptives' set, it deposits only a light dusting of color that you have to layer on, which makes this set great for both beginners and the more experienced brush user. You have control over the amount of color used. We all know that it's much easier to add eyeshadow than it is to take away from it without disturbing the rest of our make-up. Although the eyeshaper brush is billed as being perfect for applying shadow to the crease, I also liked it for application to the lid, and for highlighting as well. Because the brush is angled, if you turn the tip of the brush toward the inner part of your eyelid (the part close to your nose), and swipe outward, it makes a perfect lid application. For those who like a more natural look, one or two swipes of color would be perfect. For those of you who have a dark complexion like myself, or simply like more color, you might prefer 2 or 3 layers. Also, when applying highlighter, this brush glides a light layer of highlighter just below the eyebrow, making it an all around great brush to have, especially as part of the brush set you carry around with you for a quick eye color application. Hint: This brush works especially well with frosted shadows - matte pale colors will need a few layers no matter what your complexion is. Because of this brush's versatility, the separate eyeshadow brush Prescriptives makes was unnecessary to me.

The eyeliner brush has a flat head for applying powder shadows, which I personally don't care for. For applying powder, liquid, or cake liner, I prefer an eyeliner brush that is angled.

The lip brush was also your basic lip brush, but there were not enough bristles for me. It took more effort for a precise lining and fill in.

All in all, this is a pretty good, quality set of brushes. Each brush is priced as follows:

     Powder Brush................$30.00
     Blush Brush.................$28.50
     Eyeshaper Brush ............$18.00 
     Eyeshadow Brush.............$18.00
     Eyeliner Brush..............$15.00
     Lip Brush...................$15.00