Shiseido Chouetools Eyeshadow Brush S & L

After the final poke (in the eyeballs) known as LookNY brushes, I finally decided to jump into Japanese brushes as my cheap ones are not cutting (anything except for the skin on my lids)it. I first took a quick peek at Hakuhodo and Chikuhodo and was instantly overwhelmed. I retrieved back to the little corner of Adambeauty, where there are a few/three brands of Japanese brushes hanging around.

I had a Look-(Canadian)Squirrel! moment and added two Shiseido Chouetools eye brushes to my cart (with another one Kanebo Tesshyu collection, made by Chikuhodo). I reckoned "What could go wrong from the brand that makes my favorite sunscreen and cleanser?" Do not comment on my logic...

It was an unlucky day for Shiseido, as the oversea package arrived on the same day as/a few hours after the Chikuhodo Z-10 (shipped from California). Having already experienced the little bundle of joy/gray squirrel hair in the morning, I swipe an eyelid with the Shiseido brush and...

It felt positively(urgh, unpleasantly) scratchy.

 
Let's zoom back and take a look at the whole thing. The two Shiseido Chouetools brushes are regular length (can be stuffed into a medium-sized makeup bag if you insist) light weight brush with simple design. They appear to be made of either pine or Canadian squirrel hair. The specific material was not specified on the packaging (it just says "natural hair").

The prices are 1600yen for the small one and 2000yen for the large, which to me...already exceed my threshold for cheap that-will-do. 

The handle is made of clear gray plastic with a silver Chouetools printed (Chouetools is like a micro brush range/brand within the brand, as there are only four brushes that I am aware of: two for eyeshadow, one cheek and one powder) and a more discreet Shiseido at the very bottom. The handle doesn't feel too cheaply made for a plastic but I personally just prefer something with a bit of a weight/better balanced.

Back to to the crown of the brushes - Maybe I just acquired super sensitive lid (right after playing with Z-10) but look at the blunt tips(on individual hair)! Admittedly, the hair on the two brushes (especially on the larger of the two) are actually quite silky to the touch. However, the sharp crown just ruined it.

The small brush (see my thumb for comparison, I have small nail bed by the way) is rather small so aside from laying down color on my small lid area, which it does a decent job at, I can't poke it anywhere else.

Any detail work (what smaller brushes are for) along the lashlines/undereye would just be uncomfortable.

As for the larger one, I mentioned that it's very silky and since I am mainly making contact with the belly of the brush, the cut tip doesn't bother me as much. It's really great at diffusing eyeshadow into a sheer wash allover the lid...and that is it! I can't even use it for blending shadow because as soft as it is, there isn't much hair bundled.

Overall, I don't see the point for these. They have very limited function and are not affordable enough to be disposable. You can certainly get some Japan-made horse or goat haired brushes around the same price range that actually feel/work better(maybe not a big squirrel blending brush but you can pay 10 more bucks and get 2x the hair/fluff). Heck, I prefer my 1-dollar brush/5-dollar Sonia Kashuk over these.

Verdict: Shiseidon't.