Review: Chikuhodo R-C2 Cheek Brush

You all know my love for Japanese brushes already, but most of them are sort of a pain in the ass to get (Hakuhodo being the exception). I’ve been saying for ages that brands should make their brushes easier to buy in the US, so I was thrilled when I heard Beautylish was going to start carrying Chikuhodo. Finally, a way to get them that doesn’t involve a $100 minimum order and $35 shipping! The brand recently went live with a selection of their most popular brushes.

Notably missing: the entire R series.

I was a little bummed not to see them on the page, because they’re really nice and have a more wallet-friendly price tag than the Z series. According to a customer service rep from Beautylish, they should be getting them sometime in the fall. In the meantime I’ll go ahead and tell you about the R-C2 cheek brush anyway, since it’s still well worth checking out.

Like the R-P6, the R-C2 has a sturdy metal ferrule and a black-lacquered handle with the brush number printed on it. The build is everything I’d expect from Chikuhodo – all the parts are joined tightly, there are no rough bits and the brush head only shed a couple hairs before/during the first wash. The only slight criticism I have is it feels just a tiny bit top-heavy. It’s probably not noticeable unless you’re sort of over-analyzing it (which I pretty much consider to be my job here), but it’s definitely more comfortable to hold at the base of the ferrule vs further down on the handle.

Left: Hakuhodo J210
Right: Chikuhodo R-C2

The brush head is a type I’ve been wanting for quite a while – round, dense, and made out of grey squirrel hair. I find round brushes the easiest shape to use for blush, but the Hakuhodo J210 (shown above) can be a little tricky to use with very pigmented blushes if I’m not paying attention. I thought grey squirrel might be a good alternative to keep me from overapplying when I’m half asleep, and I was right. The softer bristles pick up less product than the goat hair, and since they’re a tiny bit longer the application is more diffused. Obviously the brush will operate as intended for anybody, but I can see it being especially useful for folks with lighter skin since over-doing it is more noticeable. The hair is very, very soft, so it doesn’t make my skin flush when I use it the way some brushes do.

For your numerical reference, here are the dimensions:

• Full length – 151mm
• Bristle length – 33mm
• Width of ferrule foot – 16mm
• Width of brush head at the widest part – 28mm

In Short: It’s the blush brush I grab whenever I don’t have time to make mistakes.

The Chikuhodo R-C2 ($63) is available at Visage (update: now $49 from Visage, and also available for ~$38 from CDJapan).

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