My final and largest brush purchase of the year is from Rephr. I follow many people on line who raved about the range so I took the plunge and signed up for their Kickstarter. I went the whole hog and got the full set (15 brushes) for 50% off. Then as I had participated in the Kickstarter I was offered two additional brushes at a significantly discounted price. 17 brushes are a lot to cover in a single post so look out for more Rephr posts over the coming months but today I’ll share the brush shape, use and any similar brushes in my collection.
The Brand
Rephr was started by three male Canadian, non-make up wearing engineers who by their own admission stated that they knew mothing about makeup. They created the brand with the objective of designing
“the world’s best makeup brushes”.
I think that we can agree that it is a laudable objective. However, the brand also went on to state that
“we were not satisfied with the idea that a person needs 12 brushes to do beautiful makeup”.
Some Mansplaining?
And this is where some consumers, understandably, had issues. Makeup enthusiasts and pros use their tools in the way that works best for them. It is not appropriate for non-makeup wearing people to tell makeup wearers how many makeup brushes they need. People always use brushes in a multi-functional way, regardless of whether they have been designed to do so because makeup is hugely personal and what works for one person is dependent on personal preference, product texture and face anatomy. I have hooded eyes so I like smaller eyeshadow brushes, but, I do use larger eyeshadow brushes too. I have a large face so I use large brushes for my complexion products, BUT I can and do use smaller brushes to do my foundation too. ‘Mansplaining’, whether intentional or otherwise is not acceptable.
Consumer Reaction
Some consumers understandably, decided that they were not going to support a brand that held this position. Personally, I wanted a set of Kumano hand made brushes at an accessible price so I purchased them with a heavy does of side eye. I think that with some PR/marketing support this origin story problem could have been avoided. If the narrative was that the Rephr team wanted to create beautifully efficient multi-functional brushes, full stop … their position would have been clear and they would not have alienated part of their potential customer base. The Rephr team failed to understand that for some, brushes are purely functional and having a small number of brushes to do everything is exactly what they want. However for many, especially fude lovers, brushes are collectors items. Objects of beauty to be cherished in your makeup routine. The decision to use two or 22 brushes to do your makeup is solely within the domain of the makeup wearer and has absolutely nothing to do with the manufacturer of the brushes.
Eyeshadow BrushesAnd Another Thing
The Rephr team then played themselves further. They created a core collection of five brushes because … to use their words, … you should not have to use 12 brushes. The brand however continued to create brushes, the bespoke collection and to date have 17 in the line. But we only need five right? Rephr brushes were developed through feedback from users. It has it’s root in open source data and using feedback from users to improve a product. That part is great but the public learning curve has had a detrimental impact on the brand on how many see the brand.
Face BrushesRephr Brushes
All brushes are made from undyed goat hair. The standard set have a matte black metal ferrule with matte black wooden handles. The prototypes have a silver ferrule with a glossy black handle.
Core Collection.
The five brushes that Rephr brand say you can do a whole face with.
- Brush 01 ($24, pinched ferrule 16mm long bristles)
The eyeshadow brush that you can pack and blend with. Similar to the MAC 217 and the Chikuhodo x Beautylish 2019 eyeshadow brush. - Brush 02 ( $24, pinched ferrule, 10mm long bristles). Pinched eyeshadow brush. good for packing on colour especially metallic shades quite densely packed.
- Brush 03 ($24, round ferrule, 8mm long bristles). Small pencil brush, perfect if like me you still struggle to do eyeshadow under the bottom lash line. It is quite stiff so good for picking up glitters on the inner corner.
- Brush 04 ($39, pinched ferrule, 30mm long bristles). Angled face brush best for check colour, highlighter and contour
- Brush 05 ($57, pinched ferrule, 38mm long bristles). Domed cheek brush, can be sued for complexion products but I prefer to use it for cheek colour.
It is possible to do a full face of makeup with the core collection but that is not how I choose to use these five brushes.
Bespoke Collection – extension to the range.
- Brush 11 ($130) oval ferrule 57mm long bristles). The largest face brush in the collection, the long bristle length makes it great for setting and buffing finishing powders.
- Brush 12 ($24, Round ferrule, 11mm long bristles). The smudger brush great for under eye concealer, cream eyeshadow, smudging eyeliner but as someone who suffers from watery eyes, I like to pack on colour in the corner of my eye and blend it out with the 15 brush
- Brush 13 ($24 round ferrule, 14mm long bristles). Small domed eyeshadow brush, perfect for hooded eyes and detail blending. The Wayne Goss 13 brush is similar to this one.
- Brush 14 ( $24 round ferrule, 16mm long bristles). Small tapered rush perfect for hooded eye and placing colour in the crease (similar to Wayne Goss
- Brush 15 ($ 23, Round ferrule 19mm long bristles
Large domed brush great for blending (similar shape but larger to the Wayne Goss 19 - Brush 16 ($24, round ferrule, 21mm long bristles)
Large tapered brush good for a one eyeshadow look and blending out crease colours. (similar to Wayne Goss 20) - Brush 17 ($45, round ferrule 17mm long bristles)
Densely packed flat top brush, for stippling and swiping cream liquid and powder complexion products on the skin
Brush 18 ($35, Round ferrule 32mm long bristles)
Domed face brush which blooms into a pom pom shape which picked up pressed and gele powders easily and can also be used for complexion products (similar shape wise to the Surratt cheek brush) - Brush 19 ($48, oval ferrule 39mm long bristles)
Tapered face brush. Perfect for check colour and highlighter but also to set concealer under the eye - Brush 20 ($28, Pinched ferrule, 30mm long bristles). Medium sized fan brush which picks up lightly pressed powders well. Best for precision highlighter and dusting away fallout from eyeshadow.
Prototypes
Brushes offered at a discounted price as an additional offer for people who took part in the Kickstarter.
- Brush 21 ($24, pinched ferrule)
Clearly the bristles on this brush are not goat but Rephr state that this is a natural and synthetic duo fibre. The firm bristles on this brush make it great for pigment, concealer and packing cream shadows on the lid (Similar to the natural bristle MAC 242) - Brush 22 ( $110, pinched ferrule,48mm long bristles)
Possibly my favourite brush from the range. This brush is great for bronzer and setting powder. (Similar to the Tom Ford natural bristle bronzer brush)
Final thoughts
I love my Rephr brushes. They are well made, soft on the skin and with the 17 brushes that I have there is a brush for every makeup application and product textures and mood.With the 50% discount consider the purchase to be really good value for money. My purchase also inspired a deep declutter of my brush collection. I still have alot of brushes but the Rephr range are my core collection.If you are a fude aficionado, this brand probably is not for you. If you like natural hair bristle brushes are curios about trying them, Rephr brushes are definitely worth trying.
Read more of my brush reviews here and here. Follow me on Instagram for more beauty news and reviews.
My final and largest brush purchase of the year is from Rephr. I follow many people on line who raved about the range so I took the plunge and signed up for their Kickstarter. I went the whole hog and got the full set (15 brushes) for 50% off. Then as I had participated in the Kickstarter I was offered two additional brushes at a significantly discounted price. 17 brushes are a lot to cover in a single post so look out for more Rephr posts over the coming months but today I’ll share the brush shape, use and any similar brushes in my collection.
Rephr – The Brand
Rephr was started by three male Canadian, non-make up wearing engineers who by their own admission stated that they knew mothing about makeup. They created the brand with the objective of designing
“the world’s best makeup brushes”.
I think that we can agree that it is a laudable objective. However, the brand also went on to state that
“we were not satisfied with the idea that a person needs 12 brushes to do beautiful makeup”.
Some Mansplaining?
And this is where some consumers, understandably, had issues. Makeup enthusiasts and pros use their tools in the way that works best for them. It is not appropriate for non-makeup wearing people to tell makeup wearers how many makeup brushes they need. People always use brushes in a multi-functional way, regardless of whether they have been designed to do so because makeup is hugely personal and what works for one person is dependent on personal preference, product texture and face anatomy. I have hooded eyes so I like smaller eyeshadow brushes, but, I do use larger eyeshadow brushes too. I have a large face so I use large brushes for my complexion products, BUT I can and do use smaller brushes to do my foundation too. ‘Mansplaining’, whether intentional or otherwise is not acceptable.
Consumer Reaction
Some consumers understandably, decided that they were not going to support a brand that held this position. Personally, I wanted a set of Kumano hand made brushes at an accessible price so I purchased them with a heavy does of side eye. I think that with some PR/marketing support this origin story problem could have been avoided. If the narrative was that the Rephr team wanted to create beautifully efficient multi-functional brushes, full stop … their position would have been clear and they would not have alienated part of their potential customer base. The Rephr team failed to understand that for some, brushes are purely functional and having a small number of brushes to do everything is exactly what they want. However for many, especially fude lovers, brushes are collectors items. Objects of beauty to be cherished in your makeup routine. The decision to use two or 22 brushes to do your makeup is solely within the domain of the makeup wearer and has absolutely nothing to do with the manufacturer of the brushes.
And Another Thing
The Rephr team then played themselves further. They created a core collection of five brushes because … to use their words, … you should not have to use 12 brushes. The brand however continued to create brushes, the bespoke collection and to date have 17 in the line. But we only need five right? Rephr brushes were developed through feedback from users. It has it’s root in open source data and using feedback from users to improve a product. That part is great but the public learning curve has had a detrimental impact on the brand on how many see the brand.
Rephr Brushes
All brushes are made from undyed goat hair. The standard set have a matte black metal ferrule with matte black wooden handles. The prototypes have a silver ferrule with a glossy black handle.
Core Collection.
The five brushes that Rephr brand say you can do a whole face with.
- Brush 01 ($24, pinched ferrule 16mm long bristles)
The eyeshadow brush that you can pack and blend with. Similar to the MAC 217 and the Chikuhodo x Beautylish 2019 eyeshadow brush. - Brush 02 ( $24, pinched ferrule, 10mm long bristles). Pinched eyeshadow brush. good for packing on colour especially metallic shades quite densely packed.
- Brush 03 ($24, round ferrule, 8mm long bristles). Small pencil brush, perfect if like me you still struggle to do eyeshadow under the bottom lash line. It is quite stiff so good for picking up glitters on the inner corner.
- Brush 04 ($39, pinched ferrule, 30mm long bristles). Angled face brush best for check colour, highlighter and contour
- Brush 05 ($57, pinched ferrule, 38mm long bristles). Domed cheek brush, can be sued for complexion products but I prefer to use it for cheek colour.
It is possible to do a full face of makeup with the core collection but that is not how I choose to use these five brushes.
Bespoke Collection – extension to the range.
- Brush 11 ($130) oval ferrule 57mm long bristles). The largest face brush in the collection, the long bristle length makes it great for setting and buffing finishing powders.
- Brush 12 ($24, Round ferrule, 11mm long bristles). The smudger brush great for under eye concealer, cream eyeshadow, smudging eyeliner but as someone who suffers from watery eyes, I like to pack on colour in the corner of my eye and blend it out with the 15 brush
- Brush 13 ($24 round ferrule, 14mm long bristles). Small domed eyeshadow brush, perfect for hooded eyes and detail blending. The Wayne Goss 13 brush is similar to this one.
- Brush 14 ( $24 round ferrule, 16mm long bristles). Small tapered rush perfect for hooded eye and placing colour in the crease (similar to Wayne Goss
- Brush 15 ($ 23, Round ferrule 19mm long bristles
Large domed brush great for blending (similar shape but larger to the Wayne Goss 19 - Brush 16 ($24, round ferrule, 21mm long bristles)
Large tapered brush good for a one eyeshadow look and blending out crease colours. (similar to Wayne Goss 20) - Brush 17 ($45, round ferrule 17mm long bristles)
Densely packed flat top brush, for stippling and swiping cream liquid and powder complexion products on the skin
Brush 18 ($35, Round ferrule 32mm long bristles)
Domed face brush which blooms into a pom pom shape which picked up pressed and gele powders easily and can also be used for complexion products (similar shape wise to the Surratt cheek brush) - Brush 19 ($48, oval ferrule 39mm long bristles)
Tapered face brush. Perfect for check colour and highlighter but also to set concealer under the eye - Brush 20 ($28, Pinched ferrule, 30mm long bristles). Medium sized fan brush which picks up lightly pressed powders well. Best for precision highlighter and dusting away fallout from eyeshadow.
Prototypes
Brushes offered at a discounted price as an additional offer for people who took part in the Kickstarter.
- Brush 21 ($24, pinched ferrule)
Clearly the bristles on this brush are not goat but Rephr state that this is a natural and synthetic duo fibre. The firm bristles on this brush make it great for pigment, concealer and packing cream shadows on the lid (Similar to the natural bristle MAC 242) - Brush 22 ( $110, pinched ferrule,48mm long bristles)
Possibly my favourite brush from the range. This brush is great for bronzer and setting powder. (Similar to the Tom Ford natural bristle bronzer brush)
Final thoughts
I love my Rephr brushes. They are well made, soft on the skin and with the 17 brushes that I have there is a brush for every makeup application and product textures and mood.With the 50% discount consider the purchase to be really good value for money. My purchase also inspired a deep declutter of my brush collection. I still have alot of brushes but the Rephr range are my core collection.If you are a fude aficionado, this brand probably is not for you. If you like natural hair bristle brushes are curios about trying them, Rephr brushes are definitely worth trying.
Read more of my brush reviews here and here. Follow me on Instagram for more beauty news and reviews.