Product Review: Ecotools Bamboo 5-Piece Makeup Brush Set

I've never been much of a beauty product junkie. The first set of makeup brushes I ever bought was an impulse purchase when I was 17, just 4 days short of prom when I realized I didn't even have a lipstick to my name and I was supposed to glam myself up for the event. Along with the drugstore eyeshadow and blush, I threw a cheap 5-brush set into my shopping basket. Fast forward six years, and those brushes have held up pretty well, but they've definitely seen better days.

This time around, I was older and wiser and knew exactly what I wanted out of my new brushes:

• More luxe materials. My first set had plastic handles and synthetic bristles. The bristles were passable but not exactly soft, and they'd keep falling out of the brush. Plus, after a while, the plastic struck me as kind of tacky. My new brushes would preferably have wooden handles and better quality bristles.
• More useful brushes. Specifically, I wanted a rounded eyeshadow brush, an angled eyeliner brush, and an eyelash comb.
• An affordable price. Because I'm not a serious beauty product addict, I can't justify spending upwards of $20 on one measly brush, no matter how great the quality is.

Along came the Ecotools bamboo 5-piece brush set like a mirage that satisfied all of my makeup brush requirements. When I first saw these, it was the pretty packaging that drew me in, but as I kept reading I was definitely impressed by the product's green factor. The brush set boasts sustainable, recycled, and cruelty-free materials. The handles are made of bamboo; the metal bits are recycled aluminum; and the bristles are made of soft synthetic fiber. Plus, the cute reusable storage case that's included is woven from hemp. Pretty cool. I quashed the consumer's guilt associated with having to throw out my old brushes, and rationalized that the set was better quality and likely to last a decade in order to justify forking out the $15 for the set.

Once I opened the package at home I was even more impressed. The brushes are "I can't believe it's not bunny fur!" soft. The blush brush is a good size for providing even and non-streaky coverage on the apples of my cheeks, and the shape of the shadow and liner brushes is perfect. I used the shadow and liner brushes last week to apply bright green eyeshadow before going out for salsa, and loved how it gave my eyelids a perfect wash of sheer colour as opposed to the unblendable streak you get when using the swabs that come in the compact. Unlike other cheap brush sets that come with too-similar brushes and useless swabs, every brush in this set is actually useful, good quality, and works well. I also really like the hemp case, which rolls up and can be tied--a stylish and hygienic way to store the brushes when they're not used.

Update: I was just going through my receipts for July and noticed the price for the brushes at London Drugs was $12.99, not $15. Oops. But the good news is, they're even cheaper than I thought they were.