Costco does make-up brushes!?

Before, I start this story, let me describe my mom's relationship with Costco. My mother's go-to store, like a lot of people in this country is Costco. I would say that 95% of the time, if it's not available at Costco, unless she really wants something, she won't get it. Although it's just me and her in the house, This house is practically furnished by anything you could find at Costco.

So on Wednesday, she brought home this big purple box. At first, I thought she had a bit of a splurge (I understood of course, who doesn't deserve a splurge once in a while as long as you can afford it. We don't want to be buying MAC Lightscapade when you haven't paid the light bill!) and from what I saw, I thought it was a brand new cutlery set. Then I look a little closer and I see this

What I saw from far away

At first, my face went like this---> O_o. Don't get me wrong, I am very appreciative that my mom saw these brushes and thought that I would like them-hell, I have been talking about getting new brushes for months! I was starting to go on like I was Bubba talking about shrimp! You know, "there's all kinds of brushes-foundation brushes, crease brushes, kabuki brushes, powder brushes, liner brushes"...you get the idea lol! On the other hand, I had my mind set that my long-term brushes were going to be from MAC because all my eye brushes are MAC and they are still in pristine condition six some even seven years later. I am willing to give everything a chance because you never know what your new favorite product will look like.

EDIT: 11/13-The brushes are still there, I just wanted to make a few notes before you read on:
1) These are NOT the Borghese brushes that were released a while back.
2)The brushes retail for $24.99. I just remembered that I forgot to put the price in as a part of my review.

So, here's what's in the box. There's lots of pictures to show what I'm going on about, so jump on in!

Brushes in package
L-R: Clutch, Powder, Finishing, Foundation Concealer, Cheek, Crease Eye, Angled Eye,  All Over Eye, Liner
top: Highlighting, Contour Kabuki 

First impressions: 

When I first looked at the brushes, from first look, I thought they were just all black brushes, the hairs looked to be synthetic (which I don't mind) and the case was pretty cute. A great starter set if there ever was one!

Analysis:

Wow, these are not black!

So I took out every brush piece by piece and they weren't black as I expected them to be which was a pleasant surprise! The inside of the brush is actually an eggplant/aubergine and that color is wrapped around something glassy.Only drawback for the packaging-fingerprints are so easily picked up and as someone who is a bit obsessed with not leaving fingerprints on my stuff, my fingerprints being all over the handles drove me a bit insane!

As for the brushes themselves, the hairs are pretty soft, but firm, firm enough that most hairs snap back into place. That's how I like my brushes, so no complaints from me. The real test will be the amount of shedding these brushes give off. Brushes that shed too much are not my cuppa tea!

It's purple! Oh and the crucial identifier.

Another feature worth mentioning-the brushes are labelled so you know what it's used for. The powder brush shown above is only one example. Great for beginners who may be overwhelmed about what brush should be used during applications.

Some may be interested in comparisons to MAC brushes? After doing a bit of analyzing, this is how I would match the brushes:

• All Over Eye=MAC 214
• Liner Brush=MAC 212 
• Crease brush=No exact dupe, but the closest that I could think of was the MAC 219, only this brush isn't as fluffy
• Angled Eye=MAC 275
• Foundation Concealer=no exact dupe, the closest I could get was the MAC 138, but this one is more rounded and the MAC brush is more tapered at the top.
• Cheek=MAC 130, but not a duo fibre.
• Finishing=MAC 187
• Powder=MAC 116...I think
• Contour Kabuki=MAC 179, of course, this brush isn't made of two different types of hairs
• Highlighting brush=no match found.

Manual

How-to guide

For the beginner, the set came with a sort of a manual in that it told you what the brush is for and it gave tips on how to apply product. It's really helpful if you are new to the make-up game. There's supposed to be a demo at Costco's website, but as of writing this, I couldn't access it and I tried every which way to find said demo that was advertised. 

 Clutch

Full of brushes

Rolled out, Highlighting and kabuki brushes in the pouch

Then there's this clutch. Made out of faux leather and aubergine in color. It secures all the brushes from clumsy folks like me and there is a detachable pouch (where I put the highlighting and kabuki brushes) for travel and other things you may use when you travel

In all, this brush kit has a lot of potential and it's great for those who want brushes on a budget. It would be cool if this could be a long-term solution for my brushes, but I'm also ready for this to be short-term. I'm excited to see what this kit can do and I don't know why lol!

EDIT (1/3/12): I did a video review after some use. It's here.