Review: Hakuhodo B533BkSL Pencil Brush

I had grand plans to do a ton of Hakuhodo reviews, and I realized that it’s been two months since the last one! I keep getting distracted by new pretties. It’s a little late, but here’s another Hakuhodo review – this time of the B533BkSL, which is a pointed eye brush.

The B533 is a medium-sized pencil brush, and it’s very consistent in looks with the other B/K/J series, which all have similar handles. The ferrule as always is seamless and very sturdy. The end is unpinched, giving the base of the brush a round shape. The build quality is definitely up to par for artisan-made brushes – there’s no movement between the ferrule and handle, and I haven’t experienced any shedding from this brush.

The brush head is very well-made. All the hairs follow the overall shape of the brush, and repeated washings haven’t changed the shape a bit. When I first got the brush the pointed end was very stiff, but it softened up over time. The dyed horse hair, however, isn’t quite as soft as some of my other Hakuhodo eye brushes. My other horse brushes are undyed hair though, and I’m guessing undyed brushes need higher-quality hair that’s more uniform in texture. Don’t get me wrong – this brush isn’t scratchy by any means, I just have other brushes that are softer. I haven’t noticed any dye bleeding during washes, but I haven’t attempted using it with cream or liquid formulas just to be on the safe side. The brush starts tapering about a quarter of a way up from the base, so there’s lots of surface area to pick up shadow with. The product gets deposited on the skin easily, so this is a great brush to use if you want concentrated color in a specific area. The size and shape of this one make it great for placing shadow on the inner and outer corners of the eye, even on my fairly small lids. It’s a little too large (at least for me) for the lower lash line.

For size reference, I’ve put the B533 between the Hakuhodo J5523 (which is very similar in shape & size to the MAC 217) and the Hakuhodo G5514, which is just a tad smaller. The measurements are:

• Full length – 145mm
• Bristle length – 10mm
• Width of the ferrule foot – 6mm

In Short: This is a very nice quality brush, but I’d prefer the hair to be a little bit softer.

The Hakuhodo B533BkSL ($18) is available at hakuhodousa.com