Today we're talking about two of Paula Dorf's eye shadow brushes: the Eye Glimmer (also know as the Wet/Dry brush) and the Eye Shadow brush.
The Eye Glimmer brush is discontinued, though can still be found, especially online, and sometimes for less than its retail price. It's a simple brush that doesn't look like anything special. Most of us have several flat and tapered eye shadow brushes for laying down color and packing it on, and this Paula Dorf brush does exactly that. But just like every other eye makeup brush from Paula Dorf, there's something about the specific combination of size and density that makes it perform incredibly well.
Eye Glimmer is one of Paula Dorf's eye shadow formulas. It's sheer, shimmery yet understated and elegant. There's something about the above-average stiffness of the Glimmer brush that makes it very efficient for use with this formula, but I also employ it with other favorite eye shadows from LMdB, Shiseido, Chanel and more. I have two Eye Glimmer brushes; the older one is about 10 years old and if I remember correctly, purchased from Sephora during its golden age (i.e. long before Sephora became trashy). I don't notice any difference between the two brushes other than gentle wear to the handle of the veteran one. As far as I know, the Glimmer brush is synthetic and 100% cruelty-free.
The Eye Shadow brush is an odd one. It has a slightly domed head- like a crease brush that had a blunt haircut. It's round, full and fluffy; this brush does a wonderful work with matte eye shadows that need careful application, but works great with just about any formula. The hair is blue squirrel but still supposed to be cruelty-free as the animals weren't harmed. It's as soft as you'd expect from the material- definitely better than the Kevyn Aucoin Medium Eye Shadow brush that's somewhat close to it in size and shape, but perhaps I'm biased because the rounder shape of Paula Dorf's brush suits me better.
This last photo of Paula Dorf's iconic eye brushes is just for size comparison. The three brushes are used for completely different tasks.
Bottom Line: grab 'em.
As I said above, Paula Dorf Eye Glimmer brush is now discontinued, but many are still around. The original retail price was around $30, give or take, and I think you can find it for as low as $20. The Eye Shadow brush ($28) is available at Henri Bendel in NYC (I highly recommend visiting the counter if you get a chance and have Pamela do your makeup) and from pauladorf.com.
The Smokie Lid's been on my wishlist for some time, but it's been discontinued. Where did you get yours?
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