First impression: Brushes are light because they're hollow. They look like metal, but I think only the ferrule is metal, while the handles are plastic that's sprayed with metallic paint.
I took each brush and ran it back and forth on the inside of my wrist to test for "prickly-ness". In my set, the softest brush is the blush brush, followed by the crease brush. Only the eye shadow brush shed one hair during this process, and it only slightly prickly if you use a lot of pressure. The angled liner seems a little wide, my first impression is that it won't be able to achieve thin lines (I use MAC's 266 with my gel liner), but I won't know until I try it. The most prickly brush is the smudge/small eyeshadow brush. It feels prickly on my wrist even without applying a lot of pressure. Finally, the last brush is the lash/brow groomer. The lash side is way more durable than the EcoTools one. The brow side does seem a little stiff though, so it might not be great for people with sensitive skin. Out of all the lash/brow groomers I have (Maybelline, EcoTools, and this Sonia Kashuk one), I love my Maybelline Expert Tools Brush n' Comb one the most. It's also very affordable (under $5), but might be hard to find.
The clutch is way nice! The tab clasp says "SK" on it, which could mean anything if you didn't know it came in a brush set. It's sturdy enough to use at night. Just wash it before you use it to store your brushes. You do NOT want to put cash in there, then take it out and put clean brushes in. The inside, white with pink zebra stripes, feels like wallpaper material, which is probably easier to clean than fabric.
Wash: Wow! I washed all of the brushes except the lash/brow and only ONE HAIR shed! I have to say, that's impressive because I have had MAC brushes shed more than one hair. And for a brush set this price, they didn't have the smell that comes with a lot of cheap synthetic brushes.
Use
*Pic 1 - Front View, Pic 2 - Side View
Powder brush: This shed A LOT of hairs all over my face, and some just fell out it ended up all over me. But it's sooo soft. It might be a little too fluffy (maybe I'm just too used to the density of my MAC kabuki?) if you want full coverage from your powder. I also used this brush to apply blush and bronzer. With blush, I had to apply it multiple times to get a light flush of cover. It's great if you want your blush to look natural, but you do have to build it up... Same with bronzer.
*Pic 1 - Front View, Pic 2 - Side View
Eyeshadow brush: Soft and not scratchy! I have a small crease so this brush was a little big. It's great for applying color, but when it's the size of half your lid, you can't really tell where it's going. I guess if I had to use it, I would use it for highlighting and applying an all-over lid color. I'm not a control freak, but I just HAVE to see what I'm doing which is why I love using a mini shader even though it's more time consuming.
From the picture, you can see a bristle that's longer than the rest. I will cut it shorter eventually... This also happened to one of the Essence of Beauty brushes, but I have not had this happen to MAC.
Round: LOVE this brush! It's so soft! It's great for blending and applying a light wash of color. I used this to apply my highlight color. There's also a bristle I need to trim on this brush.
*Hm.. I don't know where the flash went...
Angled Liner: I used this with MAC's Fluidline. The bristles flare out so it gives me a thicker line. I should have taken a side view picture b/c when the bristles flare out, those bristles will have liner on it and it will leave little dots of eyeliner. Again, because my crease is so small, thick eyeliner would take up my whole crease, which is why I like thin lines. It does make applying thick eyeliner faster though.This isn't a perfect eyeliner brush, but will get the job done.
Smudge: I knew this one was scratchy when I did my "test" on it, so I didn't want to try it on my lids. So, I used this brush to apply under-eye concealer. This brush felt harsh even doing that. I hate this brush, but would love it if it wasn't for the scratchiness.
I did not use the lash and brow grooming tool, you already have my first impression on it.
Overall, I think Sonia Kashuk brushes are a good value and a good starter set. The regular price for this set is $20 and you get 6 brushes/tools along with a clutch. This holiday's set (it's called "Dripping in Diamonds") comes with seven brushes and a clutch for $25. I just hope the powder brush doesn't shed anymore because it's already super fluffy. And, I hope no more long bristles pop out. I'm just not sure how LONG these brushes will last for (one month? one year? YEARS?). I'm not sure, but the quality probably varies from set to set (even from the same collection). You may or may not get any scratchy brushes or maybe none of yours will have long strands. Just keep in mind that the price you pay does equal it's quality.
*BTW, I did curl my lashes but did NOT use mascara. Third pic was 6-7 hours later
Face: Maybelline Expertwear Blush in 20 - pinch 'o pink, NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in 720A - Sunny
Eyes: UD's Baked and Half Baked on inner corners, MAC's Black Tied, Sketch and UD's Lash Call on outer V and crease, MAC's Shroom for highlight
-Boudoir Beauty
