are these the best brushes ever? - and a great great great blog!!

i've been splurging big time on some brushes over the last months. let me warn you that this post won't cover the review for them - it's more like a preview for the next few days.
these are RMK and ÍPSA brushes, japanese brands.
but to tell you about how i discovered them, i have to introduce a blog to you first.


i want to tell you about this fantastic blog i have been reading all the time over the last month:
Ars Aromatica.
i don't know why i just recently discovered this blog although it exists since 2008. Dain, one of the authors of this blog probably is in the top 3 most competent persons that i've came across so far when it comes to ... well, anything beauty-related. reading her blog opened my eyes in many ways, it's like reading in a really good book about beauty.
if you seriously want to know the real basics about make up i strongly recommend you this blog.
i can't say enough good things about Ars Aromatica - it felt to me like when i discovered Lisa Eldrigde on youtube. like you found a gold nugget in the mass of pebbles. her "The Beauty Primer" series simply is genius. period.
for example i have enjoyed her post about make up brushes soo much - the best article i have read about this topic ever.
if you want to follow this blog, you can subscribe to her posts via atom or use the "follow" tag on your blogger navigation bar (i can't find GFC or Bloglovin' on your blog, Dain).


ok, back to the brushes: i came across the RMK brushes and Chikuhodo as a well known japanese brush manufacturer through Dain's post on brushes, i browsed the official website of Chikuhodo a bit and was really tempted to order their top-notch Z-Series brushes. they produce brushes for RMK, Shiseido, Kanebo, SUQQU (which i wanted anyway) and many other high end brands. unfortunately i can't speak or read japanese and the google translator doesn't help much when it comes to search for the contact form to order...
so i thought: well, i could buy some OEM brushes from them to try and since SUQQU is incredibly expensive (about 180£ for the face brush :( - i'll get 'ya someday! i would have bought them if Selfridges London wouldn't charge 56£ only for the shipping and they were sold at a much higher price point on ichibankao.com (for example the face brush would be ~300€) - but this is another topic) i went for RMK - the brushes look great on every online pic anyway.
then i found another online store that offers japanese high end brands and most important: these brushes at a reasonable price (about 50$ per brush on an average) - they ship for free on orders over 30$. they have tons of other cool stuff - check out bonboncosmetics.com!.
RMK is also sold in the UK, i have often seen their products on popular uk-online shops (but never the brushes -.-) and Wayne Goss (Gossmakeupartist on youtube) had mentioned their products many times.
let me tell you for now that these brushes are serious  - i would rate them on the same level as the luxury brushes by Hakuhodo, maybe slightly above Trish McEvoy, a mile above most brushes by MAC. the japanese know about their artisanry!
prepare for a few brush-posts in the next days ;)

if you have tried them or these brands in general, please leave a comment so we can talk a bit ;)