Hi folks! Today, I’m going to take a break from my Motives Reviews Series to give the blog a fresh spin. I don’t want to get too focused on just reviewing products here because Blossom Beautiful Aesthetics is more than just a review blog: it’s a place to have fun and celebrate everyone’s natural beauty inside and out – regardless of what society has declared to be “aesthetically beautiful” and what Photoshop comes up with.

So what’s with the entry title? The Raised Eyebrow is a series of blog entries about cosmetics that has me well… raising an eyebrow. Be it a trend or item, something about it just has me doing this:

Feeling adventurous today, I decided to explore the Internet for make-up brushes. Opinions will always vary on which make-up brush or brush set is the best, so I rely on the reviews with a little bit of salt. And what better place to start my search for make-up brushes than Amazon? Customer reviews are fairly thorough with product purchases, which is a big plus when shopping online.

For the heck of it, I typed “makeup brushes” to see what Amazon will deliver for me. Oh, they delivered alright – they just didn’t warn me that I’d end up with a raised eyebrow in the process.

I got an eyeful of makeup brushes – from 8 to a whopping 32 pieces, Amazon is hoping that it nailed what I’m looking for. Some of the items are eligible for Prime shipping (guaranteed two-day delivery for a $99 annual membership. You’d definitely have to make a lot of purchases to make the most of that free shipping and membership), while products that are sold by independent vendors but fulfilled by Amazon will only qualify for free shipping if your order is over $35. Buyer beware indeed!

A quick browse through some of the results shows that a lot of the brushes in the 32-piece kits are similar, if not the same. And before I get pelted with rotten fruits and vegetables for saying that, let me just say that I am not a professional makeup artist and I write suggestions with the average consumer in mind – professionals know their stuff and I’ve seen many of them tote the 32-piece kits around during my days as a flower girl. It was something that I never understood and I figured a trip to Sephora while going through my makeup brush hunt phase would solve the mystery.

Nope. Instead, I found myself staring at “different” Sephora brushes, all promising the same or similar results but with some minor differences such as the angle of the brush or the bristles themselves – wide, skinny, flat, pointy, to name a few off the top of my head.

And then there’s the “pro” label – a lot of the kits are labeled as “pro.” Is the label supposed to make the average person feel like a professional? Last I checked, you couldn’t throw a paint bucket and a paintbrush at a crocodile and expect a Picasso or Van Gogh as the finished product.

So instead of bundling up all these brushes that aren’t probably any different from each other, why not do research on which brush does what and buy them individually? Oh, but wait! That would be more expensive and inconvenient! Plus the kits come up with the case already! And what if the brush isn’t that great when you buy it online?

Okay, let’s tackle the argument piece by piece.

Buying brushes individually CAN be expensive if:

1. You don’t know makeup brushes.

2. You don’t make the most of Amazon and Google. Amazon can tell you if the brush is worth the buy with reviews and Google can give you a price comparison from every online vendor available – not just the ones selling their wares on Amazon.

Unless you live in the middle of nowhere or the closest store that sells makeup is a good driving distance from your house, don’t let your inner lazy or cheapass voice convince you that investing in an item or items that’s going to be in contact with your face A LOT is inconvenient. It’s your face: you only get one… and no, we’re not gonna start talking about facial transplants.

Makeup brush cases are fairly cheap or you can get creative and make your own! How cool would that be?

So there you have it: the first entry of The Raised Eyebrow series. It’ll be updated if I come across something that has me doing the Dr. Evil pose above…. though a quick look in my web page folder has me already decided on what the next series entry will be.

NEXT UP ON THE RAISED EYEBROW: A poor girl tried to get Kylie Jenner’s plumped lips and gets more than what she bargained for. Thanks to Buzzfeed, she won’t be living down the infamy for a while.