2/01/2025

Kinbom 6pc Detail Paint Brush Set (Red)

These a medium-quality affordable detail brushes, better quality than expected, which I've now used for several months.
 
The set has two items of each size (5/9, 3/0, 2/0) and, although they are not liners, they make good line, shapes and fine marks. They're great for corrections on small areas, for mark-making and to fill in small areas or corners in a journal. I use them with flat or soft paper surfaces so I don't know how they would react with canvas or wood panels. I always use them with acrylic paints/inks and no issues so far.
 
I tend to forget my brushes submerged in water for too long, from some hours to a couple of days. The bristles tend to bend and lose shape while left in water for a while, but they recover it easily by drying t hem with a paper towel and, at the same time, pressing them into their straight shape with my fingers. I initially feared that the red handle would lose its colour or break open, but that hasn't happened. So, I think these brushes are better quality than they look like. On the other hand, they look like a downgraded version of the brushes depicted in the product page photos.
 
Although unimportant, the brushes colour is more like burgundy, definitely not the beautiful red in the photos. I just wanted any coloured handle to differentiate these brushes from other small ones I own, so any colour would do.  

In short, an economic student-grade set of detail brushes that are sturdy, durable, and versatile.

Aymorder 10-piece Nail Art Liner Brush Set

I was lured by this 10-piece set of nail art brush liners due to the variety of sizes and the good price. I risked the purchase as they could have been terrible. But they are not! Sure, they aren't a professional artist set, but I didn't want to spend a little fortune on a professional set. I wanted this to start getting familiar with this type of brush and to work on art journal and small paper projects. They're befitting.
 
I use them with acrylic paints/inks and they work well overall. They would have been better if they had slightly thicker bristles but, you know, these were a bargain an are not intended for artwork. They make good long flat and curvy lines with ease but due to the bristles not being strong enough, sometimes the lines aren't clean. It might be me, as I'm just getting used to them. They're perfect for people with small hands and they're good quality despite the bargain price and the fact that they were intended for nail art not painting.  These brushes work better on flat paper (e.g. art journal pads) or on surfaces that have none or little texture (e.g. cold pressed watercolour paper).  

These brushes are easy to clean and can be kept in water for a long time without worry. The 'crystal' handle material hasn't deteriorated at all despite my tendency to forget brushes in water all night or for several days. The synthetic bristles get bent when left in water for long, but they recover their shape easily by drying them out with a paper towel and pressing them back into their flat shape with my fingers. 
 
I haven't used these for nail art, so I cannot comment on how they work for that purpose.

Yitexin 20-piece Alphabet Stencils 4x7in (18x10cm)

This is a generous set of alphabet stencils made of good quality stencil material and with different styles of lettering, so you can use them on different projects. Due to their size, these stencils are great for art journaling, scrapbooking and school art projects. The quality of the cutting is good. However, there are some design consistencies within each template, something that bothered me. Good priced.

Uni-Ball Signo 1mm Gel Pen -- Gold (UM153.25)

This Uniball Signo metallic gold gel pen is fantastic. It produces clean lines and is great for accents on crafts and painting projects. However, this is not a lightfast or permanent marker, so you would need to use a fixative if you want the colour to stay The gold colour is on the greenish side, not bad, but not my favourite tone of gold.

L’Oréal Magic Retouch Permanent (Dark 5 Brown)

This is a new product in the L'Oreal Magic Retouch range. I use the spray to covers greys when I haven't had the time for colouring. However, the spray only lasts till I wash my hair. So this Min-tint package is great. It has the same quality permanent colour that you find in the full box, but in the right amount to cover not just my part line and temples but also some of the sides of my head. 

The box contains a dispenser bottle with an brush attachment, the jar with the colour and a very good and useful instructions leaflet. I mix the product as per the instructions but I never use this colour, or any other, directly from the bottle. I always pour it into a professional tinting container and use a professional tinting comb as these allow a more efficient use of the product and I get better results.
 
I'm very satisfied with the results as the tint covers my greys perfectly, the colour looks beautiful, it does not irritate my scalp, and has a mild odour. 
 
Now the downsides. The first one is this, like other L'Oreal tints I've used, dries my hair noticeably. The colour looks great, especially if you put a dark colour on, but I also noticed that my hair is less soft, freezier, and feels dry to touch. This being the case I have to put a full mask and then use tons of Moroccan oil to compensate. Being honest, we're meant to leave the product 10 minutes on only, but I tend to leave it 30 minutes as I have rebel thick greys and otherwise they would not get properly covered. So, be aware that if you use it longer than recommender, this might be your case as well.  

The second downside is this. The price of this bottle is almost identical, sometimes the same, sometimes a couple of dollars down, to the full box. However, the latter contains more quantity and great shampoo and conditioner. So, to me, the full box is better value than money than the MR version, and it serves me better as I have a large amount of greys all over my head. Magic Retouch is better for guys or just girls with short haircuts or just people with not many greys.

Sally Hansen Nail polisher remover (Strengthening Pink)

Nothing fancy or hoo-ha about this nail polish remover. It does the job, it does not smell too bad despite being acetone based, and removes thick coats of paint with ease. If I wanted to strengthen my nails, I'd rather use a purpose-made nail strengthener. I don't think this NPR was designed to strengthen your nails, just not to further damage weak or flaky nails by adding lanolin and hydrolysed wheat protein. So, the result is that this NPR is gentler on my nails than others. Good-priced and does the job.