Bésame Long Hair Finishing Powder Brush

~ stashy

I mentioned the Bésame Long Hair Finishing Powder Brush as one of my favourites at the end of last year. Finally, I’m posting my review of this odd looking brush:
I bought this during the Fall VIB Sale from Sephora last year, it costs $62 CAD / $50 USD.

The primary reason I bought this was – I’ll admit it – out of sheer curiosity! Firstly, the packaging is gorgeous:

The whole identity of the brand Bésame has an old-fashioned and vintage vibe. It achieved the vintage look without looking kitschy – the gold box with red accent look quite classy and time-appropriate:

The brush description from the box:

Bésame brushes are designed to bring back glamour and luxury to the process of creating your look – they make expert application effortless. Designed to buff powder or cream with faux hair, it blends color with ease and glides effortlessly onto the skin. The handle is designed to resemble brushes available to Hollywood makeup artist during the 1930s. It is easy to grasp, comfortable and well balanced in your hand. Wash hair only warm, soapy water as needed.


I own a lot of brushes but I don’t have one that looks like a dustpan brush! 😉

The shape of the handle makes it really easy to hold, almost like brushing my hair.  The handle is made of plastic and the bristles are synthetic.

However, as odd looking at this brush is, I would not call this brush an original, as it is a fairly accurate reproduction of a vintage Max Factor brush:

Even the box is similar! Source.

Besides the striking appearance of the brush, the other feature is how soft the bristles are! It feels feathery soft and the hairs aren’t bluntly cut so the ends of the brush are more diffused than the base.  I’m sure the bristles of that original Max Factor brush was nowhere as soft as the Bésame!  This brush is also incredibly well-made – I’ve been using this for over 6 months and have not experienced any shedding at all.

I’ve tried applying blush, bronzer and face powder with this brush but I found it difficult to pick up and place product precisely.  For me, the best use of this brush is not for applying products, but rather, for removing excess product, and for blending large areas.  Remember this post on Instagram from a couple of weeks ago:

The Bésame Long Hair Finishing Powder Brush is exactly the brush I would use to blend out blushes if I over-apply! 😛 You’d think I would only need to blend out my face once in a blue moon, but no, I reach for this brush quite regularly since I prefer a seamless look for my blush, contour, highlight and powder. Personally, I like to blend away or remove a portion of my makeup to dial down the “makeup-y” look – hence why I also like to spray with facial mist after powdering my face.  If you’re like me, you may find this brush to be helpful too. In fact, in my arsenal of brushes, I do own another brush that perform a similar function – the Ecotools Face & Body Sculpting Brush:

The bristle ends of the Ecotools brush is cut bluntly compared to the Bésame one, which means it drags the makeup slightly.  I prefer the Ecotools when I am blending out bronzer rather than blush / contour / highlight – bronzer doesn’t need as careful placement compared to the other face products.

Size-wise, they’re pretty comparable but I find the Bésame to be more versatile.  Bésame itself offer another similar style brush, the Short Hair Contour Brush which, as the name suggests, is for contouring. It has black bristles that are much denser and shorter:

Source.

One could say it’s pricey for a brush that is a “one trick pony” but I have an appreciation for Bésame’s design, and the fact that they’re not a large company so they aren’t gaining economies of scale.  However, I did note that this brush is made in China:

Which makes sense since I’ve noticed that the majority of brushes made of synthetic bristles are manufactured in China.

This is how my unwashed Bésame Long Hair Finishing Powder Brush looks:

See the gradient colour of my blush at the tip and contour / bronzer at the bottom? When I sweep this brush across my cheeks to blend out, it makes it look like I put in more effort than I did! 😉

Pros:
• Beautiful design / packaging
• Very soft bristles
• Easy to wash / dries quickly
• No shedding
• Cruelty-free

Cons:
• Expensive
• Doesn’t pick up or deposit product well

Stash worthiness: 8/10

Bottom line: no one really needs this brush but it’s a helpful item to have on hand. I would equate this brush with my Guerlain Météorites – they’re high quality items that are a little bit of a show-piece, but they serve a unique purpose.

What beauty product do you have that you don’t absolutely need but you find useful?

39 thoughts on “Bésame Long Hair Finishing Powder Brush”

  2. I love it stashy xxx

    YOUR COMPARISON to Guerlain is SO YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    DO you need it no
    does it look damn pretty + LUXURY – yassssssss

    xoxox
    I can practically feel the brush on MA FACE XXX
    love and burritos

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  3. It’s so nice to see a luxury item that lives up to its intended purpose! What a gorgeous makeup brush to have on your vanity 🙂

    I admit I misread the title of your post, looked at the pics and was like, “How do you brush your hair with that?”

    I do love Besame’s lippies—that’s the only stuff I’ve tried from them.

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    1. Haha yeah the brush name is kind of misleading… 😛
      It’s definitely a unique brush – I’m glad I splurged and took a change.
      Besame came out with a new blush brush – it’s a more standard looking brush but it looks so soft:

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  4. This looks interesting, but yes, definitely something that is not needed. I would love to try it out, though. If only I could persuade a friend to purchase this for her/himself (because I’m too stingy to get this out of my own pocket). Hahahaha

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  5. The close up pictures give me an urge to reach for the brush and stroke the hairs…is that weird? hahaha. It looks soooo soft and fluffy though, like a squirrel’s tail.
    I would not have known what to do with this weirdly shaped brush! Using it to blend totally makes sense though.
    With the red and the gold, the packaging reminds me of Asian things, so the name of the brand throws me off. Lol!

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    1. I don’t think Sephora carries this brush in stores which is a shame because people need to FEEL this in person!
      Ha, you’re right, the red and gold is very Asian, I didn’t even think of that! 😛

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  6. Very interesting brush! I have a huge Kiko powder brush that I use in a similar way because I have a bad habit of not blending bronzer/blush in as well as I think I do and it takes care of me well.

    Pretty cool that it’s a take on the vintage Max Factor brush!

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    1. Oh is this a Kiko brush you bought in Vegas? It’s handy to have those large brushes for overall blending!
      I was surprised how well they re-created that MF brush. 🙂

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  11. Great review! I’ve never seen that type of brush before!! When I was at imats there was a talk by a makeup artist who says she uses a lambswool brush for setting powder and you can make your own with a lolly stick and some lambs wool from a craft shop!! Yet to try but it’s meant to be super soft! Xx

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  12. This is such a pretty brush! I swear, I would buy it just as a decoration of sorts even though it doesn’t pick up product very well. 😀 I love vintage-inspired items. Great post, as always! You can always tell you have put a lot of effort into putting your posts together. 🙂

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    1. Thanks so much Nadine! I appreciate your kind words! 🙂
      I hear you about wanting this as a decoration item – it really stands out in the sea of black handled “very serious professional” brushes. 😛

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  14. Sigh, I noticed that about synthetic brushes too. The Marc Jacobs ones are also made in China. I will not buy brushes from them again. I just cannot justify buying luxury brands that make their products in China.

    Stashy, how could you say that about Guerlain Météorites? Poor Météorites. It is a revolutionary product pioneer and soooo pretty. I demand that you apologise to Météorites 😛

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    1. I understand your thoughts about things made in China. But, I feel like my harsh stance on China is beginning to loosen a bit? I think perhaps the China market is developing different levels of quality and starting to pay more attention to mid to high market? This is in response to their own society developing those segments of income. I do understand that a sore point is how much mark up these luxury brands are reaping by producing in low wage country…

      Ok, I apologize to Guerlain Météorites… it’s not their fault that they don’t really show up on the skin or do much of anything. 😆 I’m still bummed I never got the Météorites perfume so I’m possibly just bitter. :X

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      1. Well, China doesn’t qualify to be be considered low wage any more 🤣 their government stance on all that social tax is super heavy on the factories.

        Hm… My stance on China remain strong for lip products (still at zero purchase, I have allergies and ingestion concerns). I am not against China for brushes /packaging, because of quality concerns. It is more that the brands themselves has the cheek to remain premium price and widen their margin. Cosmetic companies these days appear to spend more on marketing than product development. I’d happily buy NYX, Real Technique brushes. They’re made in China, but they don’t bullshit sell at high price point.

        Wahaha you and Météorites 😅😂

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        1. Yeah that’s true, the wage in China has gone up a lot, but they’re still lower wage than other manufacturing countries with significant output. Don’t tell me one day we’ll be seeing “Made in Bangladesh” on our makeup!
          I feel slightly bad that I LOVE this one foundation from W7 and it’s made in China… ugh.

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  15. It reminds me of a dustpan and brush brush! It’s good to know you found it similar to the eco tools one since I had that one, I’ve probably only picked it up about 10 times since I bought it though, so definitely could not warrant this!
    I do love the vintage styling of it though, we’ve just started watching Mad Men and they’ve been working on a lipstick campaign – it looks like something that would fit right in!

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    1. Yes I remember you own the Ecotools one. I definitely reach for the Besame one more than the Ecotools.
      The styling is really a selling feature, I agree!

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