Wayne Goss The Anniversary Set Volume 2 First Impressions

Wayne Goss The Anniversary Set Volume 2 ($241.00) includes eight brushes–two for face, six for eyes–and is an updated take on the original Anniversary Set with undyed bristles and slight tweaks to some of the shapes.  The set is limited edition, and Wayne Goss releases have a tendency to sell through sooner rather than later (and at the very least, more likely before I’ll have had a real chance to go through and put these brushes through their paces!), so I wanted to share photos of the brushes and some initial thoughts.

The brushes seemed to be consistent with Wayne Goss’ previous brushes with respect to craftsmanship, quality, and look and feel, just with all white-hued brush heads this time around.  They seemed slightly softer on average but need to be washed many times and used for awhile to really get a handle (ha, ha) on by how much.  The glossy black handles feature pink text with each number at the end of the handle.  I didn’t see any obvious issues with how the bristles were lined up for each brush.

Brush 03 is a larger, tapered crease brush and is large enough that it would work best for really diffusing and blowing out a crease color rather than precisely applying it, and it may be too large for some eye shapes.  Brush 04 is narrower and has a stronger taper, so it can get into the deep crease and lay down color but has less fluffiness and spring compared to Brush 03, so it won’t diffuse as readily in comparison.  Brush 05 is a small pencil brush that came to a stronger point, and it would do well for detail work and getting really precise lash line smudging done, but if one prefers a more blown out lash line, I think this may be too small and tapered without the roundness necessary to really diffuse and blend out product on the lower lash line.

Brush 06 is a medium, rounded brush with light-to-moderate fluffiness and spring; it was actually less fluffy than I expected for blending, but it has the shape of a lot of blending brushes, and the less-fluffy nature should give a more precise blend (which is a good thing).  Brush 07 is a small-to-medium sized, flat, rounded eye brush that would work well for patting and packing eyeshadow onto the lid and doing some deeper crease work.  It’s a bit flatter than typical dome-shaped eyeshadow brushes and is a lot longer and more yielding than the prior 07. Brush 08 is a flat, fully synthetic brush that’s designed to be a “push liner” brush, but it had quite a bit of length, which gave it better movement for back-and-forth but seemed to bend a bit too readily for pushing motions. The eye brushes seem like a good mix of sizes and shapes to apply and blend out a complete eye look, though Brush 08 doesn’t seem as practical for the greatest number of people as an angled brush would have been (for brows, gel eyeliner, etc.).

Brush 01 is a large, angled stippling brush designed for use with foundation, and it’s quite dense (and wider but more flared than the original).  Over the years, while these work well enough with foundation, I find that they require frequent washing to avoid streaky coverage, and they tend to have a longish drying time due to the density.  I also see that more and more people prefer using a lot of other shapes and tools for applying foundation that I would have rather seen a blush brush in the set instead, which I think would be more practical for more people.

Brush 02 is a medium, tapered brush that is typically seen in highlighting brushes, and it’s a nice, functional shape that works well for blush, bronzer, highlighter, and contour.  I have lots in this vein, and it seems to be a shape that resonates well with others, too, so it seemed like a good inclusion that should work well for most. It is fuller and less tapered with a slightly larger size compared to the previous version.

Overall, I wouldn’t expect anyone who likes their Japanese-crafted brushes to be disappointed by this set with respect to quality.  I don’t know that any of the updates or tweaks are functionally different enough that one needs to have both this and the original Anniversary Set (I need to use them in tandem to see), but if you missed the first set, this one seems nice so far!