Kumano brushes are made here in Kumano Town, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture.
With a population of approximately 23,000, about 1 in 10 people are said to be involved in the production of brushes.

Kumano brushes can be broadly divided into three types: calligraphy brushes, painting brushes, and makeup brushes.
It is a traditional industry with a long history that dates back to the Edo period, but in recent years, "makeup brushes" have been attracting particular attention.

Due to its high quality, it is used by major domestic companies as well as makeup artists around the world.

Because of their high quality, some make-up brushes cost hundreds of thousands of yen.
The up-and-coming brush studio “Koyudo” developed these makeup brushes for Standard Products.

It is gaining popularity for product development that is not bound by conventional frameworks, such as out bath products and shoe care products that make use of Kumano brush technology, as well as traditional brushes and painting brushes.

When you think of Kumano brushes, you may have a strong image of using animal hair, but Standard Products' makeup brushes are upcycled synthetic cilia that use very soft polyester materials (including recycled PET). .

Although the material was selected from the viewpoint of environmental friendliness, the quality is comparable to that of natural animal hair.
In other words, Standard Products' Kumano brushes are hybrid Kumano brushes that combine modern materials while making the most of traditional techniques.

One of the characteristics of Kumano brushes is the thorough manual work by craftsmen.
However, this time the product was commercialized by combining mechanization in the process, reviewing the raw materials, and manufacturing with the highest efficiency.

The world's best brush-making technology that is utilized in this makeup brush. I would like to introduce some of them.
*Not all the processes below are used for Standard Products makeup brushes. Please see this as a representative manufacturing process of Kumano makeup brushes.

There are more than 30 manufacturing processes for Kumano brushes for makeup brushes, and more than 70 for writing and painting brushes.

To give a representative example of the process of making makeup brushes,

1.Hair selection
2. Lightweight
3. Bringing
4.Centering
5. Solidarity
6. Adhesion of metal fittings
7. Shaft bonding
8. Inspection

I understand the process.

Among them, the process that deserves special mention is "hair selection".

As those of you who have actually touched Kumano makeup brushes know, they are characterized by soft and smooth bristles that make you want to touch them all the time.

One of the secrets of its smoothness is "not cutting the ends of the hair during the manufacturing process".
For example, is it easy to understand if you imagine uncut downy hair or animal hair?

This is a process called "sarae", one of the hair selection processes.
Removes thick and thin hair to create hair ends with even thickness.

It is not easy to create bundles of the same thickness without cutting the ends, and it takes a long time to master the technique.

The left is before work, and the right is after work. It is a very delicate work that is difficult to achieve by mechanization.

At first glance, this looks like the same work process as the others, but this is a scene unique to Koyudo.

The high quality of Kumano brushes is due to the accumulation of meticulous work done by craftsmen.
However, there are several points in the dozens of processes where mechanization can be incorporated without compromising quality. Koyudo has focused on that and is making products by identifying lines that can ensure quality even if it is "semi-mechanized".

Next is the process of tying, attaching metal fittings, and attaching shafts.
This is a process that combines mechanization, but of course it is not a work that can be entirely mechanized, and it is a very delicate process.

The cilia and inspection work are done many times, and all excess length and thickness are removed, and at the end only the selected ends are left.

And as a finishing work, Koyudo's own "certain process" is completed, but unfortunately I was not able to show it as a trade secret.
This is a very important process that greatly affects the finish depending on whether or not there is this work.

And now it's finished.

The products sold at Standard Products this time are

Eyebrow brush (770 yen including tax)
Eye shadow brush (770 yen including tax)
Shadow liner (770 yen including tax)
Powder brush (1,100 yen including tax)
Foundation brush (1,100 yen including tax)

There are 5 types of

It is a gem that we recommend with confidence. We hope that you will be able to see the quality of Kumano brushes by holding them in your hands at our store.