From CdJapan
This set is available for pre-order now at CDJapan for 34,600 yen. The set contains 7 brushes and a pouch, all in a pale yellow-gold theme. The product page says that they wont be shipped out until after the middle of November though. So that’s a long wait.
From the pictures and comparing provided measurements, it looks like this set contains the following series of brushes
- Z-1 Powder Brush sister with 7mm longer bristles and slightly squashed ferrule so it’s slightly oval, but not as much as the MK-2
- Z-4 Cheek/Highlight Brush sister with 3mm shorter bristles
- Z-5 Large Eyeshadow Brush with 2mm longer bristles
- Z-10 Small Eyeshadow Brush
- Z-6 Eyebrow Brush w/ Weasel + Grey Squirrel mix rather than Raccoon and less wide
- GSN-11 Shadow/Liner
- GSN-16 Lip brush but with a retractable handle
The prices of these brushes individually on CDJapan are
- 16,000 yen
- 6,500 yen
- 4,000 yen
- 3,200 yen
- 3,300 yen
- 1,800 yen
- 2,400 yen
This totals to 37,200 yen. If the conversion rate from yen to USD was 100 for 1, this bundle would cost $372. However, the recent exchange rates would place this set between $295 and $313 (based on the high-low exchange rates from the last 4 months)
The set costs 34,600 yen which translates to $274-291. That’s only a 7% savings. It’s worth it if you don”t own any of the brushes and would like to try them out, but not enough to justify a duplicate if you already own one or more.
Last year the Chikuhodo Holiday brushes were available at Beautylish. The prices at Beautylish for the brushes in the set individually are
- $178
- $73
- $44
- $36
- $37
- $19
- $25
Which totals to $412. If we apply the 7% set savings like CDJapan has, the Lumiere set should cost somewhere around $380 is available now for a surprisingly low sum of $300. That’s before tax, after it’s $327. Beautylish has free shipping though.
As of Nov 25, the Lumiere is sold out of CDJapan. Beautylish’s listed price is 9% – 3% more expensive (favorable – unfavorable exchange rate), after factoring in tax it’s 16% – 12% for expensive.
If this set does reach BL, $291 from CDJapan (upper range of exchange rate) suddenly seems like a tremendous bargain compared to $380. You’d save more than 23% because CDJapan has no sales tax and variable shipping $3-12 depending on what you choose. Right now until Dec 24, they have a free shipping promotion where you’re eligible if your order is over 10,000 yen and consists of only brushes. Well that ain’t hard at all.
Happy Holiday Shopping.
CDJapan is also taking pre-orders on another Chikuhodo set for 13,700 yen and has a rose-pink theme. There are two dyed goat hair brushes face brushes, one pine squirrel eye brush, a retractable weasel lip brush, and a brush pouch. It should cost between $108-115 and also won’t be shipped until mid-november. See edit for 11/24
- The angled cheek is 2 mm shorter than the M-1 (6,000 yen)
- The cheek brush has the same measurements as the PS-2 Passion Cheek (3,600)
- The eye-shadow paddle is the same as the R-S6 (2,500)
- The retractable lip brush is 0.5mm shorter than the T-10 lip brush (2,300 yen)
The individual prices total to 14,400 yen. The Rose set ( at 13,700 yen ) is a 5% saving.
Nov 24 EDIT: The Rose Noel is available for purchase and will ship out in 1-2 days rather than in the middle of Dec, but there are only a dozen sets left… CDJapan has also posted a brief review and more HD pics of the Rose set (here).
It is also available on Beautylish for $120 and $129 after tax. 9% – 5% more expensive before tax, 16% – 11% after.
Do note that my none of my price calculations take the value of the carrying pouch/brush roll into account. I choose to ignore that as a gwp/freebie you get for dropping so much at once on a set.
November 3 EDIT: Visage is carrying 30 of the Lumiere sets for $301 each and 40 of the Rose set for $119 each before tax and shipping. The prices are not as marked up as their other Chikuhodo brushes, surprisingly enough.
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