Poorly made brushes will show their true colors as soon as you dip and try to apply your minerals. Does the powder just lay on top of the brush? Does it fly all over as soon as you try to apply and buff? Is your makeup streaky and uneven? Is your brush going flat within 1 to 2 applications? If any of these are true or close you are having a brush problem 99.9% of the time, not a product problem.
There are more imitators out there today than you can shake a stick at. As you know most Cosmetic Brushes or the hair for them is constructed outside of the U. S. There are suppliers who purchase them fully constructed by the 1,000’s sight unseen, assuming to believe they are receiving lets say Goat Hair Buffers. The sad part is they did not know the supplier, they did not know how to test the brush prior, they only saw the $$ sign. There are imitation brushes being called Goat Hair when in fact they are mostly synthetic, are sparse in construction and therefore will be useless to you immediately. Now, I am not saying there are not good synthetic & goat hair brushes out there, most definitely there are, but again you have to know the quality of the construction and the history of these suppliers. A good way to find out in todays world is to get online, read up in the mineral makeup forums & blogs, ask questions, you will find out what the end user really thinks of a suppliers product line.
There are also suppliers who will buy the head to the brush over seas, the hair, already tied, bound and ready to be glued into a U.S. made handle. These suppliers are serious, they spend a lot of time traveling, testing and ensuring that the blend they receive is worthy. They will also call these Made In America, true on many points and usually these brushes are of the best quality you can find. These suppliers have worked hard to ensure they have a great product.
As for what brush to use for which product, this is my personal favorite coming your way, it works for me with my products and for our customers.