Sigma tapered blending brushes E35 and E40 review and comparison

E35 top
E40 bottom

Ever since I got seriously into make-up I dreamt of getting a couple of Sigma brushes to see for myself if they're as good as they're supposed to be. The obstacle lay not in the price of the brushes themselves but in the shipping charges. On Black Friday last year Sigma offered free shipping worldwide so I jumped at the opportunity and ordered two of the blending brushes: E35 and E40.

E35 top
E40 bottom

E35 and E40 are very similar. Apart from the obvious difference in colour they are both made of natural bristles, both have a similar tapered shape both are soft, yet firm, both do their job exceptionally well and E40 is only a tiny bit fluffier.

Until I got my Sigma brushes I thought my brushes (by Polish manufacturers like Hakuro, Maestro and Kozlowski) worked fine, but you need to get hold of really high quality brushes to know the difference. I'm sure MAC brushes are even better, but for the time being I'm perfectly satisfied with my Sigmas. 

I find blending eyeshadows a bit tricky but with the right tools (like Sigma) everything seems so easy and effortless. Even the eyeshadows which refused to blend succumb to the nearly magical properties of Sigma.

E35 top
E40 bottom

Because my previous posts about Polish make-up brushes became hugely popular I thought I'd compare my Sigma brushes to their Polish counterparts, which seemed so similar in the photos, but turned out to be not-so-close dupes in reality.

top to bottom:
Hakuro H74
Sigma E35
Maestro 490
Hakuro H77
Sigma E40

left to right:
Maestro 490, Hakuro H77, Hakuro H74, Sigma E35, Sigma E40

What connects the brushes is that all of them are blending brushes made of goat's hair. The one by Maestro stands out as it is much smaller and the handle design is different.

Hakuro and Sigma bear many more similarities. The handle is almost identical, Sigma is glossy while Hakuro is kind of matte.

Hakuro H74 (top) Sigma E35 (bottom)

Both Hakuro H74 and Sigma E35 are made of bleached goat's hair. The one by Hakuro is a bit smaller but the shape is identical. The bristles of the one by Sigma tend to stick out in all directions, while the Hakuro's  always keep the right shape. Sigma is slightly softer and does its job a bit better. Sigma retails for $12 and Hakuro costs about $7.5.  

Hakuro H77 (top) Sigma E40 (bottom)

I believed Sigma E40 and Hakuro H77 to be much more alike than they actually are. Hakuro is much smaller, the bristles tend to be prickly and the one by Sigma does the blending job way better. They are priced exactly like the brushes above and if I were to choose again, I'd definitely go for the one by Sigma.

In Poland we sometimes say: better is the enemy of good and I think this is absulutely true about these brushes. My Hakuro and Maestro brushes are of very high quality and they are absolutely fine for non-professional use. But my Sigmas are sooooo much better! I only with they were available in a variety of sizes like the Maestro brushes are, a smaller size would suit my purposes better.  

Disclaimer: I bought the product myself for my personal use and I am not affiliated with any company. I am not paid to do this review and everything I said here is my genuine opinion.