Let's Talk About Shou Shou Lang [受受狼] Brushes

Saturday, September 1, 2018

I became interested in Shou Shou Lang [受受狼]about five years ago, but aside from the rare YT review, there was very little mention of this brand online either in English or Chinese. Fast forward to last year and I was able to buy SSL brushes while in China. I put off reviewing them for one major reason; they are not super easy to get in the US.

In China, you can order brushes from brands like ShouShouLang or Energy pretty easily from Taobao. HOWEVER (this is major and I feel like it warrants caps), international Taobao purchasers don't see the same listings that mainland Chinese users see. I have the Taobao app on my phone, installed and set to mainland China as my shipping zone and the listings turn up there, but elsewhere (Taiwan, US, Canada, etc) the product you want may not show up in your search. Taobao operates a lot like Amazon with third party sellers, and they do forward things internationally, but not all goods/sellers have this option. Your best bet is a buying agent (if you can manage to use the mainland China site), but there's the agent's fee and international shipping.

If you manage to get your paws on this brand, there's still the matter of the line. There's different sub lines and series within the brand with pretty significant differences in quality. I have six varieties but SSL makes more than a dozen.

L to R: M01, M05

The Freesia series quality is on par with Sigma, Bdellium, etc. I think SSL's white goat is much softer though than whatever black hair Sigma is using (but Sigma ferrules are nicer so it balances out). The brushes are dense, if a bit more rough around the edges in terms of hair length and shaping. This is the M05 (the eye blending brush that is very comparable to a MAC 217) and the M01, a big fat tulip brush.

ShouShouLang Holiday 2017 set

The red matte pearl set released in 2017 is quite good. It comes with a satin handled cushion puff. If I used cushion pacts, I would be all over it - it's a really nice sponge. The pouch it comes in is odd, doesn't really fit with the higher quality brushes. The white goat is uniform and soft. I originally thought the brushes would be that matte alloy the Real Technique brushes are (and jumped to the untrue conclusion that they would feel light and flimsy) when in fact, they are wood finished in matte pearl red lacquer. The powder brush is of a generous size, and I like the remaining brushes as well. Each one is multi-functional and the tapered shapes are excellent for both basic and complex makeup.

L to R: W214, W209, W211, W207, W204, W203
I adore the ebony W-series brushes. I can't recommend the face brushes enough. What sets the black goat face brushes apart from anything else I've ever used are how incredibly glossy the hairs are. They have this wondrous sheen. The eye brushes are made of all sorts of materials such as pine squirrel and blue squirrel, and they are a little more loosely packed in the ferrule than I would like (but it's a personal preference thing). They're about as tightly bundled as the Chikuhodo Takumi eye brushes, for comparison. If you buy any brushes in this line, I highly recommend deep conditioning the bristles to maintain the beautiful luster.

The sleek ebony has this heft in my hand, it feels so well made. The largest brush pictured isn't part of the W-series, it was a LE brush that matches the set perfectly. This is one of the brushes that doesn't show up if you search for it in the US or Canada Taobao site. It's by far the biggest, fattest brush I own with the greatest curvature in the dome shape. This and the X-03 are my most prized brushes.

This matte ebony handled beauty is the X-03. Heart eyes all day long! Gold ferrules etched with the "wolf" character. This is a limited edition brush that SSL only makes every few years with what they deem to be saibikoho 細微光峰. The bristles are SO SILKY. Finer and softer than my Tom Ford brushes, my Hakuhodo white goat. I wish I had the other brushes that were release as well, but they sold out fast. I use this primarily for highlight, but pretty multipurpose. I've also used it for blush and contour. Those curves, I can't handle them.

Top to bottom: Z88, Z89, Z82, ZM-7

Zuvmor brand (still made by SSL). These have glossy rosewood handles with gold colored ferrules. Excellent quality brushes. The cheek brush is red squirrel and a bit larger than I typically go for, but it's tapered and I found that I really like using the phenomenally soft tips for ultra pigmented blushes. The white goat is soft, not quite as fine and silky as brushes in Hakuhodo's J brushes but miles better than MAC and Chikuhodo G and GSN white goat. I quite like the two eye and one angled cheek brush that I have. I think the eye brush sizes are very well suited for people with less eyelid space.

Price wise, there's a huge range. The Freesia line is the lowest, with a set of 8 brushes for around 660 RMB, or $110. The W- series with ebony are roughly $20 for each eye brushes and $30+ for the face. The Zuvmor eye brushes start at under $10 which is MINDBLOWING given their quality - such good brushes! The face brushes were more costly, $20-40 depending on the materials. The X series with the very high grade of white goat prices out to be $40+ per brush.

Whew. Lots of thoughts there, probably not all that cohesive.

Recap: I favor the red 2017 set, the ebony handled W-series, Zuvmor, and the limited edition beauties. The Freesia line is just so-so to me, but I would definitely purchase more brushes from the other series. One thing that I noted is that across all the lines of Shou Shou Lang brushes, the painted brand logo lasts a lot longer than Hakuhodo or Energy, two brands that fade really quickly.

I wish it wasn't so hard to get a hold of these brushes, because they are fantastic. I like how there's a brush at every price point - from budget to luxe and everything in between. . There's other lines of Shou Shou Lang I haven't tried yet but wish to, such as the brushes with white handles, pink lettering and black ferrules. I have more baggage allowance this visit to China, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more about SSL soon!

Products featured were purchased by me. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.