Customers offer samples will help expedite of shipment

Some customers have definite demand on brush types; they have such brush in their hand and would like to custom makeup brush with the same quality and craft. To save time, sometimes, they will only take a picture of the brush and send to the makeup brush manufacturer for quotation.

 

Due to the photo environment or equipment limit, the picture may not be able to show the actual effect of the brushes, especially the work craft, it will cause some errors during quotation. And after quotation, if customers would like to release orders, the makeup brush factory will have to make some samples first and send to customers’ confirmation, only after getting customers’ confirmation on samples, the factory or manufacturer can start mass production, which will need about 20 extra days.

 

If customers can send the samples they have to the makeup brush manufacturers, it will greatly helpful for accurate quotation; also, the sample confirmation will not so necessary. Most professional makeup brush factory can copy the brushes if with samples. Of course, if customers do not require urgent delivery and insist on sample confirmation first, that will also be ok to send samples first.

 

For example, a customer would like to order MAC equivalent brushes but only offers MAC brush # to the makeup brush manufacturer. In his opinion, MAC brushes are famous all over the world, the makeup brush factory must know the customers requirement only by the brush number. However, since MAC sells brushes world widely, the brushes sold in Europe are different from that in Asian, their quality and craft vary greatly. So it will be the best if customers can send the brushes they have to the makeup brush manufacturers in case of any misunderstanding on customer’s requirements.

 

If customers offer samples, the lead time can be shortened by 15-20 days, which is almost the same as the lead time of mass production.

Custom makeup brush VS existing brush

Many customers have no clear idea on makeup brush ordering, and do not know which one is better: custom makeup brush or order existing brush from the makeup brush manufacturers.

 

In fact, all customers are customizing makeup brushes even if they use the same size/material/color/craft as the brush samples from makeup brush manufacturers, as customers always require their own logo printed on the brush handles and bags. If order existing brushes, nothing should be changed, the logo should be the name of the makeup brush factory. Just like wholesale the goods of a factory or manufacturer.

 

Most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers specialize in custom makeup brushes; we produce brushes strictly according to customers’ requirements on size, material, craft, color etc. Not like other standard parts, we usually have no fixed existing brushes. For an existing part, the size/material/color/craft and logo should be fixed; if anything changed, the item number should be different. While for makeup brush, the size/material/color/craft etc is so diverse and different customers have different preference, so it is hard to give a fixed item number.

 

Also, for makeup brush sets, if the brush quantity and type contained in a set changed, it should be a different brush set. Therefore, it is hard to fix any brush or brush set as the existing brushes. That is why many makeup brush manufacturers will say that they have no certain existing brushes when the customers want to check the existing brushes. We will only show customers some brushes or brush sets we are producing or have produced for customers’ reference; if customers like them, we will send the samples for customers’ confirmation upon request.

 

Therefore, if you would like to have brushes with you own logo, you should input “custom makeup brushes” in the search engine. During communication with the makeup brush suppliers, you should also let them know such information

Our holiday arrangement

Now it is almost the calendar new year, as well as the Chinese New Year! The following is our holiday notice:

Jan 1^st-3^rd: Holiday for calendar new year

Jan 16^th-31^st: Holiday for Chinese New Year

During the holiday, we will only available by emails, the makeup brush factory will be closed; most staff will be out of office.

However, we will have a staff to be on duty on every working day to check emails on sales@tmakeupbrushes.com, so that we can reply customers’ enquiries. Therefore, most emails will be replied ASAP except those about the production or delivery, we can not ensure the exact delivery time since our production line will be stopped during the holiday. We will reply all emails on delivery or production after our back to the office on Feb 1^st.

If customers have any urgent order, please place the order and arrange the prepayment before Jan 16^th (our Chinese New Year). If we can get orders before holiday, the delivery time will be Middle Feb; while if we get orders after the holiday, the delivery time will be much longer, may be delayed to later March.

We wish all customers enjoy their Christmas Holiday and New Year Holiday!

Please feel free to contact us via email at any time.

Place orders before Chinese New Year

Christmas is coming, New Year is coming, and people all around the country are ready to celebrate the holiday. Before, after the New Year holiday, it will leave about a month for Chinese New Year; while this year, Chinese New Year is also not far. Jan 23th is Chinese New Year day, and most companies will close from Jan 20^th.

 

Our factory will be closed from Jan 16^th to 31st. It will certainly affect the brush production and shipment. Therefore, if customers have any urgent demand, it will be the best to place the order before the Chinese New Year, so that we can order the raw material before the holiday and then start production once our back to the factory. If material is ready, we may just need about 15 days to finish the production.

 

Although some of our staff will be available by email during the holiday, our workers are not on duty, so can not do any production. Even if we get the orders during the Chinese New Year holiday, we will not be able to order the material as our material supplier is also enjoying the holiday. Therefore, placing orders during the holiday is totally the same after the holiday; the delivery time will not have difference.

 

Without the order, we will have to order the raw material after the holiday, and the material production lead time is also about 25 days, in plus of the production time, the whole lead time will be more than 40 days. So if customers place the order after the holiday, the delivery time will be in March or later.

 

But if we get the order before our holiday, we can order the material firstly, as our material supplier will not close their factory so early. Generally, they will not close the factory until Jan 22nd. Most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers will close the factory earlier than other factories if without urgent orders.

 

If you already have any confirmed demand on makeup brushes, please kindly help to place the order before our holiday.

Do a yearly summary during Christmas holiday

Now, most western customers are enjoying their Christmas holiday, but we are still working even if there is few inquiry or email. Most internationals sales do not know what to do during such period.

 

I strongly suggest the salesman can do a yearly summary during the Christmas holiday. We are so busy before that we have no time to survey all enquires. Due to time limit, we may just reply or feedback the most potential customers, and automatically ignore the general inquiry. Most of us believe that even if we reply these general inquiries, it is hard to win business from them, they just group send the emails to all Chinese makeup brush manufacturers or suppliers; we can hardly win orders from them.

 

It is ok to use such strategy during busy time, but since now we are so free, why not try to reply these emails? Maybe you can get surprise from them. Some may ask: the customers are enjoying their holiday, will they check the emails? Well, email is not telephone, customers can open their emails once they are free, our emails will not be missed during the holiday. After the holiday, customers will see our emails. Emails will not cause any disturbance to their holiday time. Although it totally depends on customers’ decision, we should try our best to get the chance to make further progress.

 

Besides, we can make a table to involve all inquiries in this year, no matter confirmed customers, potential customers or impossible customers. As long as we once get inquiries from them, we should input their information into a table to check the related data, such as the order rate, profit rate, advertisement effect etc. Such data will greatly help our plan in next year.

 

As a salesman, we should not waste any time, use any chance to improve our sales volume and customers’ satisfaction; it is a good talent to strengthen ourselves through periodical summarization especially at the end of the year.

MOQ according to different situation

Each makeup brush manufacturer has its own MOQ for makeup brushes, some may say 1000pcs each, some may 2000 each, and some may more.

 

The MOQ will be different according to brush types. For mini brushes, the MOQ may reach 10000pcs; for large medium grade brushes, the MOQ may be 2000pcs each; for high grade brushes, the MOQ may be 1000pcs; for top grade makeup brushes like MAC equivalent, the MOQ may be 500pcs.

 

Since most of our customers are small workshops or wholesalers, it is hard for them to absorb such quantity, especially for some small countries. For example, the Iceland, New Zealand, Finland etc, they have so little population and may only accept 200pcs each or less. If buy 1000 sets at one time, they may need more than one year to sell these brushes out. It will be hard for their capital turnover. So they may prefer paying a little more to get small MOQ.

 

The main reason of the makeup brush manufacturers to have MOQ requirement is only because it is the most cost-effective when reach such quantity. While we may ignore that for some customers in small country, they prefer higher price than large MOQ.

 

Therefore, we indeed should regulate MOQ according to different situation. We can firstly quote customers according to normal MOQ and ask if it is acceptable for customers. If not, we can recalculate the cost and requote customers base on their order quantity. We believe most customers can understand that the price for small quantity will be higher than large quantity.

 

As professional makeup brush manufacturers, we should give customers various choices, and let customers decide which they prefer. Never act on assumptions or assume customers must prefer low price.

 

Certificate of sterilization on makeup brush

Many customers will require certificate of sterilization on makeup brushes due to the government policy. As makeup brush hairs are animal hairs which will contain some bacteria if not sterilized. Such bacteria may be harmful to local environment or human body, so if without the certificate of sterilization, the customs will not release the shipment.

 

The certificate of sterilization is a prove to show that the makeup brushes have been sterilized according to certain regulation, and contain no bacteria. After all brushes in the order are finished, the inspection authority will come to the makeup brush factory to do the inspection, if all brushes are qualified, the inspection authority will then issue the inspection report/certificate.

 

After the shipment, the makeup brush suppliers should send the certificate together with the invoice and packing list for customers’ clearance for the shipment.

 

While as not all customers will require such certificate, the makeup brush supplier will not include such test fee in the quotation at the very beginning. If customers have such requirement, they need to pay extra fee for the test fee. For small quantity and single brush type, the test fee is about USD170.0, for large quantity or multi types, the test fee will be about USD270.0. For example, if there is only 1 brush type with 1000pcs in a order, the test fee will be USD170.0; if the order contains 10 types with more than 1000pcs, the test fee will be USD270.0.

 

Therefore, during custom makeup brushes, if customers know the government or customs has such regulation or requirement on certificate of sterilization, they should tell the makeup brush manufacturers at the very beginning; so that the makeup brush manufacturers can include the test fee in the quotation or let customers know the test fee in advance.

Shipping mark for makeup brushes

Although the shipping mark is not compulsory for international shipment, most customers will require marks on each carton in case of any missing or confusing.

 

The shipping mark content and style totally depends on customers and suppliers. If customers have their own fixed marks, they should send the mark to makeup brush manufacturers to make such marks on the cartons. If customers have no fixed marks and are no so familiar with the mark issues, the brush manufacturers can design the marks and send them to customers for confirmation.

 

Usually, the marks should be printed on the outer cartons, it means: the makeup brush manufacturer should send the marks to the carton factory and require the carton factory to print the marks on each carton. However, if the carton quantity is so few that the carton factory does not want to print the marks on each carton, the makeup brush manufacturers should feedback such situation to customers and try to get customers’ approval to firstly print the marks on paper and then stick the paper on each carton.

 

In fact, the customs has no requirement on mark style or content, no mark is also ok. Shipping mark is only a way to distinguish our cartons from all others, since there are so many cartons in a same port or airport. Shipping mark can help customers find their goods accurately and immediately.

 

A shipping mark usually contains such information: customer’s name or abbreviation, destination (port or city), order number and carton number. For example:

ABC (customer name)

Vancouver (customer’s location)

PO#20110101

Carton#:1-20

 

The important issue is the exporter should ensure the consistency of all related documents. For example, if your invoice shows no mark, all other documents (packing list, declaration, B/L), should show the same information. If the invoice shows mark information, all other documents should show the same mark information. Otherwise, the shipment may be hold on customs and can not reach customers.

Makeup brush shipment

For small orders, some customers would like to ship via DHL/FEDEX/UPS which will be much quicker than via air or sea. Also, they will prefer to prepay the shipping charge to the makeup brush suppliers, as freight charge paid by receiver is much higher than by shipper.

 

While after getting customers’ payment on freight charge, some makeup brush suppliers will choose to ship via DHL agent instead of official DHL, as DHL agent will be cheaper than official. Here we would like to introduce the advantages and disadvantages of DHL and its agent:

 

DHL agent: The most important advantage is low fee. Usually the shipping charge of DHL agent is 30% of official quotation, some may even lower. This is the main reason why many Chinese makeup brush suppliers choose agent.

 

Another advantage of DHL agent is the convenience especially for those suppliers who have no import-export license. Shippers only need to give the packages to the agent, no need to submit any declaration documents, and the agent will handle everything at customs; that is another reason why the agent is so popular in China.

 

However, the shipment via DHL agent will take longer time. The DHL normal time to USA will just 3 days, but if via agent, it may take more than 5 days; some may 7-10 days. That is because to decrease the fee, the agents usually transfer the shipment to another location to combine the packages with others. Such transfer will also cause the package missing or damage, if such issue happens, the shippers will have no way to require any compensation since the shipment is not handled via official DHL.

 

DHL official: The DHL will be quicker and safer than agent. If anything happened, DHL will handle for them, and the shippers can claim compensation from DHL for any package damage or missing. But the shipping charge is too high and shippers need to submit all related declaration documents to DHL, it is not easy for some small makeup brush manufacturers.

 

Despite of the advantages and disadvantages of DHL and its agent, we really suggest DHL official for samples, as the fee will not be much higher; if ship via agent, the small package is easy to be missed. For large shipment, it depends on shippers’ consideration on safety and cost. Usually, large shipment will not be missed.

Prepare samples in advance

Having been in makeup brush industry for so many years, I get known that most customers have no clear idea on which brushes they exactly need. Some of them are very new to this industry and just would like to sell makeup brushes in their local area. Therefore, before custom makeup brushes, they usually will require existing samples or best sellers from the makeup brush factory, so that they can check the capacity of the factory, and better understand the difference between different makeup brushes as well.

 

The problem is, the normal lead time of brush samples is about 15 days. If the makeup brush factory has no existing brush in stock, and start make the samples only after getting the customers approval, it will greatly affect the business progress.

 

In fact, it is ok to offer most customers the same samples, so to save times, the makeup brush manufacturer can make certain brush samples in advance. For example, make 20 sets of all MAC/BB brushes in one time, then once customers require samples, we can immediately send the existing ones to them, which will save time for both customers and makeup brush manufacturers. Once the 20 sets samples are almost sold out, we can make another 20 sets samples again, also we can add the best sellers in that period to the samples, so that we can introduce new arrivals to customers and keep our customers be updated of any information on makeup brush industry.

 

As sales, we should keep fresh and creative at any time, try best to offer better service to customers, solve any problem of customers, and win more orders for our company.

Use alcohol to remove glue remnant

While unpacking the makeup brushes, some customers may notice some yellow dirt on makeup brush ferrule and handle, the dirt is actually glue remnants.

 

We all know that to connect the ferrule with hair and handle, the makeup brush manufacturers have to use glue. Theoretically, the workers must remove the dirt after the production; during inspection, the makeup brushes with such dirt should be unqualified and returned to the production line to be reworked. While sometimes, to expedite the production, some irresponsible workers may not remove the dirt and the inspectors also just ignore it. This is really bad for customers, as the makeup brushes with such glue remnants are very ugly and will drop down the quality level of the makeup brushes.

 

No matter the brush material is in top grade or low grade, the makeup brush suppliers should ensure the beautiful appearance of the makeup brushes. But if unfortunately customers receive makeup brushes with the ugly glue remnants, you can choose to return the brushes to the suppliers to require the brushes reworked, or you can remove the dirt by yourselves if the unqualified quantity is not so more and you urgently need the brushes to be launched.

 

Then, how to remove the glue remnants by ourselves? Well, a cloth and a bottle of alcohol will be enough. Buy a bottle of alcohol from a shop or drugstore, and use a clean cloth with alcohol to clean the brush ferrule and handle; you will find that the glue remnants can be easily removed and the ferrule and handle become shinning. Just remember that after that, you should put the brush in a cool and dry place to ensure that the alcohol moisture will not leave on the makeup brushes.

 

However, if the unqualified quantity is too much and the brush are not in urgent need, customers should return the makeup brushes and require the makeup brush supplier to rework them, it is really their responsibility to supply perfect and beautiful makeup brushes.

Makeup brushes with Bamboo handles

Due to environment protection consideration, some customers may prefer bamboo handles for their makeup brushes. It is ok for many makeup brush manufacturers to produce such bamboo brushes, while customers should understand that the lead time for bamboo handles will be longer than wooden or plastic handles.

 

The reason is the original color of bamboo is slight yellow, while customers always require the color to be white, so the makeup brush factory has to do some special process to change the color to be white, and then do the painting. For the wooden handles, if the weather is rainy, we can bake dry the paint to ensure on-time delivery; but for bamboo handles, we can not bake them but only air dry or sun dry. If baked, the bamboo handle paint will change to yellow again. Therefore, on rainy day, it is usually hard for us to deliver the makeup brushes on time.

 

During custom makeup brushes, if customers would like to have bamboo handles, we usually offer longer lead time than wooden handles, while sometimes, we can not foresee the weather situation in future, so sometimes if it rains for many days, we may not ship the goods on time only because the paint is not dry enough.

 

We indeed want to get the understanding from customers on such issue, while we know that it is really our responsibility to control everything during makeup brush production including the weather situation. Therefore, if our normal lead time is 30 days, in June and July which is the rainy season in China, we may quote 45 days for makeup brushes with bamboo handles. The situation will also happen in winter. If customers can accept 45 days that will be ok for both of us; while if customers are urgently in need of the brushes, we will try our best to expedite the shipment, but we can not promise anything as we can not control the weather.

 

As a makeup brush factory, we always try our best to meet customers’ all requirements, but we also need customers’ understanding and support once any inevitable issue happens.

The paint on makeup brush handle

For makeup brushes, no matter with wooden handle, bamboo handle or plastic handle, all need to be painted to required color or effect. Since there are various paints on the market, here we would like to introduce something about the paint used on makeup brushes.

 

The paints we usually use are NC (nitrocellulose), PE (polyethylene) , and PU（polyurethane）, each of them includes various colors and coloring agent such as the glaze on NC paint,

 

The most common paint is NC paint, it is the most economic and normal paint. While some countries have strict control on paint usage, NC paint may not pass their customs, so some customers may require PE or PU paint on the makeup brush handles. PU and PE is expensive than NC, so the unit price of the makeup brushes will relatively higher.

 

All NC, PE and PU paint has topcoat and primer paint with different colors. Since they are chemical products, most European countries may require test reports or certificates on such paint to ensure that the paint has no harm to environment and human body. If so, all related paints including topcoat, primer paint and glaze should be submitted to the test institute to do the test.

 

If without special requirement, the makeup brush factory will use NC as default paint, so before placing orders, customers should clearly understand their government policy on paint; if NC paint is not ok, customers should clarify during custom makeup brushes, so that the makeup brush factory can quote accordingly; if related test reports are required, the fee should be afforded by customers.

Certificate and test report of makeup brushes

Generally most of our customers will not need certificate or test report for makeup brushes, as long as the quality is good enough. But for European customers, due to government and customs requirement, they usually require various certificates and test reports from the makeup brush manufacturers or suppliers for any imported goods.

 

The most common certificate is ISO which can show the qualification of the makeup brush manufacturer. Anyway, such certificate has no direct evaluation on makeup brush itself but a overall evaluation on the factory.

 

It is known that makeup brush has 3 parts: hair, ferrule and handle, so the direct evaluation should be on these 3 parts.

 

The hair should be environment protective; some customers may also require disinfection and sterilization since the hairs are cut from animal body and may contain germs. The ferrule material is usually aluminum and copper which should contain limited Cd, Pb and Hg. The handle is usually painted, so should test the painting to prove that the painting is green and no harm to human body and environment.

 

Usually, per customers’ requirements during custom makeup brushes, after finishing the production, we will submit some samples to a reliable test institute like SGS, ask for a test on the samples according to required regulation, then SGS will do the test and send us a test report to show if the samples submitted are qualified. If not qualified, the makeup brush factory will have to rework the makeup brushes till qualified. If qualified, such test reports will help with the custom clearance at customer’s country, especially for European countries, these test reports are essential, or the goods will be hold on customs and can not reach customers.

 

However, the makeup brush factory will not include the test fee during quotation, so if customers have such requirement, they should pay extra fee for such tests.

EXW price and FOB price

During quotation, many Chinese makeup brush manufacturers do not exactly know the difference between EXW price and FOB price. Most of them believe the EXW price and FOB price is almost the same since they no need to pay the shipping charge to customers.

 

The truth is there is really big difference between these two terms. EXW means Exwork. If the price we quote is EXW price, that means our responsibility is just till production finished. Customers should be responsible for everything ever since, including finding a forwarder in China to arrange the shipment to the port, paying custom related fees and shipping charge. The makeup brush manufacturers only need to ensure the production to be finished on time.

 

But if we quote FOB price, we should arrange everything till the goods leave the port, so we will have to contact the forwarder for shipment arrangement, ship the goods and pay the related charge to the port, coordinate and pay the charge for Chinese customs declaration. Therefore, comparing to EXW price, we will pay about ￥2000.0 more for FOB price.

 

Therefore, while quotation, it is best for makeup brush manufacturers to quote EXW price, so that we can take less responsibility and risks; if customers require FOB price, we should add at least ￥2000.0. If the shipping charge to the port is higher, the total cost will be higher relatively.

 

Some manufacturers may get great loss as they do not clearly understand the difference between these two terms. For example, they just calculate the production cost to custom makeup brushes, so the price they quote should be EXW price, but they quote the price to customers as FOB price. So they have to afford the extra cost by themselves. Sometimes, the total profit of the shipment may be lower than such cost, so they actually do this business at a loss.

 

During communication with customers, we should clearly understand all related terms and knowledge, most of the time, knowledge is really wealth!

About shipping quantity

Some customers really wonder how the makeup brush factory ensures the shipping quantity. Usually, the order quantity will be more than 10Kpcs, it is hard to count by hands, and also manual counting is not so accurate.

In fact, due to time limit, it is impossible for makeup brush factory to count the makeup brushes one by one. Our usual practice is to weigh each brush to get the unit net weight, then calculate the quantity of the total shipment accordingly. For example, the unit weight of a powder brush is 20g, the order quantity is 5000pcs, and we plan to put 200pcs in each inner carton, so the net weight of each inner carton should be 4kg. We do not need to count 200pcs for each inner carton, but just put many makeup brushes on the electronic weighing machine till the scale reaches 4kg. So we can ensure the quantity in each inner carton, and only need to count the inner carton numbers to ensure the total brush quantity.

Anyway, since makeup brush production is a manual process, it is hard to ensure the net weight of each brush to be completely the same. For example, one brush may 20g, while the other may be 18g or 22g, so maybe the quantity in one inner carton is 200pcs, but 198pcs in another carton.  Therefore calculating the quantity through weight is also not so accurate. If more than the quantity, that will be no problem, but if less than the order quantity, it may hurt our customers’ business.

To avoid this situation, we will always put spare parts for each shipment. Usually we will put 5-10pcs spare brushes for each type, and will notify customers of the carton# of the spare parts via email.

Therefore, customers no need to worry about the quantity, as a professional makeup brush manufacturer, we will always try our best to protect customers’ profits.

Confirmation by pictures during brush production

After arranging payment, many customers can not wait to receive the makeup brushes. While the normal lead time of the makeup brush manufacturer is about 30 days or more, which is really a long period for customers. And during this period, customers usually are not sure if they can receive makeup brushes that 100% meet their requirements.

 

Usually, we will send samples for customers’ confirmation before mass production. But sometimes, customers would like to make some changes on the samples, for example: change colors, vary size or material etc. Theoretically, we should send new samples for customers’ confirmation, while the lead time for new samples is also about 15 days, it will waste a lot of time if repeatedly confirm the samples. Therefore, most customers and makeup brush manufacturers would like to directly start the mass production as long as the requirements are described in detail. While some customers still have some concerns on the makeup brushes and eagerly want to see the real brushes ASAP.

 

Also, some samples are without customers’ logo, the makeup brush factory will print the logo during mass production. So even if customers are satisfied with the makeup brush samples, they are not sure what their logo will look like on the makeup brush handles.

 

To relax customers, if requested, at the very beginning of mass production, we will firstly produce some finished brushes with required logos, then take the pictures of these brushes and send the pictures to customers via emails for confirmation. If customers are satisfied with the pictures, we will start mass production; if not so satisfied, we can accordingly make some changes according to customers’ requirements, and will not start mass production until get customers’ confirmation.

 

In this way, we can save time and money to confirm brush samples via express, and customers will have a clear idea of what kind of brushes they will receive!

If shipment hold on customs

Some people may become scared once knowing their shipments are hold on customs. In fact, it is just a routine inspection at customs, no need to worry too much.

 

Some may ask: our shipments are never hold on customs, why this time? Well, there are so many packages passed the customs everyday, it is impossible to inspect each package, so the customs have to randomly check the packages. Sometimes, your packages may pass the customs without inspection, while sometimes, they are randomly chosen to be inspected.

 

Usually, there will be no problem as long as your packages are not dangerous goods or declare less value to avoid taxes. The customs will release the packages within 1-2 days.

 

If the shipments are hold on the Chinese customs, our forwarder will immediately notify us and require us to offer required documents, then the forwarder will submit these documents to the Chinese customs, if no problem, the packages will be released quickly.

 

If the packages are hold on the customers’ customs, the forwarder will also contact customers immediately according to the contact information on the waybill, so it is very important to list customer’s correct contact information on the waybill in case of anything happened. The forwarder will tell customer to submit essential documents. Also, we will keep tracking the shipments once they are sent out, if finding anything unusual, we should immediately contact customers and let them contact their local forwarder to check out the shipment status. If no problem, the packages will be also released quickly.

 

Therefore, as long as your products and documents are legal and declare actual value, no need to worry even if they are inspected at customs

Label printing on makeup brushes

During custom makeup brushes, most customers will require logo printing on makeup brush handles or bags, it is easy for the makeup brush manufacturers.

 

While besides the customers’ logo, other letters may also be required to be printed on the brushes or packages. For example, some customers would like to have the brush name or item number on the brushes; the Chinese customs may require the mark of “made in china” for some brushes that shipped to overseas

 

For the mark of “Made in China”, many customers find such mark on some famous brands, and are eager to know if it is ok to remove such mark.

 

We know that most customers do not like such mark on their makeup brushes, but some makeup brush manufacturers always tell them: it is the Chinese government regulation!

 

In fact, as long as the makeup brushes are not made for famous brands, like MAC, BB, Sigma etc, the mark “Made in China” can be removed from the brushes. The reason of Chinese customs to have such regulation is just to avoid of imitations or fakes of famous brands.

 

Also, some customers themselves require the mark of “Made in China” to distinguish the makeup brush factories in different countries. It is known that Sigma brushes are made in several countries; sometimes they will require the mark of origin on their brushes.

 

Therefore, the mark of “made in china” is non-mandatory; it totally depends on customers’ requirements, and will be no problem without such mark.

Something about MAC and Sigma makeup brushes

Q: Can you please explain a little about the difference between MAC and Sigma brushes. Some Sigma brushes are actually really good copies of the MAC ones and feel exactly the same way, but there are some which do not and it looks like the MAC brushes have more hairs and are much softer.

A: Yes, some MAC brushes are softer and have more hairs than Sigma brushes, that is a part of work craft of makeup brush factory. As you know, the makeup brush production is a manual work, so the hair usage and arrangement totally depend on the workers craft during brush production. Therefore, even with the same material, if the material usage and shape is different, the price will be different.

 

Q: What makes MAC brushes so good? Is it the amount of hair? Is it the way the hair has been treated?

A: The MAC brushes are good mostly because they use good material and good craft for their brushes; sometimes, some makeup brush suppliers will only quote you like goat hair, but the goat hair has more than 20 grades, so the quality and price varies a lot; also sometimes even quote the same hair material, some bad suppliers will mix some inferior hair.

 

Q: Is the dye used for the hair in the MAC brushes different from the one used for Sigma brushes?

A: The dying process of MAC brushes is different from sigma brushes; MAC brushes will not bleed;

 

Q: Why are some brushes softer than others? What does make one brush softer than another when the used hair is the same?

A: Some brush softer than another even with the same material, that is because of special treatment;

 

Q: Why do some Sigma brushes shed?

A: The Sigma brush shed, that is because the Sigma brushes are manufactured in several different makeup brush factories, these factories use different material and craft for these brushes. Also, for goat hair brush, it is normal to have 5-6 hairs falling at the first usage.

 

Q: how to solve these problems with the Sigma brushes and how to make them better/ as well as the MAC brushes?

A: To solve the problems with sigma brushes, the makeup brush manufacturers should mainly control the brush material and craft.

About production time

Since it has been November, many customers begin to finalize the orders after long-term discussion and confirmation, and would like to get makeup brushes before the Christmas Holiday. Therefore, huge orders pour into the makeup brush factory, but the normal lead time of makeup brush factory is about 30 days or more after confirming samples. So, if customers can not confirm the samples before Nov 20^th, it is somewhat impossible to get makeup brushes before Christmas Holiday.

 

Some customers are really urgently in need of the brushes for holiday promotion, they even hope to pay extra fee to expedite the production of their brushes, while usually it is hard to expedite too much.

 

Some customers then ask about our production capacity, and after knowing our production capacity is about 200kpcs per month, they are really puzzled about why we need so many days to produce their orders.

 

In fact, although we declare 30 days as the normal lead time, the real production time may just about 10 days. That is because our material supplier also need time to produce or prepare materials. Usually, most Chinese makeup brush factories do not stock any material. As makeup brush production is very special, most customers would like to custom makeup brushes with their own design and style, it is risky for any makeup brush factory to store a certain type of material. If no customer needs makeup brushes with such material, the makeup brush factory has to afford such lost by themselves.

 

That is why our production capacity is 200kpcs per month but we need about 30 days to finish a 5000pcs order. We need to firstly order material from our supplier, wait for their production finished and material shipped to us. If any problem happened during our supplier’s production or our production, the lead time will be even longer.

 

Therefore, if customers would like to get brushes before Christmas Holiday, it is best to place order on October, so that we can send samples on early November, and start mass production after getting confirmation of samples. That will leave some time to the makeup brush manufacturer in case of any problem happen during production.

How to let the makeup brush factory know your exact requirement?

For some customers who are new to the makeup brush industry, they usually do not know how to communicate with the makeup brush factory during custom makeup brushes. As they do not know the material, size and other details, while the makeup brush manufacturers need all details for exact quotation.

 

Generally, to know the customers detailed requirements, the makeup brush manufacturers need to know the following information: exact hair material for each brush and the exact size of each part of the each brush. Take a powder brush for example, customers should tell us the powder brush hair is natural or synthetic hair; if natural hair, what kind of natural hair, goat hair or any other hair; if goat hair, which grade goat hair since it has more than 20 grades, ZGF or BJF or HJF goat hair? Also what is the handle length, ferrule length, hair length and ferrule diameter? As these dimension will greatly affect brush price.

 

While seldom customers can answer all these questions, they may just know they need a good brush or sets; once the manufacturers or suppliers ask them such question, they will certainly not know what to do and how to get such information; it will be difficult for quotation.

 

To open this bottleneck, we suggest customers just send us pictures of the brushes they like or tell us the part # of some famous brand like MAC, sigma etc, then we can read all essential information from the pictures.

 

Of course, if customers have any extra requirements which do not show on the pictures, it is also ok; we will act according to customer requirements.

 

We believe this will somewhat help manufacturers better understand customers’ requirements and will make the communication easier and quicker.

Say something about Chinese suppliers

Although we are a Chinese makeup brush supplier, we really suffer a lot from our Chinese material suppliers. Most of them do not pay much attention to customers’ requirements but handle everything according to their own rules.

 

Quality- for example, although we have specified in our orders that what we need is ZGF goat hair, sometimes, they mixed some inferior hairs into it; the required processing on the copper ferrule is Nickel Plating, while they just ignore such requirement……

 

Package- we require inner carton for our materials but they just randomly pack all material in one carton; we require clear marks of items and quantity on each carton, but such requirements are seldom satisfied…..

 

Delivery- It is the biggest problem of most of our suppliers. Some suppliers can meet our requirements on quality and package, while delivery is their bottleneck. For example, the required delivery is on Oct 10^th, since there is no notice of the delay from our supplier; we assume the delivery will be on time. While on Oct 10^th, we do not get any package. After calling our supplier, we get known that the delivery will be delayed! Such situation always makes us crazy since we urgently need this material for our production, and it often happens! We have changed many suppliers due to such situation, but finally we realize that it is the common phenomenon in China, most Chinese suppliers have such problems due to the management confusion.

 

In fact, we know and can understand that there will be some problems during production, and sometimes it is really unavoidable for such situation. What we can not understand is no oral or written notice for such delay. We can not know anything until the due date! It is really ridiculous for business. We directly work with global customers, so can not handle like this. We will notice our customers in written in advance if any delay happens.

 

However, although we have strictly required our suppliers to improve this and let us know any problems which may affect the delivery, we are disappointed.

 

It is a global market, Chinese suppliers can no longer work alone by own rules, we need to integrate into the global economy and meet global market rules, so that we can work together to win more and more big orders.

About the price negotiation of makeup brush

After getting quotation, most customers must wonder if it is the best price; if the makeup brush manufacturer leaves any space for negotiation; if it is cost-effective to buy makeup brushes at such price. We can understand customers’ such consideration. All of us want to get the best goods with the lowest price.

 

At the very beginning of international business, most Chinese factories and exporters got huge profits through the business with foreign buyers. As the foreigners do not know the situation in China and can not imagine how low the cost in China. Therefore, many Chinese factories and suppliers sell the goods at very high price although their cost is very low.

 

Generally, with the reform and opening-up policy, China is known by more and more foreigners and Chinese goods become popular, more and more people become familiar with China, they get known that Chinese products have very low labor cost, so they realize that they must negotiate with the Chinese factories during business to get better price. And most Chinese factories and suppliers will leave negotiation room at the initial quotation.

 

While now, we have known that our customers have been familiar enough to China, most of them can even calculate our production cost, it becomes unnecessary to leave any negotiation room. Therefore, we always offer the best price at our initial quotation and let customers know it has been the best price, no negotiation. It will greatly save the time of both sides and can push every business move forward quickly.

 

Therefore, we hope that customers will not do negotiation after getting our quotation on makeup brushes, we always quote the best price at the very beginning to save time and win customers. Due to the fierce competition, most makeup brush manufacturers will accept orders as long as they can get some profits.

Be a professional and reliable makeup brush supplier

As the human beings, we can not control everything, but we should try our best to be a professional and responsible person. Especially for business, no matter what happened, we should do whatever we can do to protect our partners’ interests and maintain our fame and credit.

 

During makeup brush production, we often meet this or that unavoidable problem. For example, these days, I am seriously sick and need to be in the hospital, while I notice that it is nearly the time to deliver one order. If we can not ship the goods on time, my customer and our factory will burden huge lost. Before going into hospital, I must arrange everything to ensure punctual delivery. Firstly, check with the production department about the production schedule; then forwarder all related documents and orders to my colleague, explain all details to him/her and ensure him/her completely understand all customer’s requirements on the makeup brushes; also report all related information to my superior about this order; finally, before the shipment, even having been in the hospital, call the production department, my colleague and superior to ensure everything go on well.

 

The salesman’s action directly affects the fame and credit of the makeup brush manufacturer, so each salesman should have good sense of responsibility. No matter what happened, firstly try your best to protect the customers’ and factory’s interests.

 

As the makeup brush supplier, we can not live alone; we always need customers’ support. Only after getting customers’ trust, we can get their supports.

 

Being responsible and reliable is not just a talk; we should value each order and each customer. Keep all promises we once made to customers no matter what happened! If finally we failed to keep the promise even we have tried our best, we should truly explain everything to customers, try to get their understanding and minimize the losses.

Exactly copy brushes

Many of our customers prefer directly copying the existing makeup brush design from famous brands like MAC, Bobbi Brown etc.

Firstly, these brushes have been accepted by worldwide customers and users, so if exactly copy these brushes, there will be no problem on the selling; but if our customers develop new styles by themselves, it may have some risks on the selling; users may not like the style….

Secondly, most of our customers are not so big or famous cosmetics brands; they have no strength or time to develop special makeup brushes with their own design and style, although they are really in need of makeup brushes to promote their cosmetics products.

Therefore, to avoid risks and save cost, most small brands would like to copy famous brands but with their own logo.

We are a professional makeup brush factory and are very familiar to all famous brands and their makeup brushes. We have produced many brushes with exact copy of famous brands for our customers.

If customers would like to custom makeup brushes with the same design and material as famous brands, please just send us the P/N or pictures of these brushes, then we can send you quotation for your reference.

Just please note these brushes should be with customers’ own logo instead of MAC or BB, we do not accept orders from those bad customers who would like to sell fake MAC or BB makeup brushes, it is our always company policy.

With much lower cost, customers can get MAC or BB equivalent makeup brushes! No need to worry about the selling! Immediately contact us to custom these perfect makeup brushes!

Can we make all the brushes on our website?

After browsing our website, many customers ask us the same question: can you offer all the brushes on your website? Are these brands all your customers or they are just examples of what you can produce?

 

I should say that the truth is: some of the brands are our customers like MAC, BB, AVON etc, although sometimes we do not directly work with these big brands but through their trading companies, these brands are really the end customers. Some may ask: how do you know who the end customers are? Maybe your buyers want to sell fake brushes with fake logo. Well, as a responsible and professional makeup brush manufacturer, for example, if our buyers would like to order makeup brushes with MAC logo, we will always require authorization documents from MAC, otherwise, we will not accept such order. So we can ensure about our end customer as long as they are the big brands.

 

Anyway, most customers want to custom makeup brushes with the same design and quality level as MAC brushes, while they do not want MAC logo but their own company logo. So they would like to find a good makeup brush factory who has made brushes for MAC or other famous brands.

 

Customers can see some brushes on our website are with big brands logo, and doubt about our capacity to offer these brushes. We can assure that we can make all these brushes as long as our customers do not require the same logo.

 

In fact, the manufacturing process of all makeup brushes is almost the same; there is no high technology process during the production. The only difference is the material and work craft. The big brands like MAC brushes will use great material for their brushes, so these brushes look beautiful and feel soft. We have been in makeup brush industry for about 10 years; our workers have great work craft. Therefore, as long as customers can accept the high price for great material, we can certainly offer makeup brushes with the same quality with big brands.

 

In a word, we can make all brushes on our website.

Local manufacturer or Chinese manufacturer

Many foreign customers like Chinese makeup brush manufacturers very much due to the low price and good quality, while sometimes they will hesitate once they have available local manufacturers who can also make good quality makeup brushes just in much higher price. So customers do not know whether local makeup brush manufacturers or Chinese manufacturers will be better or more suitable for them?

 

It depends; no one can say which one is certainly better than the other. The advantage of Chinese makeup brush manufacturers is low price; the disadvantage is the importing charge and inconvenient communication, which is just the advantage of local manufacturer. If cooperate with local manufacturers, customers can ensure effective communication on all related issues and the shipping charge will be also less than importing charge. But the local manufacturer’s price is much higher than Chinese manufacturers, usually more than 10 times.

 

That is why customers hesitate; here is some of our suggestion for customer reference:

 

1.       If your order amount is very few but with heavy weight, say amount $100.0 with 40kg; maybe local manufacturers will be more suitable. As shipping charge and importing fee is the very important cost for international business, if your order amount is just USD100.0, the shipping charge and importing fees may be about USD500.0 or more, so your total charge reaches USD600.0 which is almost the same as the cost you buy from local makeup brush manufacturer;

2.       If your order amount is big, maybe Chinese makeup brush manufacturer will be more suitable. Even if the shipment is heavy, it will be more cost-effective than buying from local manufacturers, as now Chinese manufacturers have had perfect supporting system for international business, such as the forwarder and logistic system. The heavier the shipment, the more discounts they can get from their forwarders. So the total cost of the customers will be much lower than local manufacturers.

3.       Customers’ another concern on international business is the communication effectiveness. If the sales of Chinese makeup brush factory are not so professional, it may cause a lot of problems and dispute, and once any dispute occurs, it is hard to resolve due to the long distance and time difference. To avoid this situation, customers should have initial communication with the sales, if you find they are not so professional or responsible during your discussion, it is better to stop. Anyway, this situation can also happen on local manufacturer. Therefore, good understanding on the makeup brush manufacturer is essential at any situation.

 

Before making decision, customers should firstly compare the TOTAL cost of the Chinese manufacturer and local manufacturer; it needs customers to inquiry from several suppliers. Also, fully understand the makeup brush manufacturer and their service is essential.

 

About the forwarder

After long term communication and negotiation, we finally get makeup brush orders from our customers, it is really excited. However, we should know that order is just the first step. Production, shipping and quality are also very important for us. Only after getting customer approval on the brush quality, we can say that this business is success.

 

Here, we would like to say something about the shipping process.

 

After finishing production, we should deliver the makeup brushes to customers. Since it is international business, we have to find a forwarder to help us deliver the goods via sea, air or express. And also, it is known that to export/import the makeup brushes, we need to prepare all necessary documents to get custom approval and release.

 

As a makeup brush manufacturer who has been in the fields for about 10 years, we surely have our own forwarder to help with our delivery and custom issues. If customers have no appointed forwarder, our forwarder can handle everything for us: do all declaration documents, ensure the shipment be released from the custom and ship the makeup brushes to customers door to door. The condition is we should pay all fees, of course, such fee should be afforded by customers who can transfer the fee to us first.

 

While some customers prefer appointing forwarders in China by themselves, and after the makeup brushes are available, we contact the appointed forwarder and contact shipping issues. At such situation, as the exporter, we only need to send the goods and related declaration documents to the appointed forwarder warehouse; they will arrange everything on custom clear and shipment to customers. If so, we only need to pay the shipping charge to the Chinese forwarder warehouse, all other caused fees should be afforded directly by customers.

 

For the exporter, the above two options both have advantages and disadvantages: if use our own forwarder, we can control the risks at our side but we have to do many related things; if use customer appointed forwarder, it is very convenient for us, but the risk is rather high for us since the forwarder may release the goods to customers without our approval. Therefore most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers prefer using their own forwarder, anyway, if customers insist on appointed forwarder, it is also ok, just make some change on the payment terms.

Customers and suppliers are equal during cooperation

We all know that a success business needs cooperation of buyer and seller, both of them need to work together to handle everything happened during business and achieve win-win situation.

 

While some buyers or customers have no such idea, they believe they are superior to sellers since they are the one who pay the money. Even at the very beginning, buyers and sellers have not reach any agreement and buyers have not paid any money, they still think they are in the higher grade than the sellers.

 

We often meet such customers during business. For example, we send emails to a customer to promote our makeup brushes; the customer shows interests to the makeup brushes and would like to get some samples. As a makeup brush supplier and manufacturer, it is ok for us to offer some existing samples to customers with no charge, but we require customers to afford the shipping charge of samples. We believe it is fair, both of buyer and seller should take some responsibility during the cooperation establishment.

 

While, some customers do not think so, per their understanding, since the sellers want to win business from them, the sellers should undertake all potential risks and should not require customers to take any responsibility!

 

We do not know why they have such ideas. It is true that we would like to get business opportunity from them, but it is the opportunity for both sides. If can establish cooperation, the makeup brush manufacturer can really get more business, but the buyers can also get a better supplier with low price or better quality. Both sides will get profits from success cooperation. Therefore the buyers and sellers are equal during cooperation or initial cooperation establishment.

 

As the makeup brush manufacturers and suppliers, we should not have such ideas that customers are superior to us! At any situation, we need to hold our mutual benefit cooperation principles. If our sample policy is we offer free samples but customers afford shipping charge, then strictly keep such policy during cooperation, no matter how famous or strong. We believe any good and reasonable customer will understand and agree such policy.

 

Be neither humble nor arrogant, but equal.

Why we declare 1000pcs as MOQ

Many customers concern the MOQ requirement of the makeup brush factory very much, as most of them are beauty salons or individuals, it is hard for them to absorb large quantity at the very beginning.

Generally, our MOQ is 1000pcs for each type; anyway, to support our customers, it is also ok to produce smaller quantity.

Some may ask: then why declare 1000pcs as your MOQ?

The reason we declare 1000pcs is because it is the most cost-effective quantity for customers. If custom makeup brushes at smaller quantity, the price will be much higher and will not be cost-effective. For example, the unit price for 1000pcs may be just about USD5.0, but if for 100pcs, the price may be raised to USD10.0 or more. Of course, it is just an example, the real price difference may be more or less.

The reason is obvious, firstly, our material supplier has MOQ requirement to us, no matter how many makeup brushes our customers will order, we will have to buy materials for at least 1000pcs each, if customers’ order quantity is smaller than 1000pcs, the makeup brush manufactures will certainly share some loss with customers. Secondary, the time to produce 100pcs and 1000pcs is almost the same. Customers should notice that most makeup brush manufactures will declare about 30 days lead time no matter the order quantity, that means there is no big difference in production time, so the production cost will be almost the same, the makeup brush manufacturer will share the cost to each brush, the smaller the quantity, the cost on each will be higher.

As a makeup brush factory, we aim to offer the best service for our customers. As long as required, we can even make only one brush for our customers, just customers should understand that the price will be much higher.

Price difference of ZGF goat hair and BJF goat hair

Most customers have got known that goat hair has different grades, the best is ZGF goat hair, then is the BJF goat hair, they are the most two common goat hair for top grade goat hair, ZGF is better than BJF hair. The most famous brand MAC brushes usually use ZGF goat hair for their powder brushes.

 

What you pay what you get, since ZGF hair is better than BJF, the makeup brush made of ZGF hair must be expensive than BJF. Then what is the price difference between ZGF and BJF brushes?

 

For example, a brush set with the same handle and ferrule, if with ZGF goat hair, the unit price may be about USD19.0, but if BJF goat hair, it may just need less than USD10.0; if the ferrule diameter is big, the price difference will be bigger, sometimes, the ZGF makeup brush price can be double of BJF brush.

 

Therefore, during communication with the makeup brush manufacturers, customers should firstly have an idea on your target price, if your target price for a 12pcs brush set is less than USD10.0, it is usually impossible to have ZGF goat hair. If some makeup brush suppliers can meet your target price, you should be careful of cheating on material.

 

Before custom makeup brushes, the purchasing should know makeup brush industry well, so that he will know what kind of material he should use.

Online shipment for samples

During custom makeup brushes, most customers will require samples. Some may agree to place orders first, but some may prefer checking sample quality before placing order or arranging payment.

It raises a question: how to arrange the shipment of samples? Certainly, the customers should pay the shipping charge, but how to pay if customers have no DHL/FEDEX/UPS account #?

Some customers would like to pay the charge to makeup brush manufacturer, and then the makeup brush manufacturer pay the express. But the bank fee is too high, for example, the shipping charge is USD50.0, but the bank fee may about USD30.0 or more, so the customers may need to pay USD80.0, but the makeup brush manufacturer can just receive USD20.0 which is too far from the real shipping charge. That is why most customers and makeup brush factory do not like bank transfer for shipping charge, not cost-effective.

In fact, customers can arrange the pickup online. Take DHL for example, customers can apply on DHL website and let the local DHL contact the makeup brush factory to pick up the package. Customers just need to fill in detailed information on DHL website, such as the customers’ address, contact person and telephone, the pickup address, contact person and telephone, customers’ bank information, the package size and weight etc. The DHL will contact the makeup brush supplier to arrange the pickup, or send email to customers to confirm the pickup date/time.

Sample delivery has been a bottleneck for both customers and suppliers for a long period, it affects our cooperation deeply. Now many of our customers use this way to arrange the sample delivery, it really helps us to solve this long-term problem.

Custom a makeup brush set for yourselves

We all know that the end users of makeup brushes are not factory or wholesalers but individuals. Many makeup brush factories declare that they can custom makeup brushes; the real meaning is they custom makeup brushes for brands or cosmetics factories instead of individuals. For the end users, it is in fact not a custom brush; they just use makeup brushes with the company logos instead of their own name.

 

Since the end customers are individuals, why not custom makeup brushes for each individual? The customer will say: no makeup brush factory is willing to make 1 for me. The makeup brush will say: because 1pcs or 1 set is too less for our production, even if we can make for customers, the fee is too high, few individual can afford this. Therefore, once the factory gets known that the customer only needs 1, they will immediately refuse.

 

In fact, to show uniqueness and individuality, most end customers are willing to pay more for the brushes. For example, a MAC brush set retail price is USD100.0, some girls like the set very much and would like to have their own name on the brushes to show the uniqueness of their own brushes, they can pay USD500.0 or more for this.

 

To meet customers’ such requirements on uniqueness, recently we begin to offer the service to custom makeup brushes for individuals at reasonable price. Although as a makeup brush factory, we really love batch orders more, we will try our best to make our customers happy. We can produce brushes according to users’ preference and print users’ name on the brush handles and bags.

 

Come on, every girl! Buy brand makeup brushes has been out, now, let’s have a professional brush set with our own name and show off in front of our friends!

Sweet and thoughtful customers

We have explained the importance of effective communication with customers in previous articles. In fact, communication can not only help us to understand customer requirements, but also can show us how sweet and thoughtful our customers are.

 

Recently, we received an order from one customer, and sent samples on Sep 25^th for customer confirmation. As we will have our Chinese National Holiday from Oct 1^st to 7^th, we ordered all materials on Sep 29^th in case that our holiday may affect the delivery time. However, on Sep 30^th, customer sent us emails and required to have longer handle for batch brushes.

 

We understand that it is our fault and we should afford the big loss. We should wait until customer confirms the samples. However, to reduce our lost, we try to communicate with the customers via email and phone. We thought it should be a tough negotiation, as customers should get required makeup brushes.

 

We firstly sent emails to customer and wait their reply urgently. But customer does not reply our emails during our national holiday, she thought we were in our holiday and would not send any email.

 

On Oct 8^th, we called her, she was surprised and said she needed to discuss with others, after 1 hour, we got her feedback with a long email. The customer expressed her understanding to our situation and agreed to accept the original size!

 

All in our team do not how to express our thanks to the customer, we have decided to make the best brushes for this customer.

 

During makeup brush production especially for custom makeup brushes, we often meet this or that problems; some may because customers do not clearly express their requirements, some may because makeup brush factory misunderstand the requirements, or some other errors.

 

Once any problem happens, the makeup brush manufacturers and customers should understand each other and work together to solve the problem. As makeup brush manufacturer, we should immediately notify customers any situation, sometimes, even it is our fault, customers may give us some surprise and show us their thoughtful and understanding.

When customers require catalogue

In previous article, we have explained on why most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers have no catalogue. While in fact, we frequently receive emails to require catalogue and price list, what shall we do to such emails?

First, we can tell the customers the reason why we have no catalogue, such as: as a makeup brush factory we have thousands brush types, so it is hard to list al. Can you please let us know your exact requirements on the brush size, material, package etc, or send us the pictures of the makeup brushes you like, so that we can give you exact quotation or proper suggestions?......

Some customers who really have such demand may send us the brush pictures or their detailed requirements, while some customers may have no certain demand but just would like to see what we have. Once getting our such reply, they will not reply any more.

At this situation, if we want to win these potential customers, we have to send them some catalogue for their reference. Although we have no complete catalogue, we can list the most popular makeup brushes made by us, or some of our existing brush types. The list can not be too long or too short. If too long, customers have no time to browse all, if too short, customers may doubt about our factory scale or capacity. I really believe 100 items will be enough.

Also, when we send customers such catalogue, we should clarify in the email that these are just a part of our brushes, we specialize in custom makeup brushes, if customers have any demand not in the list, we can certainly manufacture for them.

Of course, the above is just for reference, we should take actions and feedback according to different customers and requirements, and try our best to serve our customers.

European debt crisis, an opportunity for Chinese makeup brush factory

Recently, worldwide medium reported a lot on the European debt crisis. Many European small factories and workshops were closed due to the hard economic situation. The Chinese makeup brush manufacturers then become worried that the hard situation will affect the purchasing power of their European customers; these customers may decrease or cancel their orders from China.

For me, I have no such worry due to the following reason:

1.       A starved camel is bigger than a horse. Although most European countries face economic problems, they have strong foundation and great support system. They have been rich for many years, and have gathered huge fortune which will be greatly help the economic recovery; although these countries have perfect government system to support the economic recovery. They will not become very poor overnight, and will still obtain good purchasing ability.

2.       Even if their purchasing ability does decrease in certain industry, the essential goods will not decrease. It is known that the poor will not pay a lot on the luxury goods, but no matter how poor you were, you must eat, drink, cloth and makeup. The related goods are essential for all of us. So the purchasing power of European customers on makeup brushes will not decrease or vanish.

3.       The makeup brushes made in China are cheap and functional. These brushes have good quality but with simple package and decoration, so the price is very low. When the European customers are very rich, they will only be interested in luxurious and expensive makeup brushes which can show their high grade; but due to the hard economic situation, they will be more practical and prefer more practical brushes. They may consider transferring orders to Chinese makeup brush manufacturers.

4.       Due to the hard situation, most European makeup brush factories have to be closed due to the high material and labor cost. But the demand still exists in their countries, so to maintain their customers, most companies will choose to buy makeup brushes directly from China in much lower price and then sell to their local customers. Some companies may transfer their production lines to China due to the lower material and labor cost.

Therefore, I really believe the European debt crisis is not a crisis to Chinese makeup brush factories; instead it is really a good opportunity for us to explore more European markets.

Why most Chinese makeup brush manufactures have no catalogue

Most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers do not know how to handle with customer requirements on catalogue, they understand that some customers are not sure about what kind of brushes in demand, so would like to see suppliers’ catalogue for reference, but the question is most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers have no catalogue even if they have made thousands types of makeup brushes for various customers.

 

Some may ask: why not list all makeup brushes they have made as their own catalogue? Firstly, it is too hard to list all and customers will have no patient or time to browse so many items. If just list some, no one know which one are preferred by customers since different customers have different preference. Also, most Chinese makeup brush manufacturers mainly aim as OEM factories to custom makeup brushes for customers, some customers may not agree the factory to disclose their product information.

 

Not like other products, customer preference on makeup brushes change frequently and quickly. The most popular brush styles in spring may become unmarketable in winter. So if you have paid a lot of time and efforts to make a catalogue, once finished the catalogue, you may find that no customers like the makeup brushes in the catalogue!

 

Due to the product characteristics, makeup brushes have no standard size or material, everything can be changed upon customer requirements; if list all situation in the catalogue, customers may be puzzled, if not list all, the catalogue is not accurate and complete; it is another reason for makeup brush manufacturers not to make catalogues.

 

Therefore, when customers require catalogue or price list, some manufacturers will send some pictures or list of their makeup brushes which are popular within several months, jus to show their ability and brush quality.

Holiday can promote makeup brush sales

It is known that makeup brush is consumer goods, not like the industrial goods, makeup brush has its own selling season.

Especially at holiday period, many cosmetics brands will beat their brains to promote products. Besides the big discount on product itself, gifts are the most popular. For cosmetics or makeup brands, the best gift should be the makeup brushes which are essential to apply the makeup.

For makeup brands, the selling season of their products should be the holiday period, while for makeup brush manufacturers, the selling season is not the holiday period but 2 months in advance. It is easy to understand, the makeup brands will prepare for the holiday promotion in advance, and they need to order makeup brushes as promotion gifts from the makeup brush manufacturers in advance. The normal lead time for makeup brushes is 40 days, and to ensure the brushes to reach them before holiday, they need to place orders at least 2 months in advance in case that the makeup brush factories are deluged with so many orders.

Anyway, even if the selling season for the makeup brush manufactures and the customers is not at the same time, the reason is totally the same- thanks for holiday season.

Now, it has been September, most makeup brush factories have been ready for October, we believe that there will be increased orders due to the Christmas and New Year Holiday.

Brush length also affects price

We have explained a lot on the importance of ferrule diameter to the brush price, while some customers may find that even with the same material and ferrule size, the same makeup brush supplier may quote different price at different situation.

 

That is because the length of each part also affects the brush price. If the makeup brush manufacturers quote according to the pictures from customers, they will know the size of each part, and then quote the price accordingly. While sometimes the customers are puzzled, after measurement, they find the ferrule size of two brushes is the same, but they have different price!

 

Sometimes, even with the same total length, the brush price will also be different, that is because the length of each part is different. The most importance length is the hair length, especially for Kabuki brushes, the hair length will greatly affect the price. If the hair material is top grade, such affect will be much bigger. If the ferrule is copper, the ferrule length will also affects the brush price, it is easy to understand: longer ferrule will use more material.

 

Most makeup brush manufacturers only need to know the ferrule diameter and material for quotation because they can quote according to standard and traditional length. But during custom makeup brushes, some customers may need special and unique brushes to highlight its creativity. Then the customers will need to list all detailed size of each part, besides the ferrule diameter and material, the length of each part will be essential.

 

FDA regulates bug colorant in makeup and food

First we have to worry about lead in our cosmetics and food now bugs. What is the FDA really regulating?

 

Have you ever wondered what the colorants are in your makeup, cosmetics, or food products? Lip colors may be gorgeous red, lemonade a pretty pink, and decorations on cakes vibrant red but they may also have one other thing in common, artificial colorants.

 

Makeup must be labeled as required by the FDA with specific colorants provided on the label. A cosmetic company cannot simply apply artificial color to the label it must list the artificial ingredient or color.

 

Food and drugs however have different rules. In most cases manufacturing companies are only required to list certain ingredients using terms instead of specifics. The terms “artificial colors” or ‘color added” are evidence of these labeling regulations seen on food packaging.

 

After a decade long campaign by a watchdog group known as Center for Science in the Public Interest the FDA has changed the labeling requirements for cochineal the pretty red and pink colorant used in the foods, drugs, and cosmetics.  New regulations now mandate the bug ingredient cochineal or similar ingredients be listed on ingredient labels.

The makeup brushes in copper ferrule

The copper we mention here is not plated copper or just copper color but the real copper material.

 

During custom makeup brushes, the makeup brush manufacturers will always ask customers about the material requirements, for makeup brush ferrule, the most two common material is aluminum and copper.

 

As we have discussed before, aluminum ferrule is for low and medium grade brushes, copper ferrule is for high grade brushes. The famous brands like MAC, SIGMA, ELF use copper ferrule for their brushes.

 

So what is the difference between aluminum ferrule and copper ferrule? First is the appearance, the copper ferrule is more shinning than aluminum ferrule, even if in the same color, most users can see the obvious difference; second is the hardness, as a good metal, copper is more rigid than aluminum; third is the weight, as the copper has higher density than aluminum, even in the same shape and appearance, copper ferrule is heavier than aluminum ferrule.

 

Even knowing that copper ferrule is very good, some customers still concern about the discoloration, and want to know if the copper ferrule will discolor due to water or sweat. The answer is NO; the copper ferrule will never discolor as long as there is no strong friction.

 

For the customers who aims to top-end market and would like to get top grade brushes, as a professional makeup brush manufacturer, we strongly suggest copper ferrule for their makeup brushes. Although it will much expensive than aluminum ferrule, customers will find it worth the cost once they get the brushes.

Beautiful skin deserves healthy cosmetics

Healthy skin deserves healthy makeup naturally. Don’t let those magazine ads fool you into thinking your skin can look like one of those model’s skin that has been airbrushed by a Photoshop program. Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty has a great video on how makeup ads distort women into looking the way they do in magazines. What you can achieve with the right cosmetic routine is a perfectly natural makeup look without excess oil throughout the day.

You’ve cleansed your skin as shown in part 2 of “How to keep makeup matte all summer, facial cleansers for matte summer skin.” Excess oil is no longer the unsightly problem to your skin that it used to be.

 

Healthy skin deserves healthy makeup. Natural makeup, including pure mineral makeup loose powder products will help skin stay fresh looking and gorgeous throughout the day. Since only pure mineral makeup is chemical free, make sure to check mineral foundation labels before purchasing products. Certainly you would not want to go back to cosmetic products that might have been causing your skin to age, have oil slicks, acne, and rosacea.

 

The first step in your matte free makeup application will be primer. For those unfamiliar with a makeup primer, it is the Holy Grail of helping skin stay matte. All types of foundation will appear flawless over a primer. You may find after applying a good makeup primer your skin doesn’t need foundation. If that’s the case, then great, head out the door after applying sunscreen though it is better to apply sunscreen liquid products prior to any and all makeup.

 

If you still feel you require foundation or a base, apply first to areas of your skin that have coloration problems that need correcting for even skin. After this you’ll want to use a natural makeup brush and apply a matte mineral foundation powder to your entire face including the eye area.

Mineral foundations may include Zinc and Titanium Dioxide as their first ingredients. These foundations will be an excellent choice for broad spectrum natural sunscreen protection. Mineral foundations that have both zinc and titanium dioxide in the first stage of their cosmetic ingredient labels will have the highest sunscreen protection and should be the preferred choice.

 

Remember to purchase only matte mineral foundation products since it’s known that bismuth oxychloride, mica, boron nitride, and other metallic minerals will cause shine or glow making skin appear greasy. It is reported that bismuth free mineral makeup is the physician’s choice. Bismuth oxychloride is known to cause cystic acne, pimples, adult acne, rosacea, redness, and surface abrasions that can lead to staph infections.

 

Tips for applying mineral foundation include:

·         Use a clean foundation makeup sponge or makeup brush for each application.

·         Wash makeup sponge or brush daily to remove any bacteria that has been left by your skin.

·         Apply foundation with side of brush using soft tapping swirling motions.

·         Never apply mineral foundation with top of brush bristles always use side of brush.

·         Remove all excess mineral powder by tapping brush onto your vanity jar side.

·         Apply with a light-hand; too much powder will cause your skin to look aged and foundation is likely to settle into your lines and pores.

·         Only add a minimal amount of mineral foundation powder. If you feel your face needs more coverage then apply another thin layer.

 

For those that have never applied mineral foundation powder you may find your skin tingles or feels itchy. If you are using the suggested matte mineral foundation with zinc and titanium dioxide this is common and will stop within a few minutes, stopping entirely after a few applications. The other cause of itching would be using a mineral makeup brush too harshly as some mineral makeup companies products do require buffing into skin due poor adhesive ingredients. A delicate hand is all that is needed for applying matte mineral foundation powders due to their high level of pigment coverage.

 

Remember that skin sweats in the heat, this means your face will too, though an excess of facial sweating is called Hyperhidrosis. Don’t apply more makeup on top of sweaty or oily facial skin it will seal in bacteria and pores will appear larger.