What type of animal hair is typically used in cosmetic brushes?
The majority of traditional cosmetic brushes use animal hairs such as pony, goat, ox, badger, and weasel. But some companies use other animal hairs such as mink, squirrel, ferret and “sable”. A true sable is a small carnivorous animal mostly farmed in Russia. It was used traditionally in the past because of its longer hair and the fact that the hair shaft has a hollow space inside and the hair comes to a point. They are rare and only thrive in certain geographic areas and climates. Because of its great expense, sable fur is typically integrated into luxury fashion. The Kolinsky sable-hair brushes used for cosmetic brushes, watercolor and oil painting are not actually manufactured from sable hair, but from that of the Siberian weasel.
