Approving a sample is the point where a range is actually fixed. Everything after it is repetition, so the checks below are worth running properly once rather than discovering the problem across a container.
Before requesting a sample, use the makeup brush RFQ checklist to record the product, quantity and packaging assumptions that the sample should represent.
Appearance: head, ferrule, handle
- Head — bristle shape and colour must match the order or the approved sample. No reversed or trapped hairs, no glue leakage at the base.
- Ferrule — colour and dimensions consistent, surface smooth and clean, free from scratches. Check the crimp line runs evenly around the handle joint.
- Handle — colour and dimensions consistent, free from bubbles, flow marks and shrinkage, and free of glue marks or dirt.
Four performance tests
These are the tests we run, and a buyer can run the first three on any sample without equipment.
- Density and shedding — draw the head up and down across the palm 50 times (25 passes each way). No more than 15 hairs may shed in total, and no more than 8 of those may be over 5 mm.
- Pull test — checks the ferrule-to-handle joint: over 3 KG for large brushes, over 2 KG for small ones.
- Colour transfer — soak the sample in water at 60°C for two minutes, then stroke it three times across white paper. No colour transfer is allowed.
- Logo adhesion — press tape onto the logo and pull it off quickly three times. Nothing should lift.
Write the approval down
Approve the sample against a written specification, not a photograph, and keep the sample itself. The specification is what production is checked against; the sample is what settles an argument about whether a later unit matches. If the sample changes after approval, the change should be recorded and re-approved.
For the standards behind each check, see quality control. For how a sample gets built in the first place, see get a sample.