Hey everyone,
I've already done a few posts of my Top 3/Top 5 favourite products (Blushes - here, Highlighters - here, Mascaras - here). I thought today I'd show you my favourite brushes which I use daily. I'm not so much concerned with the brand (for reference all of those pictured are Sigma apart from the blurring brush which is from Urban Decay) but the type of brush and why I think they can make a big difference to your makeup routine. I've also given a few options of where to buy these types of brushes, but there are tons of brands that stock all of these types of brushes.I haven't tried all of these by any means, I simply chose a range of brushes available on the market.
1. Tapered Blending
There's many different names for this, but this is your basic eyeshadow blending brush. If you don't have one of these in your eyeshadow routine, this single handedly can make a huge difference to your eyeshadow application. You will be able to blend the eyeshadows together so it looks more natural, blending the crease shadow into the lid eyeshadow. You can also use it to blend out any harsh lines you may have created by the edge of your eyes so the makeup seems more seamless.You can also use it for other things, because of it's small size you can use it to powder smaller areas, or to highlight things such as the bridge of your nose. I've also heard it being used for blending out your concealer too.
Options:
1. MAC 217 Blending Brush - £18 // 2. Sigma E40 Tapered Blending - £10.95 //3. ELF Blending Eye Brush - £1.50 // 4. Lily LoLo Eye Blending Brush - £5.99 // 5. Yves Saint Laurent Eye Blending Brush - £31
2. Angled Contour
I love this brush. The angle on it means that its perfect for contouring the cheeks. It makes it easy to get into the cheek bones and around the edges of the face. It is also perfect for precise blush application as you can easily apply it onto the cheeks and sweep it up to the cheek bones. I find this brush much easier to use than normal blush/bronzer brushes as I find them far more precise and better at distributing product. You can also use these to apply highlight to the top of the cheekbones too.
Options:
1. MAC 168 Large Angled Contour Brush - £27 // 2. Sigma F40 Large Angled Contour Brush - £13.95 // 3. ELF Blushing, Bronzing and Blending Brush - £1.50 // 4. Bare Minerals Angled Blush Brush - £13.50 // 5. Bdellium Pink Bambu Angled Face Brush - £14.50
I remember when I first saw these brushes in actions I was amazed. I was so used to only using a flat foundation brush to apply my makeup and this blew everything I thought I knew out of the water. The idea of these brushe are that the bottom part is made from natural hair while the top is made from synthetic hair. You use these brushes in a stippling motion. You can use these brushes to stipple your foundation onto your face providing a different application. I also find this works very well for stippling blush onto your face. It's great for use with very pigmented blushes as it gives a lighter handed application. As the top of the brush is synthetic, these can be used with cream products too.
Options:
1. MAC 187 Duo-Fibe Brush - £33.50 // 2. Sigma F50 Duo-Fibre Stippling Brush - £16.95 // 3. ELF Studio Stipple Brush - £3.75 // 4. Real Techniques Stippling Brush - £11.99 // 5. Coastal Scents Duo Fibre Stippling Brush - £7.95
4. Optical Blurring / Buffing Brush
Now this is my favourite brush. There's lots of names for it, the most famous probably being the buffing brush. It's basically a very dense round brush which is great for both applying foundation and for blending it into the skin. I love this brush, I love it for when I want to do fuller coverage foundation as it's great for blending. I also love it for blending my bronzer and blush into my foundation so that it looks more subtle and less harsh. It's a very versatile brush that is a must-have in any collection.
Options:
1. Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush - £19.50 // 2. New CID Cosmetics Foundation Buffing Brush - £23.49 // 3. Real Techniques Expert Face Brush - £9.99 (or the Buffing Brush in the Core Collection) // 4. Bdellium Tools Bambu Face Blending Brush - £7.95 // 5. Laura Mercier Blending Brush - £31
5. Pencil Brush
Okay so this last brush is possible the least 'makeup life changing' brush out of the ones mentioned, but I love this brush for all of its different uses. My main use of this brush is to apply eyeshadow to either the inner corner of the eyes or just under the eyes for a smudgy effect. The precise tip allows you to have precise application of the eyeshadow to smaller areas. However, this brush can also be used for highlighting, I like it for highlighting the browbone and cupid's bow as it allows for more precise application than most highlighter brushes. It's also great for concealing too as it is much more precise than most concealer brushes.
Options:
1. MAC 219 Pencil Brush - £20 // 2. Sigma E30 Pencil Brush - £8.99 // 3. Bdellium Tools Bambu Pencil Brush - £7.50 // 4. Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil Blending Brush - £10 // 5. Dolce & Gabbana The Brush Pencil Brush - £24.28
So that's it for my must have brushes! I hope this post was helpful to you, let me know what your must have brushes are in the comments down below!
