Duo fiber face brushes, which are sometimes called skunk brushes, are great if you like wearing foundation or tinted moisturizer and really like it when your face makeup looks natural.
The one I’m holding here is the Finishing Brush by Laura Mercier, and it’s my favorite duo fiber face brush because of how wide it is, which I love because it covers a large area and speeds up blending, but really, there are lots of them out there that work well.
One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that the higher-priced ones usually don’t shed as much as drugstore versions do and tend to last longer.
But that’s not a hard and fast rule.
I use ’em to fine-tune my blending and thin-out my face products — liquid foundations, tinted moisturizers, stick foundations, powders, etc. — wherever I’ve accidentally applied too much. I’ll gently run the brush across my cheeks, nose, mouth, chin and forehead after I’ve applied whichever face products I happen to be wearing, and that helps everything look more even and seamless.
One of the things I’ve been super obsessed with lately (in case you haven’t noticed) is even skin tone, except without my makeup looking heavy, caked-on or obvious, and duo fiber face brushes really help with that. Their brush heads and bristles usually aren’t as dense as regular powder and blush brushes.
Ones like the this one from Laura have a very light touch that really blends and pushes product across the skin, while other, denser brushes will often lift foundation and tinted moisturizer away from the skin, thereby removing it.
I’ll usually start by applying a primer with my fingers, then a foundation or tinted moisturizer with my fingers (or a beautyblender), and then I’ll gently run a duo fiber brush around my face while the foundation or tinted moisturizer is still wet, because once it dries, it’s much harder to buff and blend.
If I’m also wearing powder on top of my foundation that day, I’ll apply it with a fluffy powder brush, then grab my duo fiber brush one more time and gently run it across my skin again.
BONUS: These brushes are also great if you accidentally apply too much bronzer and/or blush, a.k.a. the story of my life! I’ll just run them across my cheekbones to blend away the excess. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
LOVE my MAC “skunk” brushes! <3
Hi Jessica! Me too. I have a couple in different sizes. Do you have a favorite?
My #187, Fo Sho! You?
I have one from Real Techniques I love to use to apply my primers 🙂
I have a duo fiber from Beauty Junkees, so soft, that I love for applying darker blushes or evening out foundation as you suggest. I’ve never tried LM brushes. I bet they’re great!
Hi Allison! Laura’s brushes are wonderful. The ones I have are from her holiday sets a few years back. They hold up well and the brush heads stay nice and fluffy.
I have been using an elf duo fibre for ages and love it, when it dies I want to get one of the Mac ones.
Hi Leah Rose! I’ve used that Elf brush before and it’s good. It’ll last you a while. 🙂 What do you usually use it for?
I use it to apply foundation when I don’t use a beauty blender or to just blend over everything to give a gorgeous finish!
Hi Karen, gorgeous girl 🙂
what lippie are you wearing?
Oh, btw. love Mac brushes
Hugs
Hi Bebe! It’s a new vinyl gloss by Estee Lauder. I’ll have the review up in a few!
Duo-Fibre isn’t really my thing.. I have a couple of them from Hakuhodo and I like to blend my cream blush with one of them, but for foundation I find buffing with a duo-fibre too scratchy for my dry/sensitive skin. Things work differently for different people!
xx Laura from Laurantaina Beauty Blog
It’s also my favorite way to apply foundation! I use MAC 187 brush and it works really well, I’ve had it for more than 5 years and it’s still in great shape.
I have two from e.l.f. Cheap, but good!
Well, your face looks flawless so now I naturally feel like a need a Duo Fiber Brush! 🙂 I keep reminding myself that I’d be too lazy to use it, though. I don’t have many brushes but my fave is a Sonia Kashuk #17 that I think is perfect for powder blush.
Oh, that´s great. I will try using it after applying my foundation. So far I have used it for application and was left with streaks more often than not.
I may need to purchase one of these brushes! I don’t know why but recently it seems like my Beauty Blender is applying my foundation much thicker than it used to. Maybe I’m putting too much product on it. This brush sounds like it may be a solution!
When I don’t use setting powder, my foundation goes a bit patchy all over my face. But when I use powder, my skin can look crepey…Do you always wear setting powder? If not, how do you stop your face sliding around?
I really need one. I love Chanel’s but need to find a cheaper alternative.
I think I need to get one of these. I usually just use my fingers for tinted moisturizer and foundation. But it can be tedious and time consuming pat, pat, patting it all around.
Quick question. How much primer do you use? I feel like it either does nothing or makes everything look worse and I’m guessing it’s because I haven’t figured out exactly how much primer I should be using. Also does the amount of primer you use depend on the type or brand of primer?
Gorgeous lip color on you!!
Hi Tatiana,
Hmmm… I’d say about the size of a half a pea? I don’t use a lot because I only use it on my cheeks, nose and around my mouth, which are the areas where my pores are the largest (right now I’m using the Step 1 Hydrating Primer by Make Up For Ever). I think the amount of primer does change depending on the formula. When I use BECCA Backlight, I tend to use more because it sinks into the skin, but with MUFE’s, I use less because it sits on top of it.
I think the trick to using primer is to wait until it’s completely dry. When it’s wet, I’ve noticed that whatever I layer on top can look uneven or patchy. If you let it dry completely, then do your tinted moisturizer/foundation/whatever, your skin should appear smoother.
What primer are you currently using, by the way?
Oh,That’s what I use that brush for! It’s been sadly sitting in my drawer. Thanks for the post I will be trying this brush with my foundation. I am having texture problems lately, maybe this will help!
Your lips look so great I was totally distracted from your I’m guessing informative makeup brush post. Color deets please?
I only own one duo fiber brush but it is a lifesaver! I love using it to apply blush, they’re miracle workers when it comes to brighter or deeper shades!
I use the one from Elf..but I use it to blend my blushes on my cheeks more than for foundations. I do agree that it does help blend things easily.
So….I have one of these. It came in a set of brushes I received for Christmas. I haven’t used it much, but I will now! I wasn’t exactly sure how to use it. Thanks so much!