Makeup brushes! — I HAZ THEM. And I’m assuming you do too. I’m gonna go out on a limb (not really) and guess that you have more than a few brushes in your collection, so tell me, friend, which makeup brushes do you always use, and which ones do you never (or very rarely) touch?
First of all, I’m much pickier about eye brushes than I am about face brushes, which I think is because my lids are sensitive, and I have absolutely no patience for scratchy stuff on my skin.
I think there are many great eye brushes out there, but I usually end up grabbing a brush from MAC (one of the O.G. ones from back before they revamped their makeup brush line with synthetic brushes, which IMO don’t perform well enough to justify their price), NARS or Chanel, because they’re the softest ones I have, and I love how they blend.
Here are the brushes I seem to always use the most…
- MAC 221 Mini Tapered Blending Brush
- MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush
- MAC 217 Domed Eyeshadow Brush
- NARS #42 Blending Eyeshadow Brush (Super great! I think it’s better than the MAC 224.)
- Chanel Retractable Dual-Tip Eyeshadow Brush
- NARS #45 Smudge Brush
- NARS #47 Angled Brush
And while it isn’t an eye brush, the Real Techniques Buffing Brush is one I use every single day for buffing down foundation.
As for the brushes I never use, hmm… I hardly ever reach for large, poofy powder brushes because I don’t wear a lot of powder, and I think they’re hard to control. I prefer powder and blush brushes with smaller brush heads.
That’s me. How about you? Which makeup brushes do you always use, and which ones do you never (or very rarely) touch?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Hi Karen! Such a good question!
Eye brushes: a Sephora collection contour brush, smudge brush, and a defining crease brush.
Face: beauty blender, a fluffed out bare minerals crease brush for setting the under eye, and everything else changes all the time. Real techniques powder brush for highlight.
I love seeing what everyone else uses for brushes!
I love eyeliner brushes but I rarely use the one I have because pencils are so much easier and quicker for me. My favorite brushes are by Laura Mercier. The Ponytail brush is my most used- it blends and softens shadow like no other! I also love the travel crease and smudge brush because it’s perfect for doing makeup on the go. Laura blush brush is my favorite since I love how it sits a bit flat- helpful when I am trying to get at a certain section of a multi colored pan, or highlight. I also love the simplicity of brushes that are called whatever their job is, instead of a number. just my personal preference, I guess. makes it easier for me.
Hi Karen ,
I have a million brushes but use my Sephora brushes . I like the wide one for eyeshadow . The angled one for blush . The very full brush for luminiizer .
Mostly pencils for eyeliner .
Mostly MAC !
I do like some of the Hourglass and Wayne Goss brushes but my favs are the blush brush and highlighter brush from Surratt Beauty. I have some other very expensive Japanese brushes….never used. They were gifts and I’ll probably sell them.
I rarely touch my contour products, probably because I rarely contour, but I do love the RT buffing brush. For my eyes I prefer flat shadow brushes (I have some by Zoeva that still are amazing 6 years after buying them) and just one blending brush (also Zoeva) for smoothing the edges.
I love my Tarte brushes so much, they are so pretty and they do what I need them to. I’m also a big fan of Spectrum brushes, I’d be completely lost with their A06 brush for my eyeshadow. Don’t know what it is about it, it’s nothing different from other eyeshadow brushes I have but I always have a good makeup day when I’ve used that one!
I stopped using all MAC, Nars etc brushes ever since I found Japanese luxurious brushes. Totally different league from brushes in market we can easily find. Wayne Goss and Suratt aren’t too bad but still not as good as few Japanese brands I owned.
Hi Karen, I cannot resist a good make-up brush. I love them, probably just as much as my make-up. For my eyes I always use the MAC 217 and 286. I use these for everything on my eyes, powder eyeshadow, as well as creams. I don’t need any other eye brushes really as I’m a one-eyeshadow-colour-a-day kinda girl. For my face I love to use the Powder & Sculpt brush from Charlotte Tilbury for highlighter, the Sheer Powder brush from Bobbi Brown for everything really, the MAC 127 for blush and the MAC 187 en 135 for bronzer. For foundation I use the MAc 170. All must haves imo, I really enjoy using them. Such gems!