Hey Everybody,
Welcome back!! I know it has been a few months since I posted anything. I've been just too busy with my life. Anyway, I am starting to write again and will be more regular now. So please share your comments on what you want to read next. But for today I will be talking about my must have makeup brushes. I also feel that any makeup beginner or anybody wanting to buy new brushes should have these or similar basic brushes.
You should remember that you invest in the makeup brushes and they last you longer than your makeup products, hence choose them wisely. I will cover all the basics and must have brushes for the face and eyes.
P.S. I am mentioning the brushes in the order I usually use.
So lets get started.
1. Beauty Blender/ Real Technique's Beauty Sponge
Though this is not a makeup brush but using a beauty blender is a must for me to use any liquid foundation. I have realized that blending foundation with this magic tool always gives me flawless results. I use it damp to apply & blend foundation (with the fatter side) and concealer (with the pointy side). I also use beauty blender to set my concealer with the loose powder. At times I have used it to blend harsh contour lines and excess powder too. The neon pink beauty blender in the picture is a new one as my old BB was torn. The sponge from Real technique is also as good as BB but way more cheaper . Therefore I have mentioned both of them. Sorry the sponge looks dirty as I used it before taking the picture and didn't clean it. And also a BB will last you at least good 6-8 months. But on the downside, as it is a sponge so it will take more product than a regular brush and also it takes a bit of an extra effort to clean them.
But believe me, it is totally worth all this as I have been using this for over 2 years and this is my 4th one. You can find it at Sephora India and also a few online stores.
2. Real Techniques Buffing Brush
This is also my foundation brush but I most use it for powder foundation or setting the foundation with loose powder. It is also great for liquid foundation. It is a great duo-fibre brush which is round and has a flat top. The bristles are aptly packed. I use it everyday to apply my Studio Fix powder even when I am not wearing liquid foundation. I have this brush for the longest time and it still works amazing. I would suggest you to either pick this one or any flat top kabuki brush for both powder and liquid foundation. This brush comes in a set of 4. But I only use 2 of them. I will discuss the other one too in this post.
3. Fluffy Powder Brush (Morphe S22)
This brush is so soft, full and great for using any powder. As you can see it is fluffy and huge. It is made of natural goat hair . It is the softest to use on the skin. I use this brush to use powders and dust off the excess powder from the face. Also I use this brush after I finish my makeup to blend everything. This brush helps you to not look cakey. For a natural look kinda day I also use this brush for powder foundation. Due to its size, it takes merely seconds to finish off the whole face. It may not seem a very important brush but you should have such a brush in you kit for just blending and taking off any excess product. I got this from the Morphe brushes website online.
4. Tomb shaped Blending brush (Morphe G2)
Morphe G2 brush is from their gunmetal collection. It is literally like a beauty blender in a brush. Due to its shape it a perfect brush to set under eye concealer and powder. I use this brush for baking under eyes and cheeks at it takes a lot of product at once. I have also used this to contour my cheekbones, but I still prefer it for under eyes. The bristles are so thickly packed and it has a perfect size to fit under the eyes. I would say you can still skip this one if you have a beauty blender as I told you it's similar uses before. I also purchased it from the Morphe Brushes website online.
5. Real Techniques Contour Brush
This is the other brush by Real Techniques I regularly use for contouring. It has a perfect shape and size to sculpt out my cheekbones. I like the fact that it has not so dense bristles so it makes the blending easy and a contour should always be well blended. I also contour my nose with this brush by pinching it from the center and my jawline (that way I don't have to pick up a different brush for the same product). I don't contour everyday so I might not use this daily but whenever I do, this is the one I always reach for.
6. Angled Face Contour Brush (Sigma F40)
Sigma F40 is an angled face contour brush made with natural hair. BTW natural bristles brushes are usually better for powder based products as they pick up the product evenly and blend smoothly. I use this one everyday for bronzing my face. I don't use this to contour as it is bigger for that purpose. But it perfectly blends a bronzer. I also use this to apply blush on my cheeks. The unique angle and the fanned out bristles makes bronzing and blushing perfect for me. At times I also use this brush to blend any harsh contour lines. I ordered this one from Beautybay.com.
7. Forever 21 Highlighter Brush
This brush might not be sold as a highlighter brush, but I use this everyday to highlight the top of my cheekbones. I picked this from Forever 21 floral collection sometime back. It is a great brush to highlight as it has fanned out loose bristles which distributes highlighter evenly without applying too much at once. I suppose you can also use it to apply blush. It is an inexpensive brush which works best for powder highlighters. For any liquid highlighters I prefer using fingers.
Eye Makeup Brushes
These are my top 5 brushes for eyes. I probably don't need any other eye brushes if I have these.
1. Large Blending Brush (Morphe E27)
This brush is everything for me. It is a round fluffy blending brush which can blend any eyeshadow like a dream. It is probably a bit bigger for an eye brush but I love using this to blend shadow on the crease, outer eyes or eyelid even. For smokey eyes, everyday shadow look or any eye look this brush is a must for me. It is quick and easy to blend with this. I have also used this brush to contour my nose. This brush can also be used for blending concealers. It has duo fibers which makes blending any type of shadow seamless. I got this one from Morphe Brushes website as well.
2. Blending Brush (Sigma E25)
This is my another favorite. This brush is a perfect dupe for Mac 217. The perfect dome shape of this brush helps to carve the perfect V and also blend well. It also fits in the crease to blend shadows. As you can see the tip is pointy and dense so it provides perfection and precision. I also use it to blend lighter shadows under the eyes. I bought this from Beautybay.com.
3. Vega Eyeshadow Brush
This brush is a flat shadow brush which is great to pack on shadow on the eyelids. The best part about this brush is that you can use it wet or dry and even to apply sparkly shadows on the lids. I have this brush for the longest time and I use it for all types for eyeshadows. I also use this to smudge kajal or smoke out darker shadows. It is a cheap and very useful brush. You can buy it from any beauty store around you.
4. Small Bullet Eye Brush (Morphe B72)
This little brush is best used for highlighting inner corners of the eyes and the brow bone. It looks like a tiny bullet which is perfect for tiny areas which makes a huge difference. I also use it highlight my nose and cupid's bow. You can definitely use this brush to conceal any tiny spots on the face as well. I got this from the Morphe website too.
5. Flat Angled Eye Brush (Forever 21)
This brush is a unique brush. Due to its shape and stiffness I use it for filling in my eyebrows everyday and applying any gel based liner. It is a flat brush therefore the tip will give you exactly what you want it do. I got this one from the floral collection with my face highlighter brush from Forever 21.
Well, this is it. These are my must have makeup brushes. I generally even travel with these too. I also deep clean my brushes every week with baby oil and shampoo. On a daily basis I sanitize my brushes before use and also keep them in a cup to retain their shape.
I really hope you enjoyed reading it and gained more knowledge on makeup brushes. I would appreciate your suggestions and comments. Loads of Love!
Sharoon :)
