All About Brushes

Brushes are a necessity to any makeup wearer, while quality brushes are an investment for any avid makeup wearing lass or lad. That being said choosing the right brush can be a headache, there are so many on the market that I've decided to share my favorites and some quick tips about choosing the right brush for you. 

Quick Brush Tips: 

1. Synthetic v. Natural bristles: Synthetic bristle brushes are typically used for cream or liquid products as they do not absorb as much of the product, making them easier to keep clean and they are also less likely to be damaged from heavy usage.  Natural bristle brushes tend to be a bit fluffier and work amazing for powder products because the bristles have a bit more movement, although the bristles will adsorb product faster and need to be washed frequently. 
2. Dense v Fluffy: Dense bristles or ones that are "more tightly packed" will give you more pigment payoff or fuller coverage. While the fluffier the brush the less pigmented the application will be, this is why most eyeshadow and blush brushes are fluffy so that they give you a soft application. 
3. Tapered v Flat: Any tapered brush (one that has a slight point at the end) will give you a more precise application of product while a flattop brush will apply coverage in larger area's rather than a specific place. 
4. Quality doesn't mean expensive! Real Techniques and Sigma brushes are wonderful affordable tools that out preform brushes that cost twice as much. 
5. Washing your brushes is important, but make sure when you wash your brushes you point the bristles down away from the water so that the glue does't get wet causing the brush to shed.  

My Favorites: 

From left to right 

Sigma Small Contour F05: I love this brush for blending in my bronzer, it's quite small so it's perfect for getting right under the cheek bone to contour with.

Sigma Tapered Blending E35: This brush is wonderful to get right in the crease and blend out shadows. 

Sigma Blending E25: This brush is a well known babe to any makeup lover. It is a dupe for the MAC 217 and is simply a dream for blending out shadows all over the lid and in the crease. 

Sephora PRO Precision Smudge 29: I absolutely love this brush for smudging out liner to get a smokey effect, as well as smudge my eyeshadow on my lower lash line. It's a beaut, really! 

Sigma Flat Definer E15: This brush is great for giving any look a precise edge. I specifically use it to trace my brows with a lighter concealer, the flat edge is perfect for this. 

Real Techniques Blush Brush: Hello fluffy, this brush is so soft and fluffy it's like a cloud, I love to use this pink handled gem for my setting powder as well as my blush. 

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush: I adore the brush for foundation, it is so dense that it gives any foundation a flawless application. This is probably my favorite brush that I own, I use it every day! 

EcoTools: There is no name on the brush for what kind it is but I use it to pack on eyeshadow, it gives a nice even application and costs only a few bucks. Talk about cheap and cheerful. 

Sephora Must-have angled liner brush 90: This brush is from Sephora's more affordable "classics" line, I use this angled brush for my brow powder. It is such a fine tipped angled brush that provides excellent control. 

There are so many different types of brushes that have different uses and so on and so forth that I could do multiple posts about brushes. Let me know your favorite brushes and if there are any I should try out! 

Xoxo, 

Haley