My Essential Makeup Brushes

I definitely own more makeup brushes than I need but I feel like I’m always searching for something that bit better or sometimes I just buy a brush because it’s beautiful. This post is going to be about my Desert Island brushes. You know, if I was on the kind of Desert Island that had makeup, mirrors and a low enough threat level for beauty to be my primary concern…

My pick for applying powder has to be the Real   Fibre Face Brush (£23.99 for set). This one isn’t available individually and I got mine in the limited edition Nic’s Picks set, however you can get the same one in their duo-fibre set. It’s great as it really doesn’t pick up too much product so you’re never going to have the issue of your makeup going cake-y. It’s also really soft and washes so easily.

Foundation was a tricky one for me but I’ve picked the Nanshy Flawless Foundation Brush (£9.95) as it gives such an amazing, finish. It’s more something for a medium-to-full base but you get a perfect, flawless, brush-stroke-free finish so quickly and easily. This one is also synthetic so very easy to clean. I also really like the e.l.f. Studio Flat Powder Brush and the Zoeva Silk Finish Brush so it was a tough call!

My next favourite is for blusher and it’s the Real Techniques Blush Brush (£9.99). It doesn’t look like it should work, but trust me it does! I use the very tip, usually in circular motions, starting from the highest point of my cheekbone and moving inwards. You can then angle it to use the rest of the bristles to get everything blended in seamlessly. I almost always struggle with blushers but this one makes sure that no matter what formula I’m using, there’s no patchiness (when I apply it, anyway…)

The e.l.f. Studio Blush Brush (£3.95), I don’t actually use for blusher, however it works really well for highlighter. It’s a great shape and size as well as picking up a good amount of product; I never feel like I overload on highlighter when I apply it using this.

My next choice is also one of theirs: it’s the e.l.f. Studio Small Stipple Brush (£3.95). I really like the Studio line as whilst every single brush may not be great, there are some real gems that are so incredible I’d probably pay double the amount they actually cost! This is my cream blusher must-have. I do have the Real Techniques Stippling Brush, however I find the larger size works better for foundations, whereas this little on is perfect for dotting on your blusher. As a side note, although I've linked everything still, Elf just had their flash sale so basically everything is out of stock at the moment - sorry!

My go-to concealer brush is the Concealer Buffer (£7.50) from the Zoeva Rose Gold set. You can get this individually with a different handle, however. The Zoeva sets contain both natural and synthetic bristled brushes (this one is synthetic) with the white bristled brushes being natural and the brown and white bristled ones being synthetic. It does exactly what it claims to and seamlessly buffs in your concealer with minimal effort. This is my favourite because I think it works just as well for under eyes and for blemishes and redness.

Next is a bit of a new addition to my collection: the Makeup Revolution Pro Eyebrow Brush (£1.50). I haven’t posted on these before as some of the brushes I liked and some of them not so much (I also recommend the flat concealer brush). I think the size is great as well as the angle of the slant; it’s absolutely perfect for applying waxes or pomades.

For eyeshadow I have a few favourites. Firstly I love the Zoeva Petit Crease Brush (£6.50), again from the Rose Gold set and available with a different handle on its own. I love the point and think it fits perfectly into your socket to apply a crease colour and it applies it absolutely beautifully. The only thing I don’t like about this is that the natural bristles mean it’s never going to look quite as good as new.

Another love of mine is the MAC 217 (£19). I don’t know what I was doing before I got this but it makes even my application look 1000x better. Now, there’s a lot of hype over this blending brush and it’s really rather expensive. In my personal opinion Zoeva’s eye brushes are just as good quality, I got this as I was able to get it much cheaper from the US and I’m not aware that Zoeva do one this exact same shape. However don’t feel you NEED to spend £19 on a single brush, because you don’t. Also this has natural bristles so tends to look pretty knackered pretty quickly…

Finally is the Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush (£6.99). I also got this in the Nic’s Picks set but you can get it in individually with a different handle. I think if you could only ever own one eyeshadow brush this kind of does it all! It’s big and fluffy so works brilliantly to lay down the base colour, however at the same time it’s really great for blending and the tapered angle also makes it very easy to apply a crease shade. It’s the perfect all-in-one.

You may have noticed I missed something...I've actually not got a contour brush that's the One, however I think since picking up the Zoeva Rose Gold Volume 2 Set I might have found it in the Face Paint Brush!

I have posts on all the brushes that come in sets and you can read about them here:

Nanshy Gobsmack Glamorous Set

Zoeva Rose Gold Set

Real Techniques Sam's and Nic's Picks Sets

I think most of my picks are very affordable and they've done my makeup application a world of good so let me know what you think in the comments.

What makeup brushes can't you live without?

 

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