Do you want flawless makeup? A perfectly blended smokey eye? I have a secret for you. It doesn't matter how expensive your eye shadows, primers and mascaras are. If you don't have the right brush, you can't achieve the look. But brushes can be daunting. There are hundreds of shapes and textures to choose from. What do you use were? Does it matter the kind of bristle? synthetic or natural? dense? thin? Are expensive brushes worth it, or do cheap ones work okay too?
Makeup brushes are the one thing I never really "learned" about until recently, so I need to fill y'all in on the amazing brushes I'm loving right now. I'm going focus on eye brushes, and save face brushes for another post. Everything I'm talking about today are actual brushes I own, use often and LOVE.
For great eye makeup I think you need 4 different brushes. I know. that's a lot right? Believe me, even more are helpful, but to get you started I recommend these 5 types of brushes.
1. Fluffy Brush-- Meaning a brush with good control that will help you pack shadow onto your lid. Here you can have a wide variety of what a fluffy brush is, but think your traditional eyeshadow brush.
I use a
MAC 239 and I LOVE IT. I am lucky enough to have parents who spoil me at Christmas, because I couldn't afford to shell out $22 for one brush, but if you do this is a great one.
I also have this
Sonia Kashuk Brush that I LOVE just about as much (I normally use 4-5 colors on my lid a day, so I have several fluffy dense brushes for general lid application)
2. Pencil Brush-- this is my FAVORITE. It is so versatile, and packs a great punch. I would recommend a pencil brush for both your lower lash line and your crease.
I honestly don't own any other pencil brushes, because this one is just so fantastic. But I have heard great things about the
Sigma E30 pencil brush and at $9 dollars it's a little more budget friendly than the MAC counterpart.
3. Liner Brush
For another kind of liner brush altogether I use the
Sigma E15 Flat Definer. This is more useful if you want to use shadow for your liner. I love how stiff this is brush is. You can either use this with just your liner shadow, or you can soften a cream liner and smooth it out with this brush.
4. Blending Brush
HERE IS THE KEY. Blend blend blend. Seriously. I can't even tell you how important blending is when it comes to a smokey eye, or any eye look for that matter.
Sonia Kashuk Multipurpose Blending Brush is great. When looking for a good blending brush you want something somewhat flexible, but still dense.
For a different kind of blending brush check out the large eye shadow brush from Eco Tools. From what I can tell it only comes in the
Bamboo 6 Piece Eye Brush Set (LOVE this set y'all!). It's completely differently shaped, but a great option.
This kit is a great beginner set too, the brushes are great quality, and really well priced.
If you want even more eye brushes, beyond these basic four, try
1. A highlighter brush-- look for something light and fluffy
2. Angled Crease Brush
3. Lash Brush (separate those babies)
4. Brow Brush
5. Smudge Brush
6. A Tiny Defining Brush to get in those small corners.
Okay. That's all I've got for you today. Again, I wasn't paid for any of these reviews, I own all of these brushes (and many more), and I am very fond of ALL of them. If you have any more specific questions please don't hesitate to email me or comment below. Have a great beauty Tuesday Ladies!
