If you follow my Instagram stories, and watched them all yesterday, thanks for hanging around! You’re the real MVP! Since posting that, I’ve had several people reach out inquiring about makeup brushes that I like to use, because I’m a great Instagrammer and didn’t even talk about them! OOPS.
So anyway, I thought I’d just throw together a quick list of all of my favorite makeup brushes that I use regularly! I’m just going to go in the order in which I usually put my makeup on. Lately I’ve been doing my face first, and then my eyes, so let’s go with that order.
Also, disclaimer… I’m not sharing close up pictures of my actual brushes because they all need cleaned. I promise you, these are all brushes that I use regularly and have purchased with my own money!
Face
Okay, so being completely honest, I’m 50/50 with face brushes for foundation and concealer. Depending on my mood, the day, and the products I’m using, I’m either using a kabuki brush and concealer brush, or a BeakeyBlender – You get 5 of them for under $10 and they’re literally exactly the same (in my opinion) if not better than, the actual Beauty Blender. I honestly think that price has a lot to do with it for me. I’m not down to spend $20 on a new sponge every 6-8 weeks. I’ll take the 5 pack for $8.99
When I do use brushes, which like I said, totally depends on my mood, and lets be honest, if they’re clean or not… I have a few faves that I use for foundation and one that I use for concealer!
For Foundation, I like a couple of different brushes. Again, because I’m lazy and I don’t clean my brushes immediately after using them, so I need spares. One of my oldest brushes that I have is the Sigma F80. I’ve, no joke, had this brush for four years. I’ve washed it so many times, and no matter what, she has been loyal to me and stayed in perfect condition! I’m pretty sure she’s indestructible. I absolutely bought this because Jaclyn Hill raved about it forever. I was hesitant to spend $25 on a single brush, but here we are… four years later and well.. its worth every penny.
Another amazing foundation brush that I use regularly is the Morphe M439 brush. Its more of a rounded top brush and slightly larger, I think its totally a personal preference thing. It’s $9 less than the Sigma brush, but I’ve not had it long enough to say whether it will last as long. I’m very happy with the quality and I definitely recommend this one as well!
So, finding my favorite concealer brush was a bit of a challenge. It unfortunately comes only in a kit from Real Techniques … I found it the cheapest on Amazon for just under $20 and I’m not here to tell you that you need all of the brushes in the kit. Now that I’m thinking back, I do believe the one that I use was part of a slightly different kit (they’ve updated their brushes.. I’ve had it a while. The kit comes with a fan brush, (I absolutely cannot stand fan brushes. If you like them, then you do you, but they’re just not my jam. lol) the contour brush I use for concealer, an eyeliner brush, a lip brush, (I’d personally use that for my lower lash line… I don’t think I’ve ever used a lip brush in my life..) and a soft angled brush that you can use for blush or highlight. Overall It’s a great set, and I’d have a use for everything but the fan brush.
Once I apply my concealer, I immediately set it with some type of powder. I don’t always set my entire face, but I ALWAYS set my undereye area to prevent creasing. I’ve got three of this Real Techniques Setting Brush, so that I ALWAYS have one clean.
For bronzer/contour, I use two different brushes. One for a more diffused bronze glow, and the other when I want more of a deep defined contour. You’re going to love me for these… They’re both from ELF and super affordable. When I want a lighter bronzed look, I go with the ELF Flawless Face Brush weighing in at a whopping $6 – Super budget friendly, this could also be used as a powder brush if you’d like!
When I really want to contour, this ELF Beautifully Bare Blending Brush is perfection!
When I do use powder there are only two brushes I really truly love for powder. They are both from the ItCosmetics for Ulta line and they’re amazing! First is the Love Beauty Fully Complexion Powder Brush. These brushes are such high quality! They’re so soft and feel so nice on your face!
The other face brush I really love is actually part of a set, the Complexion Perfection Essentials 3 Piece Deluxe Brush Set. I’m fairly certain I got this as a free gift with purchase, because I honestly don’t see me buying this kit, simply because the only brush I use from the kit regularly is the powder brush. I will say, however that the carrying case is very nice, for all of the traveling I never do lol. (And that nobody is doing right now) But if you use the other style of brushes this kit is a great deal! They are very high quality brushes!
My favorite highlighter brush is another from Morphe, the M510. I love that their brushes are great quality at an affordable price point!
If I’m being completely honest, I don’t know that I’ve ever actually purchased a blush brush. I feel like every blush brush I’ve got has come in a box or as a free gift with a purchase! This is the newer version of the Real Techniques brush I have and it works very well!
Eyes
I probably have about 50 more eye brushes than the average person needs, again.. I like to let my brushes build up and clean them all at once rather than cleaning them every single time I use them. I’m just going to go over the basics. You’ll need a fluffy blending brush, a shading brush, and a flat liner brush.
My all time favorite blending brush is an old one from the Sonia Kashuk line at target. Unfortunately, they’ve revamped the line and this one looks like it is similar but slightly smaller. This brush is what you would use to blend your crease and outer area of the lid.
This one looks similar to the one that I currently have, I’m sure that either of them will work just fine, if you’re looking for a more precise blending brush, go with the smaller, if you want more of a blended, diffused look, go with the larger one.
The next brush you’ll need would be a flat liner brush. Again, this Morphe M432 brush is a favorite of mine. Super affordable and works so well!
The last eye brush you really need is a shading brush. These brushes are literally everywhere and you can probably find about 100 different versions. Go with what makes you comfortable! The Morphe M167 is a great affordable option!
Okay, there we have it. The most used brushes in my collection.. and when I say collection… Its insane. These brushes are all my favorites and I recommend them to everyone that asks me about makeup brushes. In general, any brush that you purchase from Sigma, Morphe, Real Techniques, or It Cosmetics for Ulta, will not disappoint you. I’ve been so happy with these brands for so long!
Let me know what kinds of things you’d like to see next!
XOXO Sam
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