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BBAC 2015, Day Fourteen: Tools and Toys - makeup brushes

Posted on Sunday, at • bought • 364 views

Not everyone uses makeup brushes (there are lots of other applicators, aside from one's fingers.) Not everyone who uses makeup brushes, uses the same ones. The brushes that your best friend uses may not be your favorites - they don't sit well in your hand, they don't give you the control you want, they are too stiff, or you will only use synthetic-bristle brushes. Or maybe you're just on a really tight budget and while you'd dearly love to be able to buy that lovely magic-wand-of-a-makeup-brush for $50, right now you have to do things like eat and pay rent.

My own taste in makeup brushes has evolved, and I haven't even been using them that long (less than a decade.) I started out with a really basic “travel” brush set, used some brushes I got in kits, and slowly developed my tastes and preferences along with my techniques. I was also fortunate enough to get heavily into makeup after the World Wide Web and forums were A Thing: I had the disposable income to splash out on the occasional higher-end makeup brush, but I saw plenty of other people who used other brands, so I didn't feel like a certain brand of brush was the only thing that would work.

BBAC 2015, Day Fourteen: Tools and Toys - makeup brushes

<h3>elf's Essential Eyeshadow brush</h3> <p>Inexpensive, short bristles...but good for two things: one, picking up and applying a nice bit of my Sleek and Makeup Revolution eyeshadows; and swatching eyeshadows. The ferrules tend to come unglued from the handles with alarming regularity. That's easy enough to fix, it's just...irritating. The bristles are on the stiffer side, and though they're trimmed in a semicircle and so can easily and nicely apply shadow to the lid without straying much into the crease, the brush drags such that I've found it to be better used for stippling rather than sweeping.</p> <h3>Crown Brush's Oval Chisel Fluff</h3> <p>Very similar to BareMinerals' Blending Brush, just slightly narrower and slightly shorter...and a heck of a lot less expensive. I use this brush for blending, but mostly I have several that I use for swatching, to foil the colors. I get a nice wide stripe of color laid down that's excellent for taking swatch photos. Using this brush to apply shadow to my lids...well, my lids aren't that big. It handles fine, and like I said, when I want blending that's both broader and less forceful, this works fine...but I've found that it truly does make The Absolute Perfect Swatching Brush. And since it's so inexpensive, it's no trouble at all to have several on-deck for swatching sessions.</p> <h3>elf's Studio Concealer brush</h3> <p>I don't use this for concealer. I don't actually use much concealer, I tend to use color corrector.) I found this while searching for a good brush to apply my cream shadows. I needed something that wasn't too narrow, wasn't as wide as the blending brushes, and had a little bit more body to it than a blending eyeshadow brush. This concealer brush was in the Studio Brush Kit, and I had tried using it for spot application but it wasn't quite right for that. So, on a whim, I used a clean one to apply one of my Color Tattoo cream shadows. It gives great coverage and control, and the curved edges mean no harsh corners along the outer edge of my lid that have to be blended or smudge out. I can also get the innermost corner without accidentally getting some onto the inner v or the bridge of my nose (both of which I've done with other brushes.)</p> <h3>elf's Studio Small Angled brush</h3> <p>Can be used for liner or for brows. I most often use it for my various cream and gel liners. It's not quite firm enough to use as a brow brush for harder products like brow pomade, but for cream or powder application it's fine. It gives me longer, defined lines...and very very thin lines. Again, $3 from eyeslipsface, and included in the Studio 11-piece Brush kit.</p> <h3>BareMinerals' Retractable Soft Focus Shadow brush and Retractable Soft Focus Liner brush</h3> <p>I love these retractable brushes because they're great for popping in my purse while still protecting the bristles. By retracting the soft-focus eyeshadow brush bristles partway back I can get more of a stippling or a stiffer smudging tool, so while it's no travel-replacement for a nice kit of brushes (even a travel kit) it's wonderful for around-town in-the-office day-use touchups. The soft-focus liner brush isn't quite as versatile, but it's great at adding just a little additional product and definition to the previously-applied color on my lash line.</p> <h3>Sephora's Professionel (Pro) Angled Blush brush</h3> <p>I like this because the head is softly angled and rounded, the bristles are soft-focus and plush so I get color without hard-edged definition, the handle is longer giving me better control...and the brush-head came enclosed in a plastic protective sleeve. It's one of the more expensive brushes in my collection, but to me, it's worth it.</p> <h3>BareMinerals' Soft Focus Face brush</h3> <p>This big puffy soft brush head is great for blending blushes, or applying really saturated dark shades (like Sleek's Flamingo) when I want a soft sweep of color but my normal blush brush would lay down too much product. The brushes form a dome, and are large enough to use for wide-area application of mineral finishing powders, glow powders, and bronzer...but not so large that it's utterly impractical to use them for subtle highlighter powders or the aforementioned "bold blush" colors.</p> <hr /> <p>I have a few backups of all of my favorite brushes. I've tried some of the "cult favorites" like the MAC 217 eyeshadow/blending brush, but while it's okay, I didn't hear angels singing hosannas when I used this brush, so while I use it from time to time, it isn't one that I have backups of. I also own two sets of Real Techniques brushes, which I got at 50% off (yay clearances!!!) but haven't used more than twice. (That's on me.) Once I found Kissel's blog Palettes n Ferrules I cautiously tried a few brush sets off of Ebay, and while they're not amazing they're decent quality, and often slightly better quality than the "cheap" makeup brushes you find in US stores.</p>

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