Make-up brushes are so key in my kit. Without good brushes it makes it a lot harder to do an amazing make-up. I know this sounds like common sense but I have so many friends that don't use hardly any brushes to apply their make-up which is crazy to me, but whatever works for you. Being a make-up artist brushes are my tools. Someone once told me that a plumber wouldn't turn up to fix a sink with the wrong tools so why should a make-up artist. I will never forget that quote! I have a range of brushes from budget buys to high end so I thought I would share the brushes I cannot live without!
1.
Original Beauty Blender - £16
The beauty blender was the first sponge I had ever used to apply my foundation with and I was blown away by the finish. This gives me a flawless airbrushed finish to my face and has done on all my clients I use it on. It's a very multi tasking tool as well, I use this for my concealer and have used it for my powder too. I have tried the copies of this but none of them have compared and don't leave the same finish as this. At the moment I only have 1 but I will be purchasing more as in my eyes you can never have to many of your favourite brushes/tools.
2.
Sigma Flat Top Kabuki F80 - £18.75
I use this brush as a final finish to my foundation. I have very large pores on my face and I find using this to buff in any final product helps hide them a bit more. If you are after a full coverage look this is perfect and it really buffs the product into the skin.
3.
Sigma E40 - £14.99
This is an almost identical dupe to the MAC 224 which is designed to be a 'tapered blending brush.' Although I do use this to add a transition colour into my crease my favourite use for it is to buff in my cream concealers when I am contouring and highlighting and gives me the flawless look I'm sure everyone wants. I will be purchasing about 5 more of these as they are seriously HG material.
4.
Real Techniques Setting Brush - £8.99
I use this brush to set my under eye concealer and it's small enough to get right underneath my eyes. While some might not see it as a necessitiy I have really oily skin so if I don't really set underneath my eyes it will end up halfway down my face within about an hour ;) it's also amazing to add a bit of shimmer highlighter to the top of your cheek bones.
5.
Real Techniques Contour Brush - £21.99
This brush comes in the real techniques core collection and surprisingly I actually use it for its purpose. It's the perfect shape to get right into the cheekbones and shape the face. If I am travelling I double this brush up as my blusher brush too! Unfortunately you have to buy the set just to get this brush!
6.
MAC 129 - £27
Although this brush is pretty pricey as with all mac brushes they are worth it. This was the second brush I purchased from MAC. I use this to apply bronzer where I need it and also my blusher. The shape of it ensures your not left with any harsh lines and blends whatever powder product your using beautifully!
7.
MAC 217 - £18
A pretty holy grail staple brush in the blogging world I think. So not much needs to be said apart from, GOODBYE HALF BLENDED EYESHADOW. You could do an absolute show of your eyeshadow and this will blend it right out! I need about 10 of these in my kit I use them so often! If you don't want to fork out the full price of this brush, crown brushes do a very similar alternative called the c433. The only difference is I found the crown one a bit scratchy on the eye but it still blends beautifully and it's a fraction of the price!
8.
MAC 266 - £16.50
Eyebrows are my thing. If I don't have my eyebrows done then I'm not leaving the house. Some people hate how I do my brows but I am a firm lover of a the scouse brow and I'm not ashamed to admit it. As said in a previous post I always out line my brows with Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wizz then I fill them in with my HD brows powder. This brush is the perfect shape to get them precisely filled in.
9.
MUA Concealer Brush - £1.95
This brush is a complete bargain. This was £1.95 which is insane. It doesn't feel cheap and I think it looks really sleek. I use this brush to put concealer round my brows and also tidy up my lips after putting on a bold lip. And for the price can you really complain about anything?
10.
MAC 239 - £20
I use this brush to pack on colour onto my lids. It's really packed with bristlesand dense enough to build up colour easily without putting too much one and it being all over your face. It is a crucial brush in any kit as a blending brush isn't really the best for packing on colour
So there we have it, I'm quite impressed it's only 10 brushes to be honest. I thought I was going to end up with about 25 brushes. If I was going away for a weekend these are the brushes I would pack without hesitation.
I'm still looking for the 'perfect' brushes for other purposes, for example my eyeliner brush, every one I have tried hasn't blown me away. I'm hoping to pick up the MAC 210 brush in the next couple of weeks which has amazing reviews for gel liner. I'm also on the lookout for a new lip brush, so if you have any recommendations please let me know!
I hope this post was helpful! I would love to hear what your brushes you could not live without!
