Saturday 26 May 2012

My Everyday Makeup Brushes

My brush collection isn't massive, and I do use pretty much all of the brushes I own to some extent. These are the brushes I use on a daily basis and are therefore probably my "favourite" brushes. I think they are a reasonable mix of higher end, mid range and lower end products (read: MAC, Real Techniques and E.L.F.). With higher end brushes I put a lot of research in before buying them because they can be expensive and I want to make sure I'm getting the most for my money. A couple of the brushes I have I use for purposes other than their "official" one. I always think it's useful to see what people use their brushes for so you can see what other uses they might have. Sometimes a brush is rubbish at its intended purpose, and instead of neglecting it and wasting money, you can usual find an alternative use for it. 


L-R: Eco Tools powder brush, E.L.F. angled blush brush, Real Techniques buffing brush, stippling brush, contour brush, E.L.F. lash/brow brush. Eco Tools angled eyeliner brush, No. 7 eyeshadow shading and blending, MAC 210, 217, Real Techniques foundation brush, MAC 239, Real Techniques concealer brush




Hopefully I listed all of the names correctly, I did it from memory so who knows? 


To break it down, here is a description of how I use the brushes:


Face:




Real Techniques Stippling Brush: I use this to apply blush and it works very well with cream blush.


E.L.F. Angled Blush Brush: This is not an amazing brush as it is not at all dense and I struggle to use this with blush as it refuses to pick up enough product. Instead, I use it for highlight as I don't like to be too heavy handed with it. It's great for this purpose.


Real Techniques Buffing Brush: I use this like everyone else- to buff in liquid foundation. So much has been said about how great this brush is, so I'll just say that I agree with all of that. It also comes in handy when I over load the blush on my cheeks and need to blend and tone everything down.


Real Techniques Foundation Brush: Okay, does anybody use this as a foundation brush? Why would you when it's so tiny and comes in a collection with the AMAZING buffing brush? Sorry "foundation brush." I use it for concealer under my eyes and it works well to go over fall out you might have from eye shadow.


Eco Tools Powder Brush: My favourite brush for blush! I use it more than the stippling brush. It's a perfect size and sooo soft. One of my true (brush) loves!


Real Techniques Contour Brush: I use this to contour my cheeks with bronzer and to apply highlight. Sometimes I use it to put on blush too, so it is a general good all-rounder if you were traveling and wanted to pack light.




Eyes:


MAC 210: Gel liner application. Best brush I have found for this.


Real Techniques Concealer Brush: Like to RT foundation brush, I find it inappropriate for its official use because of it's size. It is tiny. Luckily this makes it perfect to add highlight to the inner corner of the eye. Before I had this brush I really struggled to find something to do that properly.


MAC 239: Packing eyeshadow on. My favourite ever brush for putting eyeshadow onto my lid in a lovely manner. Expensive, but does the job. Much better than my Eco tools or Urban Decay brushes for doing the job.


No. 7 Blending Brush: I did a post on this, comparing it to the 217. It is not as good as the 217 but I use it most days because I usually need a second blending brush.


MAC 217: My all time favourite brush. BLENDING, BLENDING, BLENDING. 




Brows:








Eco Tools Angled Eye Liner Brush: This is the only thing I use to fill my brows in. It is not the most amazing brush in the world for doing it, but I have no complaints. One day I will splash out on something better, but for now it does the job just fine.


E.L.F. Lash/Brow brush: I use this to comb through my brows and put them into a nice shape, in preparation for filling them in. Sometimes I comb through my lashes with it, but not very often.


So, those are the brushes I use on a day-to-day basis. Is it not very many, average or a lot?!

4 comments:

  1. I ordered the E.L.F angled brush earlier today! If only I'd have read this first! I was planning to use it for contouring instead of blush, so hopefully it'll be okay! x

    beautyimaginarium.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Hopefully it will work for you! I find that E.L.F. products vary a lot in quality, and I've heard that people reorder brushes and they're completely different, so I might just have a really weak fluffy one. But I did use it a few times for contouring and I think it was actually pretty OK, because I can be a bit heavy handed with bronzer, so the brush worked out well for that. It's a great shape and size for it too! I'll try and use it tomorrow to contour actually and let you know how what it's like :) x

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  2. Looking at this just makes me so jelly! I really want some Real Techniques brushes having seen them all over youtube and watched Pixiwoo for over a year!! My brush collection is smaller.. and more varied. And stretches from Ferne Cotton for Boots to some fake Chinese mac ones (eek!)
    Someday.. I shall invest. I can't wait for that day. Please make that day come faster hahah.

    rachael xx
    rivasoave.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Ooh sounds like a good selection :) i'm building up a collection of expensive brushes super slowly. I only have three MAC brushes and buy them every couple of months.. When I think I need them. Theyre so expensive but I think worth it, so saving up for a couple of weeks it's not soooo bad. I'd recommend just starting off with the really good ones like the 217 and 239.. I don't like their face brushes and think real techniques do the job amazingly :)

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