Hello! Today I want to talk about some of my favourite makeup brushes. I will start off by saying, that other than my eyebrow brush, my all time favourite brushes are Illamasqua. I realise that they can be pricey, so aren't the best choice for someone on a budget or who is just starting out in makeup, but after a lot of years of makeup obsession and brush hoarding, I will always choose an Illamasqua brush over anything else. I have tried to mix up brands in this post though and have talked about different brands at varying price points, so hopefully this will be helpful to someone!
I rarely use Morphe brushes, but my favourite foundation brushes for a long time were the Morphe G6 and the M439, however I found them almost impossible to wash all the product out properly and they shed far too much for my liking. I never reach for them these days, my favourite foundation buffing brush is the Spectrum B01. Mine came as part of the Glam Clam set, which is ten brushes in a very pretty seashell brush holder for £59.99, although they do sell the B01 seperately (in pink and blue) for £8.99. This brush is flat topped so buffs foundation in beautifully, and it is dense enough to do the job well, but not so packed with bristles that it leaves streaks or the product gets stuck in the bristles and is difficult to wash out. The only problem with these brushes is that they are so pretty I have to psyche myself up to use them as I don't like getting them dirty!
A favourite to use on clients is Becca's The One Perfecting Brush. This is a very large, rectangular brush that on first sight looks like it would be ideal for contour. Becca markets this brush as an all in one tool for your makeup - foundation, blush, highlighter and contour application. I hate the idea of mixing products on my brush so I tend to use this either for contour or foundation. This brush applies foundation like a dream! It gives a natural, airbrushed finish to your look although I find that it does use up more product than the Spectrum brush does. This brush gives the perfect finish for bridal makeup in my opinion. The bristles are goat hair, so that's something to keep in mind if you are planning on using it on a vegan client. I also find that although the brush washes nicely, it stains so easily as you can see from my picture, This brush is available from Space NK for £40, although if you catch it on offer at QVC you might be able to save some money.
My favourite brush for powder application is the It Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Airbrush Bronzer and Powder brush. This brush is SO soft! It's nice and chunky but not too bulky that you can't hold it and work properly. This brush just glides the powder over the face so you get an even application without any cakeiness. It Cosmetics isn't an easy brand to get hold of in the UK, but this brush was from QVC.
The Spectrum C02 is a flat topped contour brush. I really like this brush for contour as it's dense enough to give you a nice sharp line, but still soft enough that you can blend out your contour. It's dense but not stiff, and as it's from Spectrum it's really pretty! Mine came in The Bomb Shell set (£79.99 for 12 brushes), but it is available singly with a longer handle (The Bomb Shell collection have shorter handles) and in pink and blue for £8.99.
Another Spectrum brush, sorry! The B03 is great for buffing out concealer. When I do my own makeup, I like to blend out my concealer with my ring finger, but I always use a brush on clients. This has a nice flat top, and is dense enough to buff out but still very soft so as not to damage the delicate under eye skin. Mine is from the Glam Clam set, but a single B03 is £4.99.
I have just rediscovered the Real Techniques Setting Brush! I have had this a while, and only really used it as a back up in my collection, but it is not only perfect for setting the under eyes, as you would expect from the name, but if you are looking for the Instagram style "highlighter to blind your haters" look, this brush applies highlighter SO well! It gives a more intense application than a fan brush and you can build up the product to your desired level of glow! These brushes are £4.99 and are available in Superdrug, Boots and even some supermarkets.
I clearly had a hard time narrowing down my eye brush selection so I'll just go over these quickly! The Illamasqua Blending Brush (£22.50) is my absolute favourite eye brush, I have 3 or 4 of these in my kit and they blend eyeshadow like a dream. I also have some Spectrum B06 brushes (£4.99) in my kit too. I use a lot of eye brushes! My favourite flat brushes are the Illamasqua Eye Shadow Brush (19.50) and the Wayne Goss 17 ($32 from Beautylish). I use the 17 to set the eye primer with a light shade, and the Illamasqua brush for packing colour on the lid. My favourite pencil brush is the Wayne Goss 20 ($30, Beautylish). The Wayne Goss brushes are natural hair bristles, so again, keep this in mind when working on a vegan client.
Nearly done, I promise! My holy grail eyebrow brush is the Anastasia Beverly Hills #15 brush. This angled brush has a short handle so you can get close to the brows for precise application and it is super stiff which I love in a brow brush! There is also the #14 which has a spoolie on the other end, but I have a thing about double ended brushes (how are you supposed to store them?!) and I use disposable spoolies on my clients, so the #15 is more suited to my needs, The #15 is available on several websites for around £13. The other brush here is a(nother) Spectrum brush. The A09 is a tiny detail brush that's perfect for eyeliner. It doesn't lose its shape when it gets washed and I've had no splayed bristles either which is amazing for a £4.99 eyeliner brush!
Finally, my all time favourite brush EVER! This is an ancient Illamasqua brush that I bought probably around 7 years ago now. It was called the highlighter brush I believe, and it's what I use every day to apply my highlight. This brush is sadly discontinued now and I won't use it in my kit because I am unnaturally attached to this thing! I couldn't tell you how much I paid for this, but they do a similar brush, the Round Buffing Brush for £26. It's wider and denser than this one, but looks to be the closest to the old highlighter brush. If anyone knows where I can get a dupe, or if you spot one on a selling site anywhere PLEASE let me know!
