Make up collection: Brushes

I grew up using nothing but sponge tip applicators that came with the product to apply my make up. Ever since I became more and more interested in make up, I quickly learned that you can do so much more as long as you have the right brush to do it. You can have the prettiest and most pigmented eyeshadows, but with the wrong brush even the best make up can look bad. The most essential part of applying make up isn’t the make up you have, but it’s the tool you use to apply it with that make all the difference: brushes! Here are mine. I will list my favorites as we go along.

Concealer, eyeliner & lip brushes

From left to right: Sigma Concealer F75, Sigma Flat Definer E15, Small Eye Liner E10, HEMA angled brush, The Body Shop Lip/ Concealer brush, HEMA lip brush.

My favorites are the Sigma E15 and the HEMA angled brushes. The flat definer brush is great for tightlining your upper lash line and the angled brush I use most for putting on gel eyeliner and the other one I use for my brows.

Eyeshadow & Blending brushes

From left to right: Sephora Smudger brush, Urban Decay Eyeshadow brush, The Body Shop Eyeshadow brush, HEMA eyeshadow brush, Sephora All Over Shadow brush, ELF angled eyeshadow brush, HEMA blending brush, Sigma Tapered Blending E40.

I already featured the Sigma E40 in my favorite make up products of 2011 list, so that is a definite favorite. I use it to blend shadows. The HEMA one I use mostly to apply eyeshadow that I only want to smoke out etc. My other most used brushes are the ones from Sephora: the All over Shadow and Smudger brushes are amazing. The All over Shadow brush is great at what the name tells you it will do and the smudger is great for applying eyeshadow on the lower lash line.

Crease eyeshadow brushes

From top to bottom: ELF eyeliner brush, Sigma Small Tapered Blending E45, Sigma Pencil Brush E30, Sephora Sponge Tip Shadow Applicator

I like using these brushes for the more precise work: applying eyeshadow to my crease or upper & lower lash lines. I prefer the E45 over the E30 as the E30 gives more of a line than the E45 does. I don’t like having any harsh lines in my looks as it makes my eyes look even more sunken in so that’s why. The ELF eyeliner brush sucks at applying eyeliner, but it’s great for applying eyeshadow to the lashline.

Face brushes

From left to right: ELF kabuki brush, ELF fan brush, ELF Comlexion Brush, The Body Shop Powder Brush, Sigma Duo Fibre F50

From this bunch I mainly use the kabuki, fan and powder brush. I use the ELF Kabuki brush for applying my face powder, the fan brush for applying a highlight and the powder brush for applying bronzer. I don’t really like the complexion brush as it is very dense, but it works fine for applying sheer blushes. The Duo Fibre brush works great, but since I stopped using liquid foundations it’s not being used all that often anymore.

Blush brushes

From left to right: Sephora Angled Blush brush, Sigma Duo Fibre Powder/ Blush F15, The Body Shop Blusher brush

I use all three of these brushes on a regular basis. I use the angled one for contouring, the duo fibre one for cream blushes and the blusher brush I use for all regular powder blushes.

Brushes I don’t use

From left to right: The Body Shop Smudger brush, The Body Shop Foundation brush, HEMA powder brush, ELF Powder brush

I really don’t use these brushes, but for some reason I can’t get myself to throw them out. I find something wrong with each one of them: too coarse, unpractical, too dense, you name it. But honestly, how could I throw out that awesome looking pink bristled powder brush?

As you can see: no MAC brushes, but plenty of Sigma, ELF and Sephora brushes. There’s even a stray one from HEMA. My favorites are mainly the Sigma and Sephora brushes. With ELF it’s a bit hit or miss: their studio line brushes are pretty good quality, whereas their regular line brushes are not really worth buying. The same goes for HEMA actually. Their eyeliner and blending brush are great, the rest: not so much.

Do you use make up brushes to apply your make up? What are your favorites?