Beginner's guide to makeup brushes
Make-up brushes are a lot like fancy cutlery - there are a lot of them but you may only know what one or two are actually for. And unfortunately with make-up brushes you can’t just start with the smallest one and work your way in. There are so many brushes and so many uses that it can be quite daunting and hard to know where to start. But once you learn it’s definitely worth it, so let’s begin with a list of the most common make-up brushes and their uses.
Foundation Brush
As the name suggests, this brush is designed for applying liquid foundation. Foundation brushes have tightly packed bristles of varying lengths to help achieve a smooth, non-streaky finish. You can apply foundation to your face and then use the brush to spread and blend or alternatively apply your foundation directly to the brush and then apply to the face, starting at the nose and working your way out. I find the second method uses less product and allows for a more precise application. If you’re not sure whether a foundation brush purchase is worth it, consider the following points:
1. It’s more hygienic.
2. It applies your foundation more evenly and precisely.
3. You don’t waste any foundation on your fingers.
4. You don’t have to wash your hands afterwards.
Powder Brush
The powder brush is one of the largest make-up brushes and has a wide variety of purposes. It is soft, full and rounded, allowing it to easily pick up powdered products. You can use it to distribute powder evenly to large areas, such as the face, neck and décolletage. Simple pat the brush into your powder product, dust off any excess and apply using sweeping and circular motions. If you’re a big fan of bronzer, this brush is a must.
Stippling Brush
A stippling brush, also known as a duo-fibre brush or skunk brush is a multi-purpose brush that is most commonly used with liquid foundation, blush and bronzer. The black bristles are tightly packed together and usually made out of animal hair. Poking out above these are the white bristles, generally made from synthetics.
The flat, circular, feathery head provides lightweight and buildable coverage that won’t remove any of the make-up you’ve already applied, so it’s perfect for layering. Intrigued by this funky looking brush? So were we! You can read more about how to use it in our stippling brush blog.
Concealer Brush
This brush may be little, but when used correctly the impact it makes can be huge. We’re always told to pat in concealer not rub, but this can be difficult when applying with your fingers. Use this brush to gently pat on your concealer for smooth and flawless coverage. Whether it’s dark circles under your eyes, spots or discoloration, this nifty little brush will give you more control over those annoying imperfections.
Blusher Brush
That’s right you guessed it, a blusher brush is used for applying your blush. The blusher brush is made with fine, gentle fibres with a soft rounded head. It’s ideal for applying powdered colour to the apples of your cheeks and blending it up along your cheekbone. Don’t forget to smile so you can locate them better!
Contour Brush
Remember that handy blog about contouring and highlighting? Well this is the brush that can help you achieve it. The slanted bristles are intended to mimic the angle of your cheekbones, so it’s perfect for blending, highlighting and shading using a bronzer or illuminating powder.
Eye Base Brush & Angle Eye Shadow brush
There are many different types of eye shadow brushes, but these two are the most commonly used. The eye base brush is used to apply colour to your entire eyelid. It’s wide, flat and short, with a bevelled edge to allow smooth application without pulling on the eyelid. Once a base colour has been applied, the angled eye shadow brush or contour eye shadow brush is then used for layering colour and creating hard lines along the eyelid crease.
Smudger Brush
Sometimes found on the other end of an eye pencil, a smudger brush is ideal for softening hard lines and creating a smoldering look. The dome shaped bristles are shaped to fit perfectly into the crease of the eye and is a must-have for creating smokey eyes.
Lip Brush
A lip brush is a great way to achieve a perfect line when you don’t have a lip liner handy (or can’t find the right colour). The sculpted tip of the lip brush allows for precise application and lining of the lip, while the short and firm bristles gives flawless overall coverage. It’s also a more hygienic way to apply lipstick if you tend to share with housemates, friends or sisters.
Recommended brushes:
3. ARTISTE Stippling Brush #17
4. Bobbi Brown Concealer Brush
5. The Body Shop Blusher Brush
6. MAC Large Angled Contour Brush 168
7. GLO MINERALS Eye Base Brush
8. Natio Angle Eye Shadow Brush
9. ARTISTE Rounded Smudge Brush #29
10. Avon Retractable Lip Brush
Do you use make-up brushes to apply your make-up? What is your hero brush?
Have you tried any of the products mentioned above?
Review them now to earn points that you can swap for free beauty products in RewardsRoom.
215 Member Comments
Great ideas, but I'm just using like 3 or 4 brushes for my basic makeup. I would like learn more
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So many of these I haven't got and have thought about purchasing. But a lot of the times if you're on a budget you can definitely use one brush for many other uses. Of course it depends on what you're using the brush for because a lot of the times you'd have to clean it if you're using a powder brush for blush and powder etc
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I Love Eye Base Brush & Angle Eye Shadow brushes for my eyes
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I have several Nude by Nature brushes which are great to use. I also have a set of brushes which are used for various lines of products for makeup application.
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I have several Nude by Nature brushes which are great to use. I also have a set of brushes which are used for various lines of products for makeup application.
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I have several Nude by Nature brushes which are great to use. I also have a set of brushes which are used for various lines of products for makeup application.
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No. Even though did acquire some brushes, using them is another story. Still prefer fingers
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I started off buying individual brushes - that was kind of expensive. I also bought a complete set of about ten brushes for a fraction of the cost of buying them individually. I love them.
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Very informative article definitely don't have that many brushes, guess I need to buy some more.
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I'm a makeup brush hoarder and I've just started collecting and the best and easiest and most affordable way to build your brush collection up is to join the Morphe brush club you get any where from 3-8 brushes a month for only 20 a month do far just I'm the 3 months of being a member I have gotten 7 brushes and this next order I am getting 6 brushed, I can't wait it's so exciting to get these and using them as soon as they come in. They also have A Lippie and a Shadow club.
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Real Techniques have some really good brushes available.
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so helpful this article has already taught me what is what to start out with
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I need more brushes...
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I'm definitely reliant on brushes, I can't say I've ever used my fingers to apply makeup. I love pretty much all my Real Techniques brushes!
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Great article. . I still like my fingers though!
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A brush for every product!
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good legit reasons but we have been getting away with using fingers to apply make up so .. .what gives?
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I now love bronzer lol after I am using a proper brush for it, and a loose powder brush, i now don't resemble an orange clown
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I cannot tell you how much this would have helped me out a few years ago!
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I like this article. Even though being a pro makeup artist for 10+ years I can still learn more and more brush techniques. Endless possibilities
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This was an excellent article even though I don't use many brushes.
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I have so many brush sets and don't know how to use any of them
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I really liked this article, it was so handy especially now there's so many on the market nowadays
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This is actually super useful!
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