Makeup brushes are vital to our beauty regime – we hear all about the importance of cleaning them and using them properly. It’s a lot like table etiquette in that you want to be prim and proper about it, but sometimes you’re not sure what each tool is for!
I’ve created this quick “brush-up” on the types of makeup brushes you should have on your vanity table, and what each one is for. Every rani needs to be prepared to look her best whenever she wants to!
1. Foundation Brush
The bristles on this brush are close-together to apply liquid foundation evenly on your skin, and the tapered end helps the coverage to go on smoothly. Dip the brush into your foundation, wipe off any excess, and apply it in small strokes to your skin. This brush isn’t ideal for blending, but it’s a necessity for the first step in your makeup routine.
Make sure you clean this brush out with warm water after every use, so that your last makeup application doesn’t stay behind!
2. Powder Brush
The wide, loose-bristled powder brush will apply any face powder or bronzer to your skin in bursts of color. The soft feel of this brush is ticklish, but it also helps to apply the powder evenly to your skin. Dip the brush in powder, tap off any excess, and apply the makeup to your skin in a light, circular motion. The rounded nature of the brush will ensure the powder transfers easily to your skin.
3. Blusher Brush
This brush is similar to the foundation brush, but has softer bristles and is wider in shape. This is so that the bristles are soft enough to distribute powder, but tightly-packed enough so that you can control the application to a certain area.
Use this brush by dipping it in your cream/powder blush and dabbing it in small circles onto your skin. It’s best to use the blush right before you apply your face powder so that it’s sealed in.
4. Eyeshadow Brush
The eyeshadow brush is rounded, but tight-bristled so that it can pick up more pigmented color and transfer it to your eyelids. The small brush is just the right size to apply eyeshadow to the concentrated area of your eyes.
Make sure you shake off any excess powder when you use this brush with eyeshadow – if you don’t have an even amount of powder on the brush, your eyeshadow will come out uneven!
5. Eyeliner Brush
An eyeliner brush is thin, soft, and tiny – just the right size to draw a precise liner on your eyelids! Use this brush with a gel or liquid eyeliner by dipping it in the liner, wiping off excess, and painting a thin line above your top eyelashes.
While many women prefer liner pencil, a liquid eyeliner is glamorous and old-school gorgeous in its own right!
These brushes get dirty easily, especially if the eyeliner isn’t washed off after every use!
6. Smudger Brush
This brush isn’t really a brush since it doesn’t have bristles, but its porous material is sturdy enough to give you your dreamy smoky eye! It’s pretty simple to use: just wait until your eyeliner is mostly dry (you may not have to wait if you’re using a liner pencil) and then gently smudge the eye line you drew ever so slightly. The best place to smudge your liner is near the waterline and towards your outer eye.
Be careful not to overdo it! These brushes can smudge more than intended, so use a light touch to get the look you desire.
BFIW Recommends: The Body Shop Smudger Brush
7. Lip Brush
A lip brush is often half the length of the other makeup brushes and has thin, soft bristles similar to an eyeliner brush. The lip brush can be dipped in lipstick, gloss, or stain and applied evenly to your lips to color them however you like!
While it’s simple to use on almost any lip product, the brush can get dirty and collect colors very fast – so make sure it wash it with warm water after every use!
BFIW recommends: The Body Shop Lipstick/Concealer Brush
8. Kabuki Brush
The dense bristles and short hairs on this brush create a soft, fanning effect that spread loose powder (foundation, blush, etc.) evenly across your face. This brush can be used for different types of makeup. It creates broad, circular strokes that helps to apply makeup quickly.
Many kabuki brushes today feature synthetic hairs instead of animal hairs that are traditionally used, so you can buy whatever suits you!
The BFIW recommends: The Body Shop Slanted Kabuki Brush
9. Fan Brush
These brushes look like a lot of fun – and they are! This brush is used for applying bronzer or any highlighting powder to your cheekbones. The wide range of the brush allows you to sweep side to side over your cheekbones and get the desired emphasis.
BFIW recommends: Sephora Pro Fan Brush #65
My personal recommendation is to buy a brush set to get started and then update the ones you use often to meet your specific needs.
Some great brush kits include Sephora’s Tools of the Trade Kit, which has every brush you could possibly need!
I also love the bareMinerals brushes that usually come with their foundation kits. They don’t sell brushes in kits usually, but once you’ve found your favorite type of brush, the high quality of bareMinerals is worth the investment.
BFIW recommends: Full flawless face brush
Navigating the world of makeup is pretty complicated nowadays, with all the products advertised at us wherever we look. No matter what our favorite brands or makeup products are, it’s important to start with the basics of brushes. Using the right brush properly will enhance whatever product you’ve chosen to bring out your beauty!
That first picture is almost completely wrong. The angled brush is not for eye-shadow (it’s used to fill in eyebrows or blend eye-pencil/shadow on the lash line), the ‘foundation’ brush is actually for blusher/powder, and the ‘blusher’ brush is for foundation.
That aside, I love Body Shop make up brushes. Great value for money and professional quality.
You could be right! The angled eyeshadow/eye brow brushes look pretty similar and the picture is a bit unclear!
As for the foundation/blush ones – they are a bit misleading, since we couldn’t find a picture that shows their most common forms! Honestly, I find the feathery brushes interchangeable for most mineral powders 🙂