8 Brushes You Need In Your Life

I am horrified to think that only a few short months ago, I had only one sad little eyeshadow brush in my makeup bag. Now I have a bag just for my brushes because they've taken over my makeup case! Good brushes do make a difference in how your makeup looks and they don't always have to be expensive to be good. Here's my list of the 8 Brushes You Need In Your Life:

1. Foundation Brush-This was the first brush that I bought in my makeup adventures. I have never looked back and I could not live without my foundation brush now. I just put a little foundation on my hand and dip my brush in that and onto my face. My favorite foundation brush is the Real Techniques Stippling Brush. It retails for $10 and I got mine from Amazon. A lot of people also like the Real Techniques Face Brush for foundation as well.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush

2. Concealer Brush-The same idea as the foundation brush applies here. If I am spot covering blemishes, I  use the pad of my ring finger. I use the concealer brush for larger areas, such as under my eyes and around my nose. I use the ELF Studio Concealer Brush and it retails for $3. Most larger Targets sell ELF products (unfortunately mine does not) but you can also find some ELF brushes at Dollar General or from the ELF site. I would not recommend getting ELF products from Amazon because you will end up paying more for them.

ELF Studio Concealer Brush

3. Blush Brush-I love love love my blush brush! It's soft and picks up color well. I hate those stiff, flat brushes that come with drugstore blush. A big, fluffy brush gives a much softer, more natural look. I have the Real Techniques Blush Brush. It retails for $9 and I got mine from Amazon.

Real Techniques Blush Brush

4. Powder Brush-You're going to get tired of me saying Real Techniques but they have the most affordable, awesome brushes. I have the Real Techniques Powder Brush. It is quite large and very soft. It feels like you are powdering your face with fluffy bunnies and cute kittens (don't worry, they are cruelty free!). It retails for $10 and, you guessed it, I got mine from Amazon.

Real Techniques Powder Brush

5. Small Angle Brush-A small angle brush can be used for a couple things. I use mine to fill in my eyebrows and to apply gel eyeliner. I also use it if I want to use eyeshadow as liner. If you are going to be using gel eyeliner with your brush, I'd recommend getting a second brush just for that purpose. You can find these anywhere and in a number of different brands. I have the Essence Gel Eyeliner Brush. I got it from Ulta.com because it was only $2 and I love it! I have found that the shorter the bristles are, the easier it is to use. That would  be my only recommendation on what to look for when looking for a small angle brush.

Essence Gel Eyeliner Brush

6. Blending Brush-Everyone loves a fluffy blending brush! You use this brush to blend your eyeshadow colors together and give it a more cohesive look. The characteristics of a blending brush are that the bristles are long and dome shaped so it lets you blend lightly. Some are fluffier than others but they all work the same. I just got the Eco Tools Blending Brush this week. It came in a five piece set that I got from Amazon for around $8. Before that I had been using the ELF Blending Brush, which was also really good and it retails for $1. I believe I got that one from Dollar General.

Eco Tools Blending Brush

7. Crease Brush-This brush is basically a larger, fluffier angled brush. In addition to the crease, you can also use it to apply shadow to your lid if you want. It does well for that because it is more densely packed than the blending brush. I use the Eco Tools Crease Brush that came from that same five piece set that the blending brush came in. These are also pretty readily available. I also have a POSH one that I picked up from K-Mart that I like a lot.

Eco Tools Crease Brush

8. Domed Shadow Brush-Last but not least is a shadow brush. I agonized over which one to pick if I could only pick one to apply shadow and I decided this one would be the most helpful. The domed shadow brush has short, densely packed bristles that are rounded at the top. This brush is particularly good for packing eyeshadow on your lid (that's what I use it for). I have the ELF Studio "C" Brush. It retails for $3. These are easy to find as well. I know ELF makes one in their essentials line for $1 that is pretty good also. I've seen those at Dollar General.

As you can see, I do not spend an exorbitant amount of money on brushes. Real Techniques, the ELF Studio line and Eco Tools are three awesome brands that make really good brushes. I wash my brushes weekly (at least once a week, if not more) and they have all held up really well. There is little to no shedding and they are soft (a major requirement in my opinion!). Naturally, I have a whole bag full of brushes that I love but if you are just starting out then I think this set will get you off to a good start. :)

Clearance and My new favorite find!

I would just like to mention that Sephora has some really great clearance right now. It looks like they are getting rid of their Tokidoki line and preparing for new things from their Buxom and Philosophy lines. Here are some of the things on my wish list:

1. Buxom Samantha's Smokey Eye (reg. $32, clearance $20)-This looks like a good little set with gloss, eyeliner, an eye brush and mascara.


2. Sephora Tricks of the Trade Anti-Shine Primer (reg. $18, clearance $5)-This is my primer! I said in an earlier post that they were out of stock but it looks like they've gotten it back! I highly recommend this primer.

3. Tokidoki Travel Palettes (reg. $10, clearance $6)-These are adorable. They have four eyeshadows and a blush in a tiny little travel size palette. I have one on order and I'm excited about it!

4. Makeup Forever La Boheme Baked Shadow Palette-(reg $39, clearance $25) AHH! I'm having mini-makeup fits over this one. I love the colors and I love baked shadows. You can wear them dry for a nice, soft look or wet them for something more dramatic. Makeup Forever is an amazing brand so this really is a steal. By the way, it's almost my birthday. (HINT HINT)

They have lots of other nice things, these are just my favorite. :)

Also, I got in my E.L.F order today that I was so excited about. I have been dying to try their High Definition Powder! Makeup Forever makes an AMAZING one but I was looking for a cheaper alternative and I think I've found it! It doesn't make my face quite as soft as the MUF brand but other than that, there is very little difference except for the price. $6 vs. $32! Now, my gripes...it is very messy, as with all loose powders. I'm a little more apt to not care about wasting the E.L.F. kind. :) Also, it took a full two weeks to get my order! I was not very pleased with E.L.F. and their service. I think I'm going to check my local Target to see if I can get my E.L.F. products there from now on. Overall, I'm super pleased though.

Brushes

Brushes are essential to good makeup application! Again, this is something that I learned quite recently. The best part of this is that you can get some really great brushes for not a lot of money!

My absolute favorite brand is Real Techniques. Real Techniques is a line of brushes designed by Samantha Chapman. Most of the brushes retail for around $10. They are literally the softest, most wonderful face brushes I've ever owned. I use the Stippling Brush for my foundation, the Powder Brush for my loose powder and the Blush Brush for blush. They are definitely worth the $10 and honestly, I would pay more now that I've used them. One thing though...the face brushes are excellent but there isn't really a big selection of eye brushes and what they have is just okay.

My next favorite set of brushes is by Posh. I have the Dual Ended Set which I picked up at K-Mart for around $12-$14. It's an awesome little set that I use every day. It has all my go to brushes for applying eye makeup. It also comes with a cute little case that protects your brushes, which I find really handy. They tend to get all messed up just thrown in your makeup bag.

I also have a few E.L.F. brushes. These are so cheap and they have quite a few really good brushes. I specifically use the blending eye brush every day. It's soft and nice and does the job. I hear tons of good things about E.L.F. brushes and for $1-$5 each, you can get one for everything! I know they sell them at Target and Dollar General, as well as on the website.

I've also used some Ecotools brushes. They are very popular and you can pick them up at Target, Walmart, Walgreens...very accessible. They are nice and soft and are Earth friendly. They donate 1% of sales to green charities every year. They retail from around $5 for a single brush to $15 or so for a set.

The last line of brushes that I'm familiar with are from Avon. I sold Avon for a while and picked up some brushes there. They have some good eye brushes, mostly in their Mark line. These brushes are reasonably priced from about $5-10, sometimes less if you can catch them on sale. You can order online from Avon now, which I love, because you don't need to go through a rep and you can get your things directly to your house.

There are, of course, higher end brushes that I could mention but I'm happy with my "cheap" set. You can check out Sephora for the higher end brushes and Ulta for brushes of all prices.