I'm on the road right now, and since I
have all this time on my hands I thought I would share with everyone
my makeup brush collection! I've reached a point where I'm quite
content with what I own in terms of versatility of brush shapes and
sizes . You might notice that I own mostly MAC brushes. I like their
quality, wide variety, and affordability compared to other higher
end brands.
Anyway, here we go with an overview of my collection!
Eye Brushes:
Sonia Kashuk Small Multipurpose Powder Brush is a fluffy blending brush. It is the same length as the MAC 224 but much more dense and fluffier. Since it is quite large for the eye, I like to use it for powdering after concealer under my eyes, around my nose or on spots. Sometimes I'll use it to blend my brow highlight with my crease colour. You could even use this brush to contour your nose.
MAC 224 is a tapered blending brush. It has long, soft bristles which makes it amazing for blending eyeshadow. In particular I like use use this brush for my crease.
MAC 217 is a high quality, all
purpose blending brush. It is probably a standard in most ladies
collection because it's dense enough to apply colour to the lid or
crease, but fluffy to blend with. A great beginners brush.
Sephora Blending Eye #29 is a short fluffy eye brush. The bristles are quite short so I don't think it is the best blending brush, but I really like it for cream shadows and undereye/ spot concealing. This is my go to concealer brush.
Royal & Langnickel Flat Smudger #C446 is a wide eyeshadow packing brush. It is a great shape for highlighting your eyebrows, or if you want to quickly sweep colour all over your lid. I often use the corners of this brush to apply my inner corner highlight too.
MAC 239 is a flat shader brush. I use it to pack shadow on my lid, or smudge out my lash line for a smoky effect.
Skin Food pencil brush. Skin Food is an Asian brand, I got this brush in Korea. I use it as an alternative brush to smudge out eye liner or shadow, and even to apply inner corner highlight.
MAC 266 is a short angled brush.
I mostly use it to fill in my brows, but it is also a sufficient eye liner
brush. However, I do prefer other brushes over this one because it somewhat tugs at my eye.
MAC 210 is a fine point liner
brush. It's purpose is for creating perfect gel liner looks. I used
to use the 266 for years for gel liner but this is so much more
precise.
Face/Cheek Brushes:
MAC 136 LE is a flat paddle shaped powder brush. I am so sad that this is limited edition because this is my favourite brush that I own. It's narrow shape makes it so versatile. I use it to apply powders, blush, or even bronzer.
MAC 138 is a tapered face brush. It basically can be used in place of the 136 even though they are very different shapes. I personally like to use this brush to apply my mineralized skin finishes or other pressed powders, or if I want to apply a lot of bronzer with a smooth application.
MAC 168 is an angled contour brush. This is my favourite brush to apply bronzer and blush. I like it because it's soft, and applies colour and blends well with a lot of control. It is also the perfect size since I often find cheek brushes are way too big.
MAC 109 is a small contour brush. It is another
versatile brush because it has a very small shape yet has densely
packed bristles that work with both wet and dry products. You could
use it to apply foundation, contour, blush or highlight. I personally
tend to use it for my cheekbones because I like to have an intense
highlight.
Royal & Langnickel Baby Dome #C180 is a small flat domed brush. I can use it for blush or bronzer, even though I prefer other brushes. Sometimes I'll buff in mineral powder with this brush if I want more coverage. This is basically my back up brush if my other brushes are dirty or not around me.
Sephora Bronzer #44 is a large
dense brush. It is used for heavy duty bronzing your skin. I like to
use this with NARS Laguna bronzer because it is not very pigmented on
me.
Foundation/Concealer Brushes:
MAC 187 is a duo fibre stippling
brush. It's main purpose is to apply foundation, but you could use it
for blush too. It is my favourite brush to use when I want a quick
yet flawless application. It is easier to use than the 109 or a
standard concealer looking foundation brush because it's less streaky
and covers a lot more surface area of your skin since it is much
larger. The only downside is that it soaks up a lot of product in
it's bristles.
Crown 427 Duo Fibre Blush brush. I think this is meant to be a blush brush, but I much prefer this as a foundation stippling brush. It's smaller than the MAC 187 and is slightly domed shaped so it is easier to work with if you have a small angular face like me. I also will use this brush for super pigmented blushes like NARS Taj Mahal, since duo fibred brushes help control over-applying makeup. My only complaint is that the quality of the brush handle is not great for Crown brushes. The joints are chipping and loose.
Cover FX Foundation brush. This
is I guess the classic foundation brush, although it is not my
personal preference. I would rather use the MAC 187 or 109 for every
day use because it is much quicker and less streakier. I do like this
brush for touching up smudges under my eye.
Laura Mercier Camouflage Powder is
a large flat concealing brush. Sometimes I use this to apply
eyeshadow bases but that is about it. It is a nice concealer brush
but I prefer fluffy synthetic brushes.
Royal & Langnickel Concealer #C210 is a small flat concealing brush. I'm weird and I like fluffy eyeshadow brushes for concealing and concealer brushes for my eyes. I really like this brush (over the MAC 266) for eyeshadow liner and for my brows. It also picks up gel liner quite well if you want a messier smokey eye.
Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage
is a fine point concealing brush. I mostly use this to erase mascara
smudges or to blend out concealer around a blemish.
And my top 5 brushes...
MAC 109, MAC 217, MAC 168,
Sonia Kashuk Small Multipurpose Powder+ MAC 136
Hope that was informative for you ladies!
- Alma
