Fool-proof Makeup Brushes

I thought I would do a quick post on the makeup brushes that I use, as I have come to depend on them a lot and sometimes it can be difficult to tell the good from the bad, and even if you should use any at all. I should add that makeup brushes aren’t imperative to applying your makeup well – if you get by perfectly fine without them, then crack on. But sometimes they can make a really big difference. The below are all from Real Techniques, which I’m really impressed with, and you can’t really go wrong with them. The brand is by Samantha and Nicola Chapman, who also run the hugely popular Pixiwoo Makeup Channel – check it out, it’s great for makeup ideas and how-to’s; also give their story a read, it’s really interesting.

Their makeup brushes are synthetic, so if you’re looking for animal cruelty-free brushes, these are fab; and they’re really affordable (for makeup brushes). I’ve put more detail about the individual brushes below, along with links and UK prices. The other bonus for me with is that they’re widely available in the UK and Samantha and Nicola Chapman provide online videos to show you how best to use the brushes for maximum effect.

• Powder Brush – This brush is perfect to use with setting powder or loose powder, and I also use it for bronzer as it’s got lovely large bristles which are perfect for swirling in bronzer and sweeping across the forehead and cheekbones. This is approx. £10.99.
• Blush Brush – This was a recent purchase and I’m really pleased with it. I use it with the Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher and it’s fab because it doesn’t pick up too much product so you can easily build up the colour and avoid that “Oh my God I look like a clown” moment. It’s really soft and blends the colour really well. This is approx. £9.99.
• Buffing Brush – I purchased this, along with the Pointed Foundation Brush, Buffing Brush and Detailer Brush in their four-piece Core Collection set, which is a great starter kit if you’re just starting to use makeup brushes, which is great value at approx. £20.99. this brush is best to use with powder foundations which I don’t use so much at the moment, but it’s very good if this is your preferred foundation of choice as it blends beautifully.
• Contour Brush –  Part of the Core Collection set, this contour brush has worked brilliantly for me. My skin doesn’t take too well to contouring powders/blonzer under the cheekbone, I’m not too sure why but it often goes patchy; but this brush is one of the only ones that I have found which alleviates the problem.
• Pointed Foundation Brush – Again part of the Core Collection, this brush I don’t use so much currently but it is really good for using with liquid foundation and building up the coverage as much as you want. I have to admit that I am now using the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge (approx. £5.99) to do my liquid foundation, but I have found that some foundations work best with brushes, so I do still use the Buffing Brush from time to time. I will do a separate post on the Complexion Sponge, which is a brilliant and cheaper alternative to the famous ‘Beauty Blender’ sponge.
• Setting Brush – Another recent purchase, I was looking for a small brush to use with setting/loose powder that would just gently set my foundation in specific areas, namely under my eyes (but not too much to avoid caking), around my nose and on my chin and forehead. I like being able to target specific areas with a smaller brush as otherwise I find sweeping the powder over my face causes it to collect and look ‘cakey’ so I just gently use a stippling motion to dab the powder onto specific parts of the face and it looks undetectable.  This is approx. £7.99.
• Shading Brush – This is to use when applying eyeshadow to help contour and shade to create different effects (their how-to videos for this are really useful). I have been using the Becca Eye Colour Blender Brush 103 (review here) more recently, but this is still a really good brush for blending. It’s approx. £7.99.
• Detailer Brush – Part of the Core Collection set, you can use this brush with concealer or foundation on specific areas that you want a bit more coverage, like under the eyes or around the nose, as the cut of the bristles allows you to get into those corners and areas which are difficult to get product on. It can also be used as a with lipstick or lipgloss and could be a good alternative to using lipliner.
• And last but not least, the Silicone Liner Brush – which is great for high precision eye liner application if you use gel and cream eye liner in particular. It’s approx. £5.99.

There are a lot of other brushes, accessories and sets in the collection – these are just the ones that fit with my makeup routine 🙂