Iokelineee: All About Makeup Brushes!

(Essentials, Extras, How to Clean, and Brands I recommend)

Hello beauties,

In my inbox and comments I've been getting some questions on what makeup brushes I use and what type of brushes to use with specific kinds of makeup. I remember when I was barely getting into makeup, brushes were something that intimidated me because I was completely clueless about them.I never owned any, maybe besides a blush brush. I would wear powder foundation and those compact kits always came with an applicator. Let's be honest, those sponge applicators that come with palettes do NOTHING, do we even know why they still include them? My older sister is a professional makeup artist and with her help I don't know how I would of been this knowledgeable on brushes. I encourage anyone who is having trouble understanding what brushes to use for eyes, face, and other areas to keep reading my blog post.

I don't consider myself having an enormous amount of brushes if you compare them to a beauty guru's or a professional makeup artist. And to be honest, I don't like fussing over multiple brushes.. especially cleaning them, it's a pain in my existence. I also don't have the best or most expensive brushes out there either. What I will do is talk about the affordable brushes and more expensive brushes I have acquired over the years and how well they work with the makeup application.

Before I get into any of of my personal makeup brushes and preferences I want to share with you guys the essential brushes for beginners.

Essential Eye Brushes:

Flat Stiff Brush: This brush is used to pack eyeshadow on the lid. It needs to be flat in order to pack eyeshadow on top of your eye primer and it also needs to be stiff in order to pick up a lot of color.

Stiff Dome Brush: This brush is used to precisely apply eyeshadow on the crease. It's stiff, so it's not intended to blend the color, it's more useful to smudge color to create that feathered smokey look. Since it is stiff it's going to pick up a lot more color. The stiffer the bristles the darker the look.

Soft Dome Brush: This brush is known as the blending brush. It's meant to apply eyeshadow under your brown bone. Since the brush is soft it's going to give you a very light and airy finish. You can use this in the crease if you don't want anything to dark, or you can use this brush with no eyeshadow to just blend the eyeshadow already on your eye lids. The softer the bristle the softer and more feathered the color will look.

Pencil Brush: This brush is intended to smudge the lower eyeliner for a smoker and softer look. You can even use it to define your outer v or to give your eyeshadow look a stronger crease.

Essential Face Brushes

*these are somewhat optional depending on what type of products you use on your face but more or likely they are key for face application

Foundation Stippling Brush: These brushes are stiff and the bristles are shorter that allow your foundation to have a very air brush finish. Stippling brushes that have longer bristles tend to leaves streaks of your foundation on your face. Look for a stippling brush where the bristles are more compacted.

Angled Blush Brush: This brush is used to apply powdered blush to the apples of your cheeks. The bristles need to be soft in order for it to not pick up a lot of product. Your blush needs to come off as natural so the softer the more airy your blush will turn out. It needs to be angled in order the the blush to blend back to your temple.

Foundation/Concealer Brush: This is the most common type of face brush. This is used to apply liquid foundation but I think this should be an essential face brush for concealer. It's flat and pointed that allows you to get all those nooks and crannies.

Kabuki Brush: This brush is used to apply setting powder on the face after foundation is applied. It's a great buffer for your makeup look. If you're into mineral foundation this brush can also be your foundation applicator. Make sure to tap off excess product before applying it to your face since this brush can get a little messy.

Non-Essential but Brushes I HIGHLY recommend:

Beauty Blender: I highly recommend this sponge because it works as the best face applicator that I have ever came across. It's great for applying foundation, concealer, and even powder. The sponge applicator is best used went damp. The rounder part of the sponge is useful for applying liquid foundation while the pointier part of the sponge is perfect for applying concealer under the eyes. This leaves an airbrush finish.

Contour Blush: For the ladies who are into contouring their cheekbones and temples this brush is something crucial to keep around. Make sure to have a brush that isn't too soft but isn't stiff either. You want it to be able to pick up a good amount of product but make sure to not leave the contour line looking harsh on your face. Blend Blend Blend.

Acrylic Dual Angle and Spoolie Brush: I recommend this brush because it's basically two brushes in one. The acrylic angle is helpful to apply gel eyeliner when creating the cat winged look. It also great at applying shadow on your eyebrows. The spoolie tams your eyebrows and makes them go in one direction making it easier to apply eyeshadow. The spoolie is useful for blending that eyebrow shadow as well. You can also use it to separate your eyelashes before applying mascara. This dual brush is VERY versatile so I highly recommend it.

Fan Brush: Many people ask me what exactly this brush is for and it wasn't until recently till I discovered how versatile this brush is. As I explained previously, softer bristles in brushes will apply the color softer on your face. This brush is perfect for applying a highlighter powder on the high points of your face or for lightly applying bronzer and blush. I also use the brush to remove excess eyeshadow from under my eyes.

Brush Brands and Brush Sets I Recommend

I'm not going to sit hear and pretend like I have some high quality ass makeup brushes (MAC & Sigma) but I don't have no cheap ones either (Forever 21, Dollar Store, ELF). I don't recommend buying cheap makeup brushes because they will not do your makeup justice. If you don't want to spend a lot of money on brushes like you would by buying MAC, MakeupGeek, or Sigma brushes than you have to be smart. I will talk about some makeup brush brands I highly recommend that are inexpensive but great quality.

Real Techniques: http://realtechniques.com

*Out of all the brands I will mention this one is the most expensive one out of all of them. If you buy there sets (they have a variety) you will be saving a lot of money. These are also the highest quality out of most of the brushes I will talk about.

Real Techniques: Core Collection $18

Detailer Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush, Buffing Brush, Contour Brush

+ the Panoramic Brush Case

Real Techniques: Travel Essentials $18

Essential foundation brush, Multitask Brush,

Domed Shadow Brush, + the Panoramic Brush Case

Real Techniques: Starter Set $18

Base Shadow Brush, Delux Crease Brush, Accent Brush

Fine Liner Brush, Brow Brush, + the Panoramic

Brush Case

BH Costmetics: http://www.bhcosmetics.com

*Not only do they have great quality and inexpensive brushes, they also have a lot of the other makeup products that are amazing as well. If you're a makeup beginner and are in a small budget, I highly recommend this website.

I have this makeup brush set, I LOVE IT

BH Cosmetics: 10 Piece Deluxe Makeup Brush Set (wood color)

Original Price: $40.00

ON SALE NOW FOR $27.00

three face brushes, 3 eyeshadow brushes, a spoolie, two angled brushes, and pencil brush

BH Cosmetics: 12 Piece Pink Brush Set

Original Price: $25.00

ON SALE NOW FOR $10.00

dual sided brow and lash brush, spoolie, skinny eyeliner brush, fine eyeliner brush,

angled eyeliner brush, smudge brush, fan brush, flat eyeliner brush, small eyeshadow brush,

eyeshadow brush, blush brush, and powder brush

Coastal Scents: http://www.coastalscents.com

* I saved the best for last. I actually have the brush set I am going to be raving about. I bought this makeup brush set when I only had maybe 8 brushes to my collection. I felt like I didn't have enough eyeshadow brushes (I was getting into doing my eyeshadow finally) and not enough face brushes either. I didn't hear about how amazing these brushes where by vloggers or anyone in particular. I was just on Amazon one day looking for a brush set that had great reviews. People said they were really good and the price was crazy cheap for how many brushes you got. I decided "why not?!" and purchased them. So far.... the best decision I have made in my life. Maybe if these brushes weren't that great I would have invested in more expensive makeup brushes but these honestly are good enough for me. I promise you THEY WON'T disappoint.

Coastal Scents: 22 Piece Brush Set

Original Price: $60

ON SALE NOW FOR $35 (Click to View)

Large Fan (Synthetic), Powder Buffer (Synthetic), Round Powder (Synthetic), Flat Buffer (Synthetic), Angle Blush (Goat Hair), Foundation (Fiber Hair), Concealer (Nylon Hair), Large Shadow (Pony Hair), Blender (Pony Hair), Doe Foot Blender (Pony Hair), Dome Shadow (Pony Hair), Dome Blender (Pony Hair), Medium Shadow (Pony Hair), Detail Shadow (Pony Hair), Lip (Pony Hair), Detail Concealer (Fiber Hair), Pointed Blender (Pony Hair), Brow (Pony Hair), Smudger Sponge (Rubber), Large Liner / Brow (Nylon Hair), Medium Liner/Brow (Nylon Hair), Small Liner / Brow (Nylon Hair) + Stylish Leatherine Brush Case

I recently saw a video on these makeup brushes by a vlogger and professional makeup artist I follow on Youtube named "Crisspy" (she's amazing you guys should check her out). I think her video explains how well and amazing these makeup brushes really are and that's coming from a professional makeup artist. She mentions how they're on sale for $20 but I checked the website for you guys and unfortunately they are sold out. Here's the video, I hope you enjoy it!

Makeup Brushes I Personally Have and Highly Recommend:

Besides my coastal scents brushes, I have a variety of other brushes that I use on the daily (some even more often then the ones above). This aren't by any means cheap but they are brushes I've worked hard to get. Let me share with you some of my ALL-TIME favorites.

1. SEPHORA COLLECTION: Pro Angled Blush Brush #49 $32 (Click to View)

2. SEPHORA COLLECTION: Pro Fan Brush #65 $27 (Click to View)

3. SEPHORA PROFESSIONNEL:Classic All Over Shadow Brush- Small #22 $20 (Click to View)

4. SEPHORA COLLECTION: Pro Stippling Brush #44 $35 (Click to View)

5. SEPHORA COLLECTION: Pro Shadow Brush #14 $20 (Click To View)

6. SEPHORA COLLECTION: Pro Crease Brush #10 $22 (Click To View)

7. SEPHORA PROFESSIONNEL: Classic Blending Eye Brush #29 $20 (Click to View)

8. BELLAPIERRE: Concealer Brush #16 $25 (Click to View)

9. BELLAPIERRE: Eyeliner/Brow Brush #18 $13 (Click to View)

10. E.L.F: Essential Foundation Brush $1 (Click to View)

11. E.L.F: Essential Eye Shadow Brush $1 (Click to View)

12. Sonia Kashuk: Core Tools Small Duo Fibre Multipurpose Brush #124 $11 (Click to View)

13. Real Techniques: Foundation Brush $8 (Click to View)

14. Urban Decay: Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush $25 (Click to View)

15. Make Up For Ever: Foundation Kabuki Brush $48 (Click to View)

16. ICING: Bamboo Long Kabuki Brush $8.50 (Click To View)

Prior to writing this blog, I used to think I didn't have a lot of makeup brushes but now that I am forced to overview my whole collection I am proud to say this collection has grown. I am so proud :-) it's like a mother giving birth to their children. Haha

CLEANING YOUR BRUSHES

Okay, NOW time for the part that no one likes.. lol. So there are really expensive brush cleaners out in the market... that I will not discuss. I will just share with you guys the stuff I use to clean my brushes that work just as well.
So for spot cleaning: I put 70% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle and spay some of that in a towel and quickly massage my brushes on the towel. This easily removes product from the brush. (just don't apply makeup on your face with that brush right after).

For cleaning your brushes heavy duty I use dishwasher soap and olive oil. Dishwasher soap removes the makeup and olive oil keeps your brushes soft. I recommend you cleaning your brushes like this once a week.

Here's a picture I took from Pinterest that demonstrates exactly what I mean:

I should mention the Sigma Spa- Brush Cleaning Glove that I plan on purchasing soon. (Click to View) This just makes cleaning so much easier. It's currently on retail for $35

This video demonstrates what this product does: