what are the best brushes for applying mineral makeup? (Especially mineral foundation)

  I just recently began using mineral makeup, and so far I've just been using some old powder and blush brushes I have lying around to apply it. The brushes aren't very good quality though, and the bristles are actually a little stiff (I'm not sure if stiff bristles are a recommended thing or not for applying mineral makeup.) I have a feeling that my brushes may be picking up too much product and depositing too much product on my face all at once. The makeup I'm using is quite expensive too, so I don't want to "waste" any of it.

  So..I was just wondering: what brushes do you guys all use? Or, what brushes would you recommend the most? (Especially for applying mineral foundation, concealer, blush and bronzer.)

I LOVE the one I got from Coastalscents.com.  No shedding, big surface and super soft.  I have had 1 for a year and half with not shedding and I clean it every week.

Bionic Wide Buffer Brush.  

For beginners I'd recommend round brushes (a soft synthetic kabuki for instance, providing lighter coverage - at the beginning everyone tends to over-apply) and when the technique is mastered, a flat top. Cheapest such one available is e.l.f. Studio powder brush.

Okay.... I'm into this thread. I use mineral foundations often, but use mineral blushes and eyeshadows even more. What are good brushes for blush and eyeshadows that will apply the powder without a TON of fall out? Any ideas?

I'm partial to the Ecotools Mineral Powder brush. It always worked really well for me and I didn't feel like it had a lot of fallout. They sell Ecotools at Walgreens and Rite Aid. As I recall the brush was $8

I feel natural bristles handle loose pigments better but I have opted the practice to start with my eyes and leave foundation last. Loose piggies=fallout.

A small, flat, stiff eyeshadow brush is what I find best (think MAC 239), because you can really press your minerals into it.

The technique I use is to pick up a bit of pigment on my brush - very little will go a long way - then I push my brush against the lid several times to lock the pigment in the brush, and finally I tap off any excess against the edge of the lid. 

A good primer is a must in my opinion, it will help the pigments adhere to your lid. When you apply the shadow to the lid use a pressing rather than sweeping motion.

For blush I use the MAC small contouring brush, as I don't like big blush brushes. I use the same technique - pick up, press, tap.

For whatever reason I prefer the dome shaped kabuki's

Try the Pur Minerals Powder Makeup Brush. Granted, it's the only one I've tried but I love it. Not a lot of powder falls off it, but the shape makes it easy to get in my face's contours. It's super soft and I love it. I've been into ordering stuff from www.ebeauty.ca the past few months so I got it from there awhile ago. I know they have free shipping right now if you buy more than $25 so I guess if you buy something else small you can have it delivered straight to your house free instead of looking in the stores for it. Hope that helps /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

http://bit.ly/rlEtfM

I agree.  Kabuki brushes for mineral foundation are great.

I actually apply my mineral foundation with a powder puff, applied to my cheek area, then spread it out with a kabuki brush. For my mineral shadows (ELF) I use the mineral brushes that came with the sets I bought at Target back in the spring.

I've found that a nice soft kabuki brush is great for applying mineral foundation. It has to be good quality (therefore, be willing to pay a bit more) so that it doesn't loose it's bristles all over your face. Nothing more annoying than that! I've also found that applying mineral concealer/corrector with a kabuki just does not work! I tried to brush it on over my red checks, nose, chin (mild rosacea) but it didn't cover anywhere NEAR as well as my concealer brush! I used a high quality concealer brush and it goes on like magic - at least with the mineral makeup brand I use! The best thing I've ever found!

tracy973

Originally Posted by divadoll /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I LOVE the one I got from Coastalscents.com.  No shedding, big surface and super soft.  I have had 1 for a year and half with not shedding and I clean it every week.

Bionic Wide Buffer Brush.  

Click to expand...

My wife had a brush like this before and she still has more of this now. She uses it more often when applying make up as well as my daughter. Don't know why but the brush looks good though and they have used it to me twice this week so am familiar with it.

I use a kabuki brush by Ruby & Millie. Kabuki's are the best thing for applying mineral foundation in my opinion. I think e.l.f do one really cheap.

I don't have a lot of experience with mineral makeup in general yet. I did get some Vichy Mineral Foundation Powder and it came with a small kabuki brush (See pic below - sorry for the overly brightness of the pic).



I know that the person who helped me find this makeup said that she didn't use this brush. She did use it on me though, it seems to be natural haired bristles and its not very dense. She buffed it into my skin and blended it out.

I want to see what brushes I find at IMATS Toronto next month as there will be many brush sellers there for me to ask their opinion on the subject and many brushes for me to choose from! I know that some makeup artists say that for mineral makeup you should use natural hair brushes and you can tell by the musky scent on the hairs. Gossmakeup artist has a vid on youtube about brushes and the correct way to apply powder. 

I personally would like to try the flat-top kabuki from Sigma as all the reviews I've watched seem to be in consensus about that particular brush being the best to apply all foundations, liquid, powder and mineral. Hopefully I will find more at IMATS Toronto!

I also use that huge, synthetic, flat top one from Coastal Scents. It's super dense, so holds onto your mineral foundatÄ«on. It's also soft as a baby's bum, which makes buffinyour minerals out super easy and leaves a nice finish. Have not had one bristle fall out of that thing for well over a year. I have a domed kabuki too, but dont like it, so never use it. As far as blush brushes go, i have a fluffy rounded topped one, as well as one with a smaller, angled, more dense head. I also have a very small kabuki i use for bronzers, as well as a very fluffy less dense one for applying highlighter. Ive got tonnes of different eye shadow brushes. Fluffy ones for blending, stiffer, denser ones for packing pigments and minerals on, fine edged taklon ones for lining and inner corners of my eyes, ones with flatter, denser heads cor heavier application, others for just blending out the edges of lines that are too harsh. Also some pencil brushes of different densitÄ«es, which are useful for smudging out liner or getting into the crease. Love my angled liner brush too, and use it for cream, gel and wet lining. Some other brushes for foiling as well. Ive discovered along the way which ones i love, and which ones i rarely touch. Ive found some of Coastal Scents brushes good, some chêap ELF brushes very good, and even painting brushes from Michael's which are stellar. Good brushes dont have to be expensive. Some of my favorite ones were only a dollar or two. Some of my least favorite are the ones i paid the most for. Always feel them against your skin, feel how dense or loosely packed the bristles are, etc. You'Å‚l find your own favorites as you go along. I never thought I'd love my angled liner as much as I do, but it's definitely in my top 10 list and cost me next to nothing. It loÅks nearly useless, til you use it As far as picking up too much product, try tapping your brushês off on the edges of your containers before using them on your face. I use a lot of loose eye shadows, as well as pressed ones, and have actually not found loose ones to have any more fallout than the pressed. Yes, there's fallout, but it can come from any type of shadow. The ones i really hate, loose or pressed, are the glitter bombs, which leave an unÄ¥oly mess. One of the reasons i got rid of my Naked palette. Do not understand why everybody raves about it.