Best makeup brushes?

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Best Beauty Shops said:
I use and love most of the Real Techniques brushes, especially because they are synthetic, so you can work with cream and powder products. Also, their prices are really good. I like all of the EcoTools brushes I have, they are high quality cruelty free brushes. I also use the Bdellium tools brushes, I guess with these it's a hit and miss, cause they have some really great brushes, and some that are so so... If you are interested in specific brushes I will be happy to give you my list, so let me know... 

With brushes, I really don't think you should invest so much money for the high-end brands, because there are some really really great professional brushes which are very much affordable. 
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I agree with this! I used to have some more expensive brushes - Mac and a few others...and while traveling, I lost my whole set. I replaced them with cheaper ones (mostly Coastal Scents and ELF at the time, then started adding in EcoTools and Real Techniques) and honestly, I don't miss the more expensive ones at all, and I don't feel my results have suffered. I am still on a budget and would rather spend that extra money on a fun new makeup item or something. And if someone said "HEY, you can only use one brush brand for the rest of your life, choose carefully", I honestly think I'd choose my Real Techniques, because they are the ones I reach for every day.

 
I have brushes from Sephora, Coastal Scents, EcoTools, Tarte, e.l.f., Urban Decay, etc. I've been looking at Sigma brushes but to be honest, I don't need them. 

I love the Tarte Airbrush Finish Bamboo Foundation Brush and most of my Coastal Scents brushes. The EcoTools foundation brushes are really nice for applying primers and face masks, and they're super affordable as well. I don't use too many of e.l.f. brushes anymore because they don't perform or function as nicely as my other brushes. I think if you're on a budget, Coastal Scents probably has the best, most densely packed, affordable brushes around. 

I'm not a professional though, so I'm only interested in brushes for my day-to-day use.  :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
EcoTools brushes are all I use.  I've wanted to try out the Real Techniques brand, but just haven't pulled the trigger yet. 

 
I've got a really varied mix of brushes, I'm honestly not sure what most of them are brand-wise.  :unsure:

I have a few of e.l.f.'s studio brushes that I think are great. I use them nearly every day.

- Small angled brush (I use it to fill my brows)

- Small stipple brush (for highlighting and blending)

- Small angled eyeliner brush (for gel liners)

- Kabuki face powder brush (I use this to blend out my contouring)

I also have some Eco Tools. Really nice brushes, imo. Eco Tools were the first brushed I ever purchased.

- Large powder brush (I use it for blush. I've had this brush since high school and I still use it daily)

- Domed bronzer brush (Fave for contouring)

- Fluffy mini-eyeshadow brush. (Saves my life for eyeshadow blending. So great)

- Eyeshadow brush (Nothing too special. Good quality though

The others are just a vague assortment of brushes, so I'll just list the last one I use.

- Mary Kay foundation brush. (I use it as a flat brush to apply liquid foundation and concealer.)

I want to get a hold of a good pencil brush for doing smokey eyeshadow. Does anyone have any recommendations?

 
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I have quite a mixture of brushes but after a bad experience with a MAC brush I've stuck to mostly budget friendly options. 

Coastal Scents brushes dominate my collection. I bought Coastal Scents 22 brush set at Christmas and haven't looked back. I also have quite a few e.l.f brushes because I've always been impressed with their level of quality.

*Edited by Babs28 to remove blog promotion per our TOS* 

 
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candacecorey said:
I've used other Elf products but not their brushes. I may get a lip or concealer brush of theirs. I don't think I'll like their face or blush brushes. The length doesn't look like it will be to my liking.
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I use the ELF powder brush for foundation and its amazing! The only thing I don't like about it is that the handle doesn't seem to last very long. Which is a shame.

 
I have a lot of Target, Ulta, and BareMinerals brushes. Thanks to the Nordstrom anniversary sale, I got my first MAC brushes

image.jpg

 
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My brush collection isn't huge but I do have these:

-Real Techniques buffing brush
-Real Techniques contour brush
-Real Techniques pointed foundation brush
-Real Techniques detailer brush
-Real Techniques deluxe crease brush
-Real Techniques base shadow brush
-Real Techniques fine liner brush
-Real Techniques brow brush
-EcoTools angled blush brush
-EcoTools concealer brush
-EcoTools eye shading brush
-EcoTools detailer brush
-EcoTools angled eyeliner brush
-All Natural Face concealer brush

I absolutely adore Real Techniques brushes.  I'll be buying them exclusively from now on and they'll probably replace most of the EcoTools brushes I have.  They're soft, dense, easy to wash and quick to dry, keep like new after lots of washes, aesthetically pleasing (I hate wooden handles and natural looking brushes), synthetic so they don't absorb product and bacteria, well-balanced handles, etc.  They're really just the best value I've found.  I've used high end brushes that shed and scratch but Real Techniques brushes don't.  I wouldn't recommend EcoTools to a professional makeup artist, I just happen to have some of them myself and I do like them but Real Techniques brushes can be used by everyone.  I wouldn't buy anything else even if I had the money.

 
Faulean 28 was the first cheap brand I started with when I had none, they're okay but I ended up finding some Sigma Dupes. They're branded with the name Jesse on the handle, and you can get them in the classic Sigma dupe (black with silver trim), black with gold trim (which I got) or white with gold trim (which I was struggling not to buy) they've worked perfect for me, feel very soft and blend well and I'm very happy I didn't splurge on a more expensive set.  I think I have some eye ones from a Christina Aguilera set and one Royal blending brush (which I hardly use now, compared to the Jesse ones I got after it feels very rough on the eyes).  Last one is a Eco-tools retractable one I got for my purse, again it's very good quality but I see no need to replace my Jesse ones.

 
Hello,

I ve got several face brushes (from Sephora, Real technique expert face brush and Ecotools blush brush) I am not fan of those.

I am looking for powder, blush and foundation brush, I spent hours on internet, but I am not able to make choice, I ve heard about Occ, Cozette, R&L, Sonia k, Bobbi brown, Mufe and Shisheido... and Hakuhodo but is not in my price range.

I am looking for brushes: up to 50£

Powder brush: light-medium coverage, soft and dense.

Blush brush: pick up product, small size. I had a look on the OCC

Foundation brush:  flawless finish, medium coverage, suitable for dry skin.

Which brushes do you have? What is the thiner brush that you have for apply along the lower lash line

Thank you for your advice.

 
For foundation I really like the Shiseido PErfect Foundation Brush. It's super soft, dense, and does not streak. It doesn't sheer out the foundation like the beauty blender does. 

For Powder AND Blush I really like the Kanuki Brush from Ecotools. At around $10 a pop it is super cheap and it's very dense, comes in a retractable case, so it's travel friendly. 

 
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I really like Real Techniques.  I have 2 of their sets and love them, I have a travel set of sephora brushes that I like for my eyes, then I just splurged for a Velvet Luxe flawless face brush by it Cosmetics for Ulta and OH MY GAWD they're amazing... amazing i tell ya!!!  I'm not a MUA but more of a hobbyist so I wasn't sure about paying close to $40 for a brush but lets just say the set is on Santa Baby's list this year.   :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />  I also have a really dense angled kabuki brush I got from Avon a few years back and love it for contouring.  

 
I like the products of MAC but recently after one of my friends’ suggestion I am using brushes of Yofi Cosmetics. It seems to me more affordable and silky touch.

 
I have two sets of RealTechniques and one set of EcoTools. I'd like to upgrade at some point.

 
The Body Shop

Extra Virgin Minerals Foundation Brush

Eyeshadow Brush

Smudger Brush

Stila

[Pro Artist Brush Set]

- #5 All-over Shadow Brush

- #7 Crease Brush

- #13 Eyeliner Brush

- #21 Contour/Blush Brush

- #33B Concealer Brush

Real Techniques

[starter Kit]

- Base Shadow Brush

- Deluxe Crease Brush

- Accent Brush

- Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush

- Brow Brush

[Duo-Fiber Contour Collection]

- Face Brush

- Contour Brush

- Eye Brush

Bare Escentuals

2-in-1 Heavenly Face & Eye Brush

[Problem-Solving Brush Collection]

- Multi-tasking Kabuki Brush

- Flawless Buffing Brush

- Dual-sided Concealer Brush

- Contour & Blend Fan Brush

- Flawless Finish Brush

Others

Smashbox Contour Brush

EcoTools Eyebrow Brush & Lash Comb

Too Faced Lip Brush

Beautyblender

My favorite brushes are my Real Techniques and my foundation brush from The Body Shop. Once I got them, I tossed my old EcoTools set, which was absolutely useless in comparison. They've probably improved over the years and I took terrible care of those brushes, but I wouldn't try them again - I think there are plenty of cost-effective options that I vastly prefer. With Real Techniques, I use the starter kit for my eyes (although I use the Stila brush for eyeliner), and the duo-fiber kit is best for final touches: setting powder with the face brush, blush/highlighter application and/or blending with the contour brush, and I use the eye brush either for setting concealer or for applying eyeshadow. The duo-fiber set is an incredibly light touch, which makes it PERFECT for setting and very gentle blending. I'm totally in love with it.

The Stila set was incredibly disappointing. It was a free gift, but the main reason I made the order was to get the brushes; I rarely buy full-price Stila makeup. Anyway, I love the bag and eyeliner brush, and have also been using one of the shadow brushes for concealer - I like it better for that than the concealer brush. They all lose bristles, though (except for the eyeliner brush), so it's not that great for concealer, which I don't want to have to pick at to get bristles out. The brush I've set aside that I'm sure I'll never have a purpose for is the contour/blush brush - it's just too itchy and awful.

The Bare Escentuals brushes look great, but are new and I haven't used them yet - I can't wait to try them! As for the others, the Smashbox contour brush is excellent, and I like the Too Faced lip brush; the EcoTools brow/lash brush seems fine and it's the only one of that very old set that I didn't throw out. I couldn't bring myself to buy another when this one seems perfectly okay. I also have two Beautyblenders (one new, one old for traveling) and the Solid cleanser for them.

My wishlist of brands I want to try:

It Cosmetics for Ulta - pretty much everything but especially Velvet Luxe

Qosmedix - anyone tried their brushes? I'm so curious!

Crown Brush

Sigma

 
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The main brushes I use are the ones from the Real Techniques core collection set and the starter set. I love them a lot! But I do find myself wanting some other brushes that I feel are lacking from those sets. I was looking at the Zoeva rose golden luxury set. It looks amazing! Does anyone know the quality of Zoeva brushes? I've looked up reviews and they're all pretty much positive but I'd like to hear from some of you too. There's lots of other sets sticking out to me from Zoeva so if you've tried any of those too I'd love to hear how you liked them :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Mac 217

Mac 224

Coastal Scents 22 piece set

elf stipple brush small and large

BH Cosmetics sculpt and blend set

 
I got the Real Techniques Blush brush and Expert face brush on amazon. Both under $10 and I love them. Definitely going to try some of their other brushes.

 
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