I love my real techniques brushes (you can find them at ulta). Single brushes range from $5-$10 and sets are about $17.99 or (usually with 5 brushes in them each). Very often Ulta will run a buy one, get one 1/2 off with them. These brushes are synthetic fibers (so they are cruelty free), with an aluminum handle. They can take a beating and they last a long time. The quality for the price is amazing. My favorite brushes by this brand are the buffing brush and the limited edition duo fiber set. I have multiples of these for personal and professional use.
I will say this, MAC brushes are worth the money, they have a lifetime warranty (real mac brushes, not the fake ones you buy on ebay, there is a difference and if you work for mac or have mac brushes, you can tell in an instant the difference in quality-most of the time). Mac brushes are hand made (with the exception of the holiday brush kits, those are machine made which is why they sell them at a cheaper price point). I dont have a whole set of them, but I do have a few key brushes, like the 217 blending brush, 224 tapered blending brush, 239 shader brush, 219 pencil brush and my 168 large angle brush. I love my mac brushes and are usually my go to for the eyes because I love the way they apply and blend product, but there are definitely cheaper alternatives to theses that do just as agood a job.
I will also say this, for a decent starting set check out the ELF Pro line of brushes, though these dont compare to some others, they still work and are only $3 per brush, I think a 10 piece brush kit goes for around $30, which isnt back and very often them have sales. If you can go to a store and pick a few brushes, make sure you look because they are not cut all the same (even the same brush can be quite inconsistently cut between the models, but for the price they are decent enough to add to your own kit). They are all synthetic and I use the detailer brush to clean up around my cuticles and nails when I paint them myself (I will dip the detailer brush in pure acetone, and it has not fallen apart yet and this one I have used for about a year). The regular $1 line of brushes from ELF are crap, you are better off with the pro line, again, definitely NOT pro quality brushes, but still good enough to through in your own personal kit, without breaking the wallet.
Hope that helps and gives you a few ideas.
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