While the best makeup artists can do brilliant work with something as basic as a sponge-tip applicator or their finger tips, applying makeup does get so much easier with the right tools. This is perhaps most obvious with eye makeup where most of us need all the help we can get! With a multitude of brands and a variety of shapes, picking up the right brushes can be quite confusing, so here's my list of 7 must-have eye makeup brushes that should help you start off (no real brand recommendations here).
1. Flat eyeshadow brush: Densely packed bristles and a flat shape makes this the perfect brush to place eye shadows on the lid. This sort of brush is great for eye shadows that tend to fly around a bit or need careful placement, like in case of pigments - just pick up the colour with the brush and press it into place on the eyelid.
2. Fluffy shadow brush: Similar to the flat eye shadow brush in that its used to apply shadows to the lid, the fluffy eye shadow brush is, of course, fluffier. The larger brush head helps with faster application of eyeshadow and also doubles as a blending brush in a pinch because of the slightly rounded head.
3. Highlighter brush: Slightly larger than the regular fluffy eyeshadow brush, as the the name implies, this is used to apply highlighter just below your brow bone. This captures the light making the brow bone look more prominent and the eyes more opened up. To be honest, though, I just use a fluffy shadow brush to apply the highlighter too!
4. Blending/crease brush - A blending brush has slightly floppy, soft bristles which coupled with the tapered head helps with blending eyeshadow and diffusing colour softly. A crease brush is a little more compact and helps place and blend colors in the crease area and because of it's smaller size gives more precise application. For simpler/beginner's eye makeup, I think you can just get away with using the same brush both for both.
5. Eyeliner brush: With a fine, pointy tip, this brush is a must for drawing thin, precise lines and keeping the liner as close to the lashes as possible. For liquid liners, I use the thin brushes that usually come as part of the packaging, but for gel liners I find slightly flatter brushes (like this one that comes with the Maybelline Gel liners) easier to use.
6. Angled Eyeliner brush: A flat brush with firm bristles that are cut at an angle, I like to use this with powder eye shadows - use this to press the shadow down close to the lash line, giving a much softer line than what you would get with a liquid liner. This also works great for filling in the brows with a powder shadow.
7. Smudger/pencil brush: This brush has a smaller tapered head with short densely packed bristles. Best for smudging eyeliners to create softer lines and/or smudge shadows along the lower lash line. As someone who rarely ventures beyond a black pencil/kohl liner, this brush is my absolute favorite!
From the ever-popular but more expensive MAC brushes to the dependable drugstore brands like Ecotools and Sonia Kashuk, there are a variety of options available for each of these brushes. I use a mixed bunch from TBS, Ecotools, and Sonia Kasuk and find them quite sufficient for now. Whatever brush you choose to pick, a couple of things to look for would be:
1. Flat eyeshadow brush: Densely packed bristles and a flat shape makes this the perfect brush to place eye shadows on the lid. This sort of brush is great for eye shadows that tend to fly around a bit or need careful placement, like in case of pigments - just pick up the colour with the brush and press it into place on the eyelid.
2. Fluffy shadow brush: Similar to the flat eye shadow brush in that its used to apply shadows to the lid, the fluffy eye shadow brush is, of course, fluffier. The larger brush head helps with faster application of eyeshadow and also doubles as a blending brush in a pinch because of the slightly rounded head.
3. Highlighter brush: Slightly larger than the regular fluffy eyeshadow brush, as the the name implies, this is used to apply highlighter just below your brow bone. This captures the light making the brow bone look more prominent and the eyes more opened up. To be honest, though, I just use a fluffy shadow brush to apply the highlighter too!
4. Blending/crease brush - A blending brush has slightly floppy, soft bristles which coupled with the tapered head helps with blending eyeshadow and diffusing colour softly. A crease brush is a little more compact and helps place and blend colors in the crease area and because of it's smaller size gives more precise application. For simpler/beginner's eye makeup, I think you can just get away with using the same brush both for both.
5. Eyeliner brush: With a fine, pointy tip, this brush is a must for drawing thin, precise lines and keeping the liner as close to the lashes as possible. For liquid liners, I use the thin brushes that usually come as part of the packaging, but for gel liners I find slightly flatter brushes (like this one that comes with the Maybelline Gel liners) easier to use.
6. Angled Eyeliner brush: A flat brush with firm bristles that are cut at an angle, I like to use this with powder eye shadows - use this to press the shadow down close to the lash line, giving a much softer line than what you would get with a liquid liner. This also works great for filling in the brows with a powder shadow.
7. Smudger/pencil brush: This brush has a smaller tapered head with short densely packed bristles. Best for smudging eyeliners to create softer lines and/or smudge shadows along the lower lash line. As someone who rarely ventures beyond a black pencil/kohl liner, this brush is my absolute favorite!
From the ever-popular but more expensive MAC brushes to the dependable drugstore brands like Ecotools and Sonia Kashuk, there are a variety of options available for each of these brushes. I use a mixed bunch from TBS, Ecotools, and Sonia Kasuk and find them quite sufficient for now. Whatever brush you choose to pick, a couple of things to look for would be:
- Avoid picking up brushes that have splayed/wayward fibers, and secretly give it a slight tug to see if any of the fibers are loose :P
- Pick brushes that have the metal ferrule portion (where the fibers go into the brush) crimped - it means the brush fibers are less likely to come out with the very first wash. It's not essential, but it is an added durability factor.
nice post Rads..amazing photography too:)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Renji!
DeleteHi, any suggestion for a good brand of make up brush that doesn't cost too much?
ReplyDeleteHi..like I said, I find TBS, Ecotools, and Sonia Kashuk brushes quite good. ELF makes some really inexpensive brushes, though the quality is a bit of a hit or miss. If you are staying in India, Vega makes some inexpensive bruhes too, though, again not sure about the quality.
DeleteNice post radhika!! Even I use pretty much same brushes...the brush in the first pic seems to be from body shop...if yes then that was my first eye make up brush that I bought!
ReplyDeleteBody Shop it is! :D :D My first eye brushes were the ones from the mini-kit from TBS :D
DeleteIs that the Sonia Kashuk smudger pencil brush? I have the same one but I actually can't use it. It's SO stiff and scratchy that every time I try to use it, my eyes begin to water so badly from the stinging pain! :P Glad it works for you though!
ReplyDeleteReally? This is stiff, but not scratchy..and I actually like that it's stiff that way - I find it easier to smudge with it...hmmm..guess I got lucky :D
Delete