Honestly, I have a mixture of both in my brush bag as I find some brushes truly are better than others at doing specific jobs on the face (even if it's not necessarily what it was designed to do).
I will be listing my favourite brushes for each job you will need to do for your makeup. This may help you if you currently use your fingers to apply your makeup or if you just fancy some new brushes since your old ones are looking a bit worse for wares.
Foundation
LiquidFor liquid foundations, I tend to use a So Eco flat foundation brush. It is a very soft bristled brush and I feel that it gives a lovely flawless finish to any liquid foundation, and you will use a lot less product on your skin with one of these foundation brushes as it will spread further on your face and neck. | MineralAs you know, my go-to foundation at the moment is the Bare Minerals Ready Foundation in 310. You can use a regular powder brush if you want, or even a flat foundation brush, but I really do prefer using the Bare Minerals Precision Face brush with my mineral foundation just because it gives an amazing finish to the skin and buffers the products really well into your skin to give a beautiful natural looking finish to your make up. |
I have also used a Real Techniques expert face brush with liquid foundation. Takes some skill to get an even coverage, but once you get going with it it looks ok (although I can't perfect it around my nose yet).
Powder
It is on the pricey side, but if you can't afford this brush, Eco Tools or the Real Techniques face brushes are equally as good.
Blush/ Contouring
The blusher brush can be bought separate, or to save you a bit of money, you can buy the full face kit as a set, where you get the eye brush, foundation, blusher and finishing brush all together. I think I paid £9.99 all together. I think.
Concealer
If you do want a brush for liquid concealers, I would suggest the Eco Tools Concealer brush.
Eyes: Shading
I love the MAC 239 brush for applying an all over colour. It easily picks up plenty of colour with very little fall out over the rest of your face. It is one of the more expensive brushes on this list, but worth the money if you want a brush that will last a very long time! | The other brush is a Bare Minerals precision eye brush, which by the looks of the Bare Minerals website, they are discontinuing. I haven't seen it on there to buy in ages. And to show how excellent it is, my Mam stole my last one for her makeup bag, so I needed to buy another one! Thanks Mam! I love the double ended brush, the thinner end gets use to create the triangle on my outer eye, so some colour will be visible. |
For cream shadows, the best brushes by far are the Body Shop eyeshadow brushes. The stiff bristles are excelent for giving a controlled finish to cream shadow looks.
Eyes: Blending
If you can't afford a MAC 217, another brush I love using for blending is a Body Shop Eyeshadow Blender. The brush is a similar size, and also has soft bristles to give a pretty blended eye.
Eyeliner/ Eyebrows
Lips
Enjoy the rest of your day!
xxx