My Top 5 | Makeup Brushes Everyone Should Have!

Hey lovelies,

As a complete makeup addict, good brushes are essential. Gone were the days when we were rubbing eyeshadows in with our fingers (or was that just 13 year old me?) as we’re all grabbing different tools & sponges when putting our face on.

So I thought I’d share with you my ULTIMATE FAVE brushes that I own, all of which I feel every beauty lover should have! I’ve had some of these for around 4 years whilst others just a few weeks, but I feel like the brush chooses you. Like Harry Potter and wands, yano? You just know! So let’s get started…

I wanted to limit this blog post to my top 5 brushes, otherwise I will be here for SO LONG. I’ve ended up choosing two eye brushes and 3 face brushes. Obviously I had to include my favourite palettes in the photos, the ABH Modern Renaissance palette & Morphe 9C Contour & Highlight – see blog post here.

I do tutorials on youtube (I say that, I’ve done one so far, bare with me) using these palettes & brushes so feel free to check it out!

F A C E

These brushes are all from different brands and couldn’t do my makeup without them. They clean super easily and I’ve never had a problem with any lose brush hairs. I know the disappointment of picking up a fluffy brush, using it and come out looking like hagrid. No one likes stray brush hairs on the loose.

 

Sigma Beauty – F30 Large Powder Brush

I’ve had this brush since I was 18 (now 21) and it’s still going stong. That brush stamina tho. I’ve actually had it for so long, they’ve since changed the design/look of the brush. It’s now all black and retails around £20 depending on where you buy it from. I know for some that’s expensive.

HOWEVER, there is Sigma Beauty Travel Kit that sells this brush as well as 6 OTHERS (one of which is included in this blog post further down) for £69. You also get a travel brush holder which I use wherever I go, keeps them fluffy and withholds their shape! Thats just under £10 each for brushes that normally retail at around £20?! (yes I used a calculator) So Yeah. Go get you some – click here.

I use this powder brush to apply my bronzer & touches of blush. It picks up the powder amazingly and has held it’s shape so well for 4 years worth of harsh bronzer application (ngl).

 

Morphe – B78 Angle Contour Blush Brush

I’ve only had this brush for a few weeks and I can safely say that it’s made the Top 5 Brush Squad. As an American brand, I’m gutted there aren’t Morphe stores over here in the UK. But a silver lining is we can still get hold of their products online!

I got this brush from Beauty Bay for £6.50 and was so amazed at the quality of it when it was delivered. I’ve just had a check now for you and can’t seem to find it on there – weird. I’ve found it on another site (I’ve not heard of it before) but will link it here for you. It’s a little more expensive here at £7.95!

If you wanted to stick with a site you’re more familiar with (totes understand), I’ve done a little research and found a few similar ones around the same price range! HOW NICE OF ME.

• M405 Contour Blush Brush – £6.50

• MB35 Angled Contour Brush – £7.95

They both look like the perfect fit for contouring/blush. I would sway towards the MB35 just because it looks that little bit bigger. The bigger the brush the more subtle the contour! But if you’re after a sharper line, the M405 looks perfect.

So here’s the brush in all it’s glory. The angle is perfect for my cheekbones and again, picks the powder up amazingly! SO AMAZINGLY that you may wanna be light handed the first couple go’s… I looked like I was going on Ru Pauls drag race.

What do you use for contour? Fancy this brush??

 

Real Techniques – Expert Face Brush

Ok. If you haven’t yet experienced the wonders of this foundation brush, hurry. up. It seems to work for whatever way you want to blend your foundation in – AMAZING. Stippling, blending, light dabbing as if it were a beauty blender. Matched with your perfect foundation, it leaves your face flawless!

This brush retails at around £8.99 depending on where you go, I’ve found it over on the Superdrug website here or for £9.99 over at Boots.

**ATTENTION** As a student who has become a pro at bargain hunting/scrimping, I feel like it’s my duty to tell you that some RT brush sets are currently half price at Boots – GET IN ON IT. QUICK. I’ve just bought the eye brush set so make me feel better about spending money I don’t have?

 

E Y E S

The two eye brushes I’m putting on a pedestal actually have the ability to create full on smokey eye between the two of them. That’s when you know you’ve made a good choice right? One is dual ended but I BREAK THE RULES.

Sigma Beauty – Tapered Blending Brush

I got this brush the same time as the Large Powder brush featured above, 4 years ago, and it’s stuck by me through thick & thin! I genuinely believe you can be the best at knowing how to blend and what colour to layer next blahblah, but if you don’t have a good blending brush – it’s useless. Like a good horserider without a horse. Lol don’t know where that came from.

It retails at £11.75 over on Cult Beauty but is part of the amazing Sigma Travel Kit for £69.00 previously mentioned. I use this brush EVERY DAY, for EVERY makeup look and cannot recommend enough, it’s still super soft. If there’s one thing to take from this long old post, it’s how amazing this brush is! You’ll see it forever featured in my makeup tutorials over on my channel I’m sure.

 

Morphe Dual Ended M156 Smudge Oval Fluff Brush

This is another new addition but was quickly a firm favourite of mine. Mainly because you get two brushes for the price of one and it’s retailing at an astonishing £2.50……U WOT M8. It’s still available up on BeautyBay so grab it now.

I like to use the larger end for packing on colour all over my eyelid. It’s great for creating a smokey eye or wanting an all over shimmer look.

And the smaller end is perfect for the waterline and smudging. I actually used this brush to help create my first attempt at a cut crease! I used the one end to pack on the matte black in the corners, and the smaller end to help drag the colour out into the crease of my eyelid. Here’s the finished look – you would’ve seen it already if you have me on SnapChat & Instagram (lexilife95 – add me!)

If I’m honest, I’m not 100% sure that it turned out to be a cut crease after all the glitter was packed on. But I enjoyed it. If you’re intrigued about the glitter, head to THIS POST to find out more on Affordable Pressed Glitter!

So there’s my 5 Faves in all their glory! If I had to recommend any brand to someone who was willing to spend a little more it would have to be Sigma Beauty. If peeps were wanting to keep it cheap either Morphe or RT!

I really hope you enjoyed reading/skimming/looking through this post – let me know if you did! Also, let me know if you’re after any of these brushes or if you already have some! Did you find this helpful & want to break your spending ban?!

Love Life, Lexi!