I was cleaning out my brush collection and realized I have accumulated a lot over the past few years! I wanted to come up with a list of my favorite types of brushes and share that with you, so you don't end up like me with a few dozen unused brushes.
The majority of my brushes are from
Sigma Beauty and
MAC, but there are a few rando brands in there. I would suggest starting with the Sigma brushes though, because they are relatively inexpensive and are GREAT quality. The brushes are just as soft as MAC brushes, maybe even softer, and there is more of a selection to choose from. I have also heard that
Sedona Lace brushes are pretty good, but I don't own any so I cannot compare.
Since we are in the holiday season, a great way to improve your brush collection would be to ask for one of the Sigma brush sets as a gift. There are tons of sets to choose from; you can get an essentials kit that includes eyes and face brushes, or you can get a more specific kit for either eyes or face. I personally would love to own the
Mr. Bunny Kit, but I need to save up a litte more first!
Eye Shadow brush
I use the MAC
239 Eye Shader Brush to pack color on my lid, smudge shadow under my eyes and place shadow in my crease. This is definitely a multi-purpose brush, even though it was created just for placing color on your lid. The Sigma
E55 Eye Shading brush is very similar to the MAC one.
Small Tapered Blending brush
I really like this type of brush because the small taper makes applying color/defining your crease super easy. You are also defining and blending color at the same time. I have both the
Sigma E45 and the MAC 226 (limited edition from the MAC Me Over collection, but they are EXACTLY the same), and use this brush on a daily basis to apply crease color. This is different than a normal blending brush, such as the
Sigma E25, because it creates a more defined line. It also differs from a stiff dome blending brushes (
Sigma E35 or
MAC 217) because those apply color more lightly.
Fluffy Blending brush
I love my Sigma
E40 Tapered Blending brush. It's amazing at blending out all eye shadow colors once they've been applied to the lid and crease. This ensures that there are no harsh lines around my eyes after using my tapered blending brush.
Eye Liner brush
I use this brush when applying gel eyeliner to my upper lash line. I have the MAC
210 Precise Eye Liner Brush, but you can also get the Sigma
E10 Small Eye Liner brush, which is pretty much the same, just less expensive. The brush tip is thin, so it creates a smooth, thin line.
