Re: makeup brushes
Don’t worry, I went through that as well, asp. in the beginning when I was just starting out. I recommend MAC, Shu Uemura, Hakuhodo and Sigma for brushes. Sigma is the least inexpensive but the quality is pretty fantastic, esp. for their price. I got their Face Kit and it helped me tremendously. It has a foundation and a concealer brush. Then a large powder brush, a large angled contour brush (which is my favorite blush brush) and a stippling brush which I use for pigmented blushes but a lot of people use this to stipple on foundation. There a ton of youtube videos on it.
- Foundation brush: depends on your preference. If you have a very thick foundation (think Revlon Colorstay) or prefer a very natural-finish with light to medium coverage, you should look into the Sigma F80 brush.
If you have a light foundation and dont want to buff it in and like the coverage/finish it has, then use a flat synthetic brush similar to the MAC 190 or a cheaper alternative would be Sigma’s F60:
Powder brush: it all depends on which powder you use. If you use loose powder, then using something a bit fluffy helps. In my opinion, if you were to get the MAC 109 brush, you could not only apply your foundation with it, you can use it for blush and even powder. It’s an amazing multitasking brush and my first MAC face brush. Alternatively, the big brush in the Sigma Face Kit I linked above has a great powder brush, it may be too big for some people but for those that like fluffy brushes for setting, they’d love that. If you use a compact setting powder (think MAC Mineralized Skinfinish), a brush I love for that is the ELF Powder Brush (it’s flat on top and really buffs and blends the powder into the skin and gives an amazing finish).
Blush: I love blush, it’s my favorite thing in makeup so brushes are important to me. I like the goat-hair white brushes like the MAC #168 or the F40 (in the Sigma Face Kit as well) since they are great for really controlling how your blush goes on. For super-pigmented blushes (like NARS ones for example) I like using a stippling brush like the one in the Sigma Face Kit (F50), it gives the color but because of the brush style, it doesn’t pack it on.
Eye brushes: since you are just starting out, I would highly recommend you get a brush like the MAC 217. It’s an amazing blending brush (what it’s intended for) BUT if you use it flat, it also becomes a great shader brush to pack on color onto the eyelid. Eventually, you should get the #239 brush OR the #242 brush (just pick one: #239 is smaller and made of goat hair and #242 is synthetic but bigger). I know a makeup artist who swears by the 242 and HATES the 239. I dont have the 242 but I have the 239 and love it. Their purpose is the same so if you want to save money, you can get the #242 for $14.99 fromeBay It also has great reviews on makeupalley.com. So basically, if you have a shader and a blending brush, you dont need anything else.
So it comes down to:
Foundation: Sigma Face Kit (F60) or Sigma F80 (read the reviews of this brush on makeupalley to see how much people love it for buffing in foundation)
**Powder: **Sigma Face Kit for loose powder (the brush is called F30) or the ELF Powder Brush ($3) for compact setting powder. The ELF brush is also loved by many for buffing in foundation, so it’s basically like a cheaper version of the Sigma F80. I personally dont like it for that so I stick to using the ELF brush for setting my MAC Mineralized Skinfinish powder. But it’s a very inexpensive and useful brush to have, IMO.
Blush: Sigma Face Kit (has the F40 or F50; both which will work great for blush but I prefer the F40).
Eyeshadow: MAC 239 or 243 (again, no big difference but many people love both. to save money, I’d get the #242 from eBay and yes it’s a legit seller. I bought my MAC 109 from here and got it checked at the MAC store for whether it was authentic and indeed it was) and a #217 for blending. If you think you dont need a packing on brush (the sponge tips can pack on great color as well) you can just get the #217, and if you use it flat, it can double as a shader brush since it’s the same material as the 239 brush I mentioned (both are made of goat hair).
Also, never get the MAC kits. They are not the same quality as regular brushes because the sets are machine made and lack quality big time! You’re better off getting a Sigma Kit in that amount and you’ll get better quality as well.
