My Makeup Brush Collection: Names and Uses

Hello everyone! I recently received a bunch of hand-me-down brushes from a good friend of mine and decided to write a post about my makeup brush collection! As you will see in this post I have a number of makeup brushes that I use for different steps in my routine. It is not necessary to have a million brushes in order to apply your makeup successfully. My sister (sorry Meg) only has about 4 to 5 makeup brushes but that works for her because she doesn't wear that much makeup in general! In this post I will show you the different types of makeup brushes I have in my collection and what I use them for.

Kabuki Brush: A Kabuki brush is a short, dense brush that is generally used to blur harsh lines on your face created by blush / bronzer. I use this brush when contouring my cheeks. Now some of my girls may not know what contouring is. Contouring is when you create harsh lines under your cheek bones  and blend them out in order to create shadows - making your face appear more angular. This is why people like Kim Kardashian have such pronounced cheek bones! I also use the Kabuki brush to dull down my blush if I have accidentally applied too much. This is one of the brushes my friend Katie gave me and I am so so thankful she did!




Face Brushes: You can use these brushes to apply powder / liquid foundation, bronzer or blush! The first brush to your left with the red handle is my favorite blush brush. It is so soft and the perfect size for my face. The bristles are also super soft which helps give me a flawless application. The brush in the middle is my favorite bronzer brush. The bristles on this brush are so fanned out that it is perfect for a subtle bronzer application, helping me avoid caking it on my face. The third brush all the way to the right is the brush I use to evenly spread out my concealer. Before I got my Kabuki brush I also used this brushed to blur out harsh lines on my face and it works amazingly! This brush is also from the brand E.L.F. which is a super inexpensive makeup brand that is great quality! This brush was only $3 and it has lasted me well over 2 years.

 Highlighter Brush: This brush is generally categorizes as a blush brush but I use it to apply my highlighter! I mentioned this brush in my "Highlighter: Who, What, Where? " post from last week. I love to use this brush for my highlighter because it is the perfect medium size that allows me to apply my highlighter with precision while avoiding streakiness that smaller brushes can create.
















Concealer Brushes: These flat brushes are perfect for applying liquid foundation or concealer. Personally I use them both for applying concealer to my face. The larger flat brush to your left is the one I use to apply concealer to the inner corners of my eyes when I don't feel like using my fingers. I use the smaller flat brush to apply concealer around the edges of my lips to clean up my lipstick application. I don't recommend to use brushes to apply concealer to blemishes. This only contaminates your brushes and spreads the bacteria to other areas of your face.















Eyeshadow Blending Brushes: I use all of these brushes
to blend out my eyeshadows. I have a lot of these because for different eyeshadow looks I like to use different sized brushes to achieve the look I want. The first brush to your left covers the entire surface of my eyelid. I like to use this to apply one shadow that covers my entire lid in one motion. The second brush in from the left with the red handle is my favorite brush to applying a smokey shade to the outer corner of my eye. The purple duo-sided brush in the middle is a brush I use for both blending and densely applying eyeshadow. I use the top fluffy brush to blend out eyeshadows and I use the bottom flat brush side to apply smoky shadow shades to my lower lash line. The last three brush to your right are my favorite brushes for blending out my crease. In my opinion eyeshadows always look a million times better when you blend out the crease of your eyelid. This creates a softer, more professional look.



Angled Brush and Pencil Brush: I use these two brushes to accomplish defined eyeshadow looks. The brush to your left is a angled brush that helps me achieve even winged eyeliner. I use this brush to "map out" where my wing is going to go on both my eyes. I use a light brown eyeshadow for this extra step because it is much easier to rub off and reapply than actual liquid eyeliner. I also use this brush when I want to get a smoked out eyeliner look with matte black eyeshadow. The brush to your right is called a "pencil brush". This brush is used to achieve very fine, strategic lines with your eyeshadow. I use this to define the outer corners of my eyes as well as my bottom lash line. I love this brush because it helps me get a more dense eyeshadow application without feathering eyeshadow all over my face.










Alright gals I hoped this post helped you better understand the names and uses of makeup brushes! Let me know if you have any questions about brushes you did not see in my collection. If you enjoyed this post please "like" it . If you would like to see more from me hit that "follow" button at the bottom of the screen!