Best Brush Buys

As an aspiring makeup artist, I have a lot of brushes and my collection still isn't complete! When buying makeup brushes, there are a few things I look for. 

Firstly, soft bristles; there is nothing worse than trying to apply makeup on someone (or yourself) with brushes that are rough and scratchy. Secondly, whether they wash and dry well; I want my brushes to be easy to clean. Finally, there's the price point. Investing in good brushes is very important to me, however, whilst I am just starting out, I don't want to go crazy and spend all my money on brushes. I need to have something for the brushes to apply!

There are a couple of brands that I know I can rely on to perform well without breaking the bank.  Real Techniques has fast become one of my favourite brands for makeup brushes. I have most of their brushes and use them all the time. They wash easily, dry quickly and are super soft! My favourites are:

• Buffing Brush- great for really buffing and blending foundation. Also great for pressing powder into the skin.
• Expert Face Brush- excellent for blending foundations, especially light coverage ones.
• Stipling Brush- ideal for applying and blending cream blushes seamlessly into the skin. It's also good at sheering out your base to create a really light coverage.
• Duo Fiber Face Brush- love this brush for most powders. It's great if you tend to be heavy handed with products as it never picks up too much, allowing you to build up slowly.
• Contour Brush- wonderful for contouring and blending/setting concealer.
• Duo Fiber Eye Brush- brilliant at building up colour slowly in the crease and blending the edges out.
• Multi Task Brush- perfect for blush. 
• Pointed Foundation Brush- applies cream highlighters beautifully. 
• Setting Brush- wonderful for precision powder and blending concealer.
• Base Shadow Brush- great for applying and blending cream shadows.
• Accent Brush- great for applying eyeshadow to the lower lash line. It's very small so you can get right to the root of the lash and smudge everything out.
• Silicone Liner Brush- amazing for gel liner. Literally changed the way I apply it. It's so easy to use and is a real gem. The silicone is a genius idea because it doesn't soak up the product- well done Pixiwoo!!!!
• Detailer Brush- fab lip brush, allows real precision so you can shape and define the lip.

The next brand is one that I have heard lots about but only recently tried, Zoeva. These are very similar to Mac brushes if not better. They are absolutely fantastic, especially the eye brushes which don't retail for more that £12. My favourites (so far) are:

• 101 Luxe Face Brush- perfect for powder and bronzer.
• 127 Luxe Sheer Cheek Brush- great for blush and contouring.
• 234 Luxe Smoky Shader Brush- fab for packing on eyeshadow.
• 227 Luxe Soft Definer Brush- amazing crease/blending brush.
• 221 Luxe Soft Crease Brush- very good for the crease.
• 224 Luxe Defined Crease Brush- fantastic precision crease brush.
• 231 Luxe Petit Crease Brush- great for blending colour on the lower lash line.
• 317 Wing Liner Brush- amazing for eyeliner and brows.

In my opinion, Real Techniques and Zoeva are great for personal and professional use and are a real bargain. That's not to say that more expensive brands aren't worth it though. I definitely want to buy some Hakuhodo, Paula Dorf, Suqqu and Bobbi Brown brushes but that will be in the future. Either way, I will certainly keep Real Techniques and Zoeva in my collection.  

What are your best brush buys?

Thanks for reading,
Avani
xoxo  
P.S. You can buy Zoeva brushes online here.