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Hit List: Worst Makeup Brushes
What’s the Worst Makeup Brushes…?
What brand/products win this category? What makes them so bad?
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i’d say most brushes that come in palettes are awful. i say most because sometimes you luck out like sigma’s palettes. but an overal set? elf’s $1 line. some of those are just terrible!
Sigma – I bought a 10 piece brush set 1 year ago and all of the brush have either fallen apart (ferrule separated from handle) or sheds really bad. Every. Single. Brush. Really, really, poor quality.
Maybe you don’t take care of them properly, because I have a 12 set, also bought a year ago and there’s nothing wrong with them.
I know how to take care of my makeup brushes. I have Sonia Kashuk brushes that I’ve had for around ten years that are still in good shape.
I would have been inclined to believe that I just got a bad brush if it had only been one or two out of the set but when all of them have issues there is quality problem.
Have you ever tried contacting their customer service department? I have heard of them replacing any defective products, no matter how long ago they were purchased.
I have had my set for over a year as well and all the brushes are still shedding and the furrels have come off. its the brushes…. has to be! i replaced my powder brush twice and each time it fell apart. ive since started slowly buying mac brushes instead. something i should have done a LOOOONG time ago. (btw i hardly ever used the sigma brushes…. maybe 10 times MAX) and i do know how to clean and maintain them.
Where’d you buy them from? Are you sure they’re not counterfeit? You’re the first person I’ve heard of who had issues with their brushes–and I’d believe one brush here and there, but 10? I hope you didn’t get duped. 🙁
I dislike Sigma brushes as well! Mine have fallen apart, and I’ve owned several of my MAC brushes for years and years so I don’t think it’s my care that’s in question.
Bought the brushes from Sigma.
I’m not impressed with Sigma either, major shedding issues.
i got 4 sigma eye brushes and i cant complain ,not too soft, not too stiff, and no shedding , are you sure you washing them properly ?
Oh me too. Almost all my Sigma brushes shed. And I bought then from the official Sigma online shop. I love the brushes though but the shedding is very annoying.
Bare Escentuals. They start out so nice, but after a few washings (and this is with their brand of conditioning shampoo) they become ridiculously rough. My duofiber face stippler now actually hurts my face, and the eye brushes are uncomfortable at best. Never wasting my money again!
I totally agree! They get so rough. I would never recommend their brushes to anyone.
I agree about the BE brushes. I bought their started kit in 2007-ish and have had to throw out 2/3 of the brushes because they either:
1) Shed A LOT and non-stop
2) Hurt my face so much that I didn’t want to use them.
I have their max concealer brush, and I like that. I would try their brushes like that again but never a powder or foundation brush.
I would probably say Bare Essencials. They are so scratchy and they shed. They also don’t last very long and have to be replaced every few months. That being said they aren’t cheap either.
e.l.f. Professional collection (white handle/$1) brushes. Virtually all the ones I’ve tried sucked.
I agree on most of the professional line but I actually like the $1 eyeshadow brush (the one that looks like a mini version of the studio C brush). I have about 4 of them.
The brushes from Mary Kay that come in a set with a make-up pouch. The brushes are prickly making them a pain to use on the face. Also the shape of the brushes are poorly cut with uneven edges. Oh, and the brushes bleed black when washed. The make-up pouch, however, is very useful for travel.
I love the make-up pouch, but the brushes are terrible…so harsh!
ELF $1 ones. Any one using low grade natural hair will become incredible scratch starting from the second wash one. Usually the squirrel/sable mic.
The Body Shop Brushes
mm I disagree! The BS brushes are -to me- rather nice! Bare escentuals, now they suck 🙁
I disagree as well, Body Shop brushes are sooooo soft, no shedding and hold really well!
I disagree as well. The Body Shop brushes are uber soft! Especially their kabuki. I love it to bits! Lol
bare escentuals by far!!!
I bought a few Crown brushes and they are simply TOO soft. I can’t really use them for anything. I really wanted to like them.
Bare Minerals Hydrate & Brighten Brush! WORST BRUSH EVER!!!
Elf’s $1 face brushes……..but what do you expect for a dollar? Bare Escentual face brushes are sooooooo scratchy
Ruby & Millie & Sarah Ashton.
Ruby & Millie, i hated the eye brush, it scratched against my eye, the only good brush in the entire collection is the smudge brush.
Sarah ashton, i got talked into buying one of those 30quid makeup kits that they say they have on sale for one day only, and its rrp is over 200pounds. The brushes are stiff, and the face brush was malting. What a waste
At least you didn’t pay the full price! 🙂
Totally agree w/ Ruby & Millie.
I hate my Sigma 150! It sheds every time I use it and the color bleeds off every time I clean it 🙁 I was surprised because I LOVE my Sigma F80 for foundation and don’t have any of those issues with it
My Sigma F15 and 150 sheds a lot everytime I use it and when I wash it, it sheds like crazy and bleeds too! E35 is soooo scratchy!! I was playing with my eyeshadows, I used it for blending/buffing the harsh line. It’s really annoying. After I washed my face my skin on my crease hurts. Ugh! I love my F80 though.
bare escentuals. scratchy town.
I dunno if I’d say they’re the worst, because I’ve only had experience with a few brands but I find Bare Escentuals brushes to be rather scratchy and uncomfortable against my skin.
I’ve got to say Bare Escentuals because they shed so much.
I don’t think there’s a “worst brand” since every brand, from cheap, cheap to high end, has great brushes and not so great brushes but my personal “worst brush” has to be the MAC 194 concealer brush. Its got bristles that are too long and floppy to blend the concealer at all and it was just a complete waste of money for me. My Sonia Kashuk concealer brush is much better, as is the MAC 224.
e.l.f. (or eyeslipsface) are the worst brushes in my opinion. They are itchy, prickly and horrible!
I don’t buy bad brushes because I research them thoroughly. I did recently buy several Good Karma Urban Decay brushes because they were cruelty-free and rated well but even the new ones aren’t the best of synthetic brushes available these days.
e.l.f.’s white-handled brushes were super scratchy, shed, and fell apart. Granted, I bought them when the e.l.f. brand was new (a few years ago) and they might have gotten better since. I was impressed by their black-handled brushes but I am probably never going to buy a white-handled one from them again.
ABT and Eco Tools brushes
Oh that’s such a bummer! I love my eco tools brushes.
I ove mine too! I have nearly 20 now and use them at least twice a week. (well, not all, but some!)
BE – they’re scratchy and they never stop shedding. I’ve recently replaced several of them with ELF and Sonia Kashuk brushes. The Elf $1 brushes are hit and miss, but every one of the black-handled $3 line I’ve tried so far is really good. The SKs are very good, too.
My BH cosmetic brushes by far. I mean the face brushes had fallout and my powder brush broke.
I Personally Hate Lancome’s Brushes Too Expensive they fall apart and i take care of all of my brushes like their my kids (LOL) but those r just UGH 2 me
ive also found that i dont like mac brushes. i have a 116 from a few years ago and it hurts to use on my face. i washed and took care of it so i’m not sure what’s wrong. i don’t reach for anymore, though
Essence Of Beauty, the powder and blush brush in their travel set. Urgh! They shred terribly, my face looked like a cat just sat on it with all the hair. I also don’t like face brushes from ELF (the regular ones, not the pro).
Bare Escentuals Kabuki brush. Its so scratchy.
I will say Benefit, and SE brushes. I have never had a problem with MAC brushes, i think they are by far the best brushes.. BUT the special edition brushes that show up in the holiday sets are hit and miss.. the stiff ones are usually OK, like the angled brushes, the concealer, etc, but the fluffy ones just refuse to hold their shape [i.e. 224 and likewise] and shed like crazy! Also I find pretty much all synthetic fibred brushes to be relatively caca. that includes UD, body shop, etc, especially for things like blush and powder. I agree with Lancome brushes as well.. my ferrules came apart right away! Cover FX makes GREAT blush and face brushes, i must say though, i have never, ever liked a single benefit brush. I let my toddler use them to play with when im playing with makeup so he can “paint” as well-thats how little i care for them! they are GARBAGE-save your money. Benefit is so expensive as well!!
Hmm… I probably say Stila & Bare Escentuals (scratchy) and The Body Shop (too soft, it couldn’t pick any pigment). I also hate the “hit or miss”-factor from M·A·C Limited Edition brushes. Sometime it’s good, but the sometime it’s either scratchy, bleed, shed or the handle just came off from the ferrule.
Of course there are tons of brushes that won’t work properly or very scratchy, but I think it’s not fair to compare drugstore’s brushes that less than $10.00 with something superb like Hakuhodo Brushes. What I stated above (Stila, Bare Escentuals, The Body Shop & M·A·C LE), are brushes that cost more than drugstore brushes but poorly made. With that price tag, there are more option to choose a better brush.
*Oops, what I meant is M·A·C Special Edition Brushes, the one that comes as a brush set, not a limited edition like M·A·C 226. Sorry, my bad… :p
For high-end brushes, I’d have to say that the MAC holiday limited edition sets are not great. For $50 you get a good selection, but in reality they are no where near the quality of a regular MAC brush. They are cheaper, for sure.. But cheaper quality too.
I have a MAC Angled liner brush that’s a real piece of crap, but my worst brush is one my boyfriend’s mom gave me. She knew I liked makeup, so she gave me some set of brushes from Target or somewhere. I had never heard of the brand before. Anyway, the bristles are soft and have a really good density, but they’re SO slick and soft that powders don’t really stick.
what about Sedona lace ? are theyre bad ?
Good to know that I am not the only one who thinks Bare Escentuals brushes are not that great….got a Kabuki brush as a gift/ promo….and I gave it away. I got Lancome brush set over 25 years ago and it was pricey but it also shed. Just recently, I got an opportunity to buy fake MAC makeup and brushes. The fake eyeshadows looked really real…boxes and all, but the brushes looked fake….it shed, the handles didnt even look the same.
-Urban Decay Eyeshadow brush that comes with Naked Palette.
-Bare Minerals Kabuki, dont own it but it feels scrathcy and began shedding when I ran my hand over it at the store
-Ecotools Powder Brush. I LOVE ecotools brushes but this one was to floppy to properly apply my msfn.
The worst I’ve ever gotten are probably the revlon brushes. they’re just too scratchy and don’t come close to blending well enough.
Royal & Langnickel brushes shed and bleed like crazy. Also I have a MAC 129 that is terribly scratchy on my face. I use the MAC brush cleaner on it but it’s still so scratchy. Purchased it from the MAC store also so I know it’s authentic.
Bare Escentuals – hate those brushes. I was going to try Sigma (as an under eighteen year old much more affordable than Mac) but the dislike against them here is sorta scary.
Temptalia readers actually gave them an award one year — I think it was 2009!
Maybe now that more people are using them they are not manufactured as well.
The BareMinerals brush I got from my BareMinerals kit. It shed hairs like crazy after each wash and the texture of the bristles itself weren’t soft to touch.
And M.A.C’s special edition brushes.. the mini sized ones of the brushes that they carry. They are nothing like the full sized ones.. I don’t want to get into it because it frustrates me. Ugh.
Bare Escentuals brushes are rough and scratchy, and not worth their price.
Also, Sephora clear handle brushes are poorly made, shed A LOT, AND expensive for what they are.
Enkore Makeup HD Stipple & Swirl by far the worst brush I have owned. I finally gave up and threw it away.
As far as Sigma, the ones I have had weren’t the worst brushes I have ever used. But, I did swap the ones I had because I found better brushes than them.
As a matter of fact, when I see a guru on YouTube pushing the Sigma brushes it lowers my opinion of them because I KNOW they can be influenced by the inferior product.
Jaa, I totally agree with you on your statement about your opinion being lowered when a guru is pushing Sigma brushes (or now the eyeshadow palettes) but for me it’s not because they can be influenced by an inferior product (I must have hit Sigma on a good day because the Sigma brushes I have are decent) but because I feel like while watching the clip it’s nothing more than a glorified advert for Sigma! Whoaaaa….I tuned it to watch a tutorial on how to do a certain eye look, not be thrown a pitch on make-up brushes or an eye palette!
Just wanted to throw that in there because it flashed through my head when I read your comment, lol. Have a great day!
I know that many of you may not know them, because it’s an Otalian brand sold in Europe…
Kiko’s bushes are… horrible :S
they are around 10-15 euros each (like sephora ones here), and the quality is worse than the elf base line …
They don’t loose fiber,their fibers fall broke in pieces >o<
Anything by sigma!
I must have hit Sigma on a good day because my Sigma brushes are good, soft and don’t shed, lol.
The absolute worst brush I ever bought and thank the heavens and stars it was only $3.00 was the ELF Flat top powder brush from the studio line. That sucker is not only scratchy but when you use it, it POKES you! Nothing like getting angry first thing in the morning just by doing your make-up!
Beyond that, I think I’ve had fairly good luck with the brushes I’ve gotten. I’ve gotten brushes here from BE and haven’t had to many issues with them, some aren’t as reached for to be used as others, but that’s okay. They do serve their purpose, so I won’t toss them just yet.
Lancome brushes. I found that the handle cracked after it was done drying after I washed it, for the first time. I lay my brushes flat to dry.
I guess that’s why they cracked b/c whenever a brush is put on its side or the bristles upwards the water is going to seep into the ferrel and ruin the brush. So I always dry my brushes with the bristles facing down so water can drip.
all the brushes everyone has mentioned i own ans have never had an issue. However i hate wet n wild’s brushes.
Bare essentials all the way I mean at first I liked them but then it felt like I was taking split ends of hair and using them for my makeup.
Izu Cosmetic Brushes!
I hate most brushes by No 7. Very scratchy and they shed like crazy. They’re not super cheap brushes either which adds insult to injury. I have two Bare Escentuals brushes (face and kabuki) and I’m not a huge fan of either, but I dislike the face brush more because it feels cheap and rough. My kabuki’s not too bad; I just never use it.
-Urban Decay brush that comes with the Naked palette!! I went to use it the 1st time and literally half the bristles just fell out in my hand! terrible. I’m going to take it back and exchange it.
-e.l.f. regular brushes – I do keep one from their studio line in my purse because I don’t feel bad if it gets destroyed in my makeup bag though. the studio line isn’t as bad as the regular line
-bare escentuals. when i first got into make up I bought a full kit of these. wishing I hadn’t as a few years later theyre falling apart and really scratchy…