I wouldn’t say changed in a life-altering level kind of way, but it takes a lot for me to really add brushes into my go-tos because I am fortunate enough to have a lot of exceptional brushes already (and only so much room!). That being said, I have found that many of Sonia G.’s brushes have found their way into my must-haves! (Builders, Workers, and Face Two are ones I have multiples of.)
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
The tool that has made the biggest change to my beauty routine is my Clarisonic Mia, which I use every morning to exfoliate and give me a clean, smooth surface to apply my makeup.
But I have a few runners up:
• My Sigma E25 eyeshadow brush that I bought about a year ago. I loved it so much I bought a second one.
• Using a powder puff instead of a brush for setting powder. I use a lot less powder with the puff and I get a better finish by using the puff in a rolling motion.
• This is more of a rediscovery: Sephora #56 Airbrush foundation brush. I bought it a few years ago and never used it. It’s now my favorite foundation brush. I have a couple other brushes I like a lot, but #56 Airbrush is the best.
These may sound silly, but I bought a dark color face cloth to use whenever I dry my face because I kept accidentally transferring makeup to light colored towels XD. I also made some reusable facial rounds out of couple of layers of textured cotton (using a serger to hem the edge), and I’ve felt great using these, knowing I can throw them in the wash instead of buying new ones all the time!
Smart. And eco-conscious. Excellent. Reusable facial rounds are actually a thing, at ~3/$1. Dark towel is a great idea for anti-staining.
Not silly at all! I travel with my own black washcloth for exactly that reason.
Using my Real Techniques beauty blender type sponge for more than just applying my foundation. I also love using it while it’s still damp to apply my RCMA No Color undereye setting powder after I’ve applied my concealer. Something about doing so really seems to deter creasing of undereye concealer for most of the day, if not all day!
while i still do use my foundation brushes, i gotta say beauty sponges. it took me awhile to jump to sponges from brushes but now i feel like i use them for everything- moisturizer, primer, eye primer, foundation, setting powder. plus it feels like less of a hassle to clean.
Beauty Blender (and good dupes) sponges were real game-changers for applying my foundation, especially more difficult full-coverage ones that like to look cakey and/or settle into my forehead lines.
I’ve stopped using makeup wipes and cotton balls/rounds, they’re horrible for the planet and not great for your skin either. I’ve switched to makeup removing balms and reusable muslin cloths and sponges and I love it. My skin is cleaner, softer, and I can feel good about using them.
Both tools I’ve listed below are probably not really tools, so forgive me… 😉
First, ever since I’ve started using cotton bamboo pads for cleaning off my eye makeup, it’s made a big difference in getting it all off and making the job a lot more tolerable (maybe even slightly pleasurable). I’m not sure which regular visitor here recommended using them, but thank you!
Second, definitely not a tool, but I stumbled upon a way to tame my wilder and stick-up white brow hairs. I use some Vanicream Lite lotion on them–I tend to slap it on the entire brow (including above and below, and much thicker over any problematic hairs) after removing any brow makeup and sometimes before bedtime or after awakening. Since using the lotion, my brows are so much easier to deal with, with problem whites staying where I want them. It seems my brows are growing new hairs too since I started this too; I’m not sure why as I had always thought that (supposedly) castor and similar oils (not lotions like Vanicream Lite) helped encourage hair growth.
I absolutely love my Real Techniques Lip blur brush! I use it to spotconceal, it works great and I even use it to set the concealer with powder when I want the most minimal amount of product on my face. And that’s everyday?
I think that my purchase of the Real Techniques blush brush, it’s angled, made applying blush so much easier and better.
Pointed Morphe highlighter brush. The precision is to die for.
Chikuhodo Z10 brush. It is my favorite brush of all time (and I have sooooo many brushes). It just makes putting together eye shadow looks so easy.