What are your must-have face brushes? Share!
Real Techniques Expert Face Brush, Hakuhodo G5556, Hourglass Brush No. 2, Tom Ford Cream Foundation Brush, Hakuhodo J5521 (contour), Hakuhodo J4044 (fan brush), MUFE #128 (finishing).. For more details, you can check out my previous posts: must-have eye brushes and must-have face brushes.
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Real Techniques Expert Face Brush, EcoTools Airbrush Concealer Brush, Japonesque Travel Powder Brush.
The only brushes I use for my face (besides my cheek brushes) are 2 Sephora #57 (airbrush concealer) brushes for face, and under eye concealer, and the Sephora Pro #10 to set my under eye concealer with powder.
I always wanted to ask about these. I see how much the Sephora brushes are and they are not that much cheaper than MAC. MAC is rated the best, well was until Hakuhodo brushes.
Why not spend the money on MAC?
mac brushes tend to be harsh in my experience
Suqqu Face brush and Hakuhodo 5557-2m
I love my UD Optical Blurring Brush for liquid foundations.
I’ve been thinking about buying this one!
Should I be ashamed that I thought cheek and face brushes are the same thing?! 0_o
I’m still hung up on the idea of the Suqqu one I’ve heard so much about… 🙂 I’ve never actually seen or held one in person, so it’s be interesting to (one day) finally meet one and see what all the fuss is about!
Hey, you’re not far off. Cheeks are part of the face!
I was just thinking between finishing and setting powders, different foundations, concealers… plenty o’ brushes to choose from.
Ah, I see, that’s a good point! Somehow I associate both face and cheek brushes with big fluffy powder/blush ones! But you’re quite right, I hadn’t thought about concealer or foundation…
In that case, I have eight must-have brushes, my fingers! (Thumbs aren’t so handy, so they miss out!)
Hahaha! Very good 😉
Sedona Lace Midnight Lace precision brush set for contouring, highlighting and other detailed face work. I like them better than Sigma’s precision brushes, which tend to be a little too dense. Plus their cute pink/purple ombré bristles hide pigment stains better if your kinda OCD like me 🙂 I also love the Expert Face brush from Real Techniques. Funny, I have a lot of high end brushes but these are my favorites!
Sigma F82!
Blush/Highlighter/Contour:
Rae Morris Deluxe Kabuki
Chikuhodo Artist 18-2
Powder:
Rae Morris Pro Powder (all-over powder)
Shu Uemura 15 Kolinsky (under-eye, setting concealer)
Chikuhoko Z-8
Bronzer:
Becca 16 Bronzer
Foundation/Cream Highlighter and Blush:
Shu Uemura 18 Goat
Shiseido Foundation Brush
Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
Concealer:
Sephora 47 Pro Airbrush Concealer
Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Brush
Cant be without my real techniques blush, detailer brush and my fearne cotton powder brush x
It certainly says a lot to see Real Techniques in the same list with the very pricey brush from Tom Ford! I agree about the RT Expert Face Brush – it’s one of my favourites too, along with the foundation brush from Shiseido. For mineral power foundations, I rely on the mineral powder brush from Sephora and the flat topped buffing brush from IT Cosmetics which is designed to use with their Celebration Foundation but I use it for a lot of powder foundations. When I got IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness “corrector”, it came with this very dinky looking flat topped brush that I thought would end up in the trash but that little dinky brush is the best for applying that particular product. For those rare times when I contour, I like the RT contouring brush (which I got in the Core Collection and I think it’s a real shame and annoyance that the brushes sold in the sets are not available individually).
It’s funny, because it’s one of those things where it’s so expensive, and in a way, precious that I don’t want to use it a LOT, LOL!
My sigma f80 for foundation.
I actually don’t use a lot of face brushes. If I’m not using my hands to apply foundation, then I use the Real Techniques Stippling brush and the Real Techniques Deluxe Crease brush for concealer.
It begins and ends with Real Techniques buffing brush for me. I’ve tried (and spent money on) tons, including RT expert face brush and hourglass, both of which had such good reviews, flat brushes, kabuki brushes, etc. I kept going back to fingers until I found the buffing brush. I really wish it was sold individually so I could get more!
I have an hourglass powder brush that I like as well, and the RT setting brush. Still haven’t tried hakuhodo but dying to.
Sedona Lace Flat Top FB07
MAC 168
Sonia Kashuk angled brush
Sedona Lace Bent Eyeliner EB19
MAC 188
Sedona Lace brow duo
MAC 195
Sonia Kashuk foundation brush
For creamy foundations, I love the Sigma F80. For cream to powder (Hourglass Immaculate), the Sigma F84 is the way to go. For very liquidy foundations (e.g., Benefit’s Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow), Tinted Moisturizers, and BB creams, the Real Techniques Buffing Brush. For most setting powder, I use the Real Techniques Powder Brush. For my Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder, I love the Sephora #43. It is SO SOFT!!!
I’m a huge fan of Sedona Lace brushes…my favorites are the 520 angled flat top & 480 round top for foundation, 850 for blush. And their 224 small tapered for concealer. Sedona Lace has a set of small face brushes that are perfect for the little crooks and corners in your face. LOVE them!
I have a ton of brushes, so to buy backups of anything says a lot! I have backups of RT Expert Face Brush, which is the most versatile in terms of formulas I can use it with. RT Powder Brush is “textured” enough to apply & blend powders, yet soft enough to not disturb any foundation beneath. I also use it for bronzer, as it leaves the lightest veil of color, and diffuses as I apply. I also have a backup RT Blush Brush, which works well for every formula I’ve tried it with.
As someone else stated, I wish the RT Buffing Brush was sold alone. It has replaced my Physician’s Formula Mineral Flat Top Kabuki as my buffing brush of choice. The PF is still an amazing brush, but it is larger, so getting into certain areas can be tricky.
Worth mentioning are Essence of Beauty Finishing Brush, which is great for highlighting & contouring, but it is DC’d. Also, RT Finishing Brush for setting undereye concealer.
I use the Sigma F30 (large powder) brush pretty well everyday to apply an Ambient Light powder! 🙂
Foundation:
Real techniques expert face brush or Shiseido perfect foundation brush.
Concealer:
No7 concealer brush or MAC 286.
Cheek:
Koyudo red squirrel or Suqqu cheek for pigmented blushes, MAC 168 for sheerer harder formulas. I also like my mac 130 for cream blush.
Setting powder:
I like Wayne Goss’ LE face brush, cos I roll the the powder into the foundation rather than pat it on.
Finishing powder:
Koyudo Fu-Pa 14, my most favouritest brush in the whole widest world. It applies Guerlain’s pressed and perles meteorites so wonderfully like no other brush I’ve ever owned.
None. I prefer fingers. Brushes just get in the way.
My current faves for applying foundation are the Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Buffing Brush and the EcoTools Bronzer Brush.
What brush do you use for ambient powders?
I like using a fan brush!
I like my Bobbi Brown Face Blender brush a lot.I use it for my meteorites and face powders . It’s one of the few brushes that I have a backup of.