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Like many beauty loving girls, I have an absolutely massive makeup bag! It’s full of all sorts of odds and ends – I just hate throwing things out! You never know when it might come in handy, I say to myself… However, sometimes I think it would be nice to be more of a minimalist, carrying only the essential pieces that I know I’ll definitely use. While this might not be something I’ll be doing for all my beauty tools, after doing a bit of research I’m convinced it’s a pretty good approach when it comes to makeup brushes. Really all you need to be able to apply any look is five key brushes. Don’t believe me?! Here’s my guide to the most important ones:
1. Eyeshadow brush
First things first, always make sure you have a small and well-shaped eyeshadow brush for applying your favourite colours. The bristles should be relatively firm, but with a bit of give, and cut into a tapered shape at the end. This will allow you to apply eye shadow delicately over the contours of your eyelids. You can also use this brush to apply highlighting powder, but be sure to clean them in between applications if you’re using it for different types of makeup (you can find handy advice on how to clean makeup brushes online).
2. Flat foundation brush
Secondly, make sure you’ve got yourself a flat foundation brush. These are much bigger than eyeshadow brushes, but smaller than the powder brushes I’ll discuss below. While lots of us have used our fingers to apply foundation in the past, this isn’t actually a great idea because your fingers have a lot of natural oil which can clog pores. Brushes are better for foundation than sponges too as these tend to house nasty bacteria. Ugh!
3. Powder brush Next up is the powder brush.
This should be the biggest brush in your collection. Get yourself a satisfyingly soft bristled brush that gives a lovely smooth finish when applying blusher or foundation powder. Again, it’s great that these brushes are multitasking, but be sure you know how to clean makeup brushes before using them for lots of different purposes.
4. Concealer Brush
Second to last is the concealer brush, for sneakily hiding any little spots. These brushes are flat and small to allow you lots of control when applying concealer to a specific area. The ends are usually round with a slightly pointed tip.
5. Bristled brush for brows
Last but not least is the mighty brow brush. Sometimes our eyebrows just need a little bit of love and this firm bristled number will do just that. Buy a brush with a mascara type applicator on one end to help smooth down your brow, and a firm angled brush on the other, which can be used for filling in extra colour to give your brows more definition.
So, there you have it! The only five make up brushes you’ll ever need… Well most of the time. You know the idea of a capsule wardrobe? Well this is like that but for your makeup tools 🙂 Trust me, just try it for a few weeks and you’ll be left wondering why you ever needed anything else!
