Today's post is some info about some of my favourite makeup brushes. It's much easier now to get vegan brushes, with brands like Real Techniques, Eco Tools and Barry M (all being synthetic or having synthetic options) now widely available in Superdrug/Boots. Also there's loads of options online; we no longer have to pay over the odds for brushes that are not even animal friendly.
So here's just a few of mine; I have tonnes of brushes so this doesn't cover every brush I love, or we'd be here all freakin day.
EYES
This is a great little brush for precise crease work but I mainly use if for highlighting under the brow, the inner corner and for blending out the lower lash line. MUG brushes are all vegan and very reasonably priced. The only downside for us on this side of the pond is customs charges.
So because of the customs charges, I thought I'd show you a very similar brush. This is the Deluxe Crease brush from the Crown Brush Syntho range. A tiny bit bigger bristles, but very very similar in fluffiness and size, only with a shorter handle.
Again, Furless are not a UK company, you have to order from Australia. However, I've ordered from them lots of times and they are really quick to ship and I don't think there are customs charges from Aus. I could be wrong on that though. Furless brushes are fantastic quality and they usually chuck a freeby in with your order. More on that in a minute! They do vegan mineral makeup too!
I use this for more precise work and for smudging liner etc. Sometimes for blending out small areas of concealer.
A good flat brush is necessary for packing on colour to the lid, especially matte colours which tend to not be so pigmented, or for loose pigments and glitters. I never use this for concealer, but I love it for the lid. I have loads of flat brushes but I like the size of this one, as it's nice and small.
Here it is side by side with the 217. You can see that size and shape wise, they're very very similar! The 217 is fluffier than the bdellium which is a wee bit firmer. But it's a great brush and a brilliant alternative for those looking for a cruelty free dupe of the 217.
I got sent this as a freeby with another order from Furless and I ended up ordering 2 more for my kit. It's such a lovely brush. It's make a smokey eye a breeze, great for picking up colour and blending. Also, because of the pinched ferrule, it's good for a wash of colour on the lid.
Everyone needs a small angle brush and I was going to mention my Furless ones. But actually this brush is as good, if not better. It's lovely and thin and is great for brows or for that lovely cat-eye liner! Plus it's cheap and it's available in your local superdrug - win!
Louise Young LY25 Fine Liner Brush
There's a few finer liner brushes in Louise Young's range, the LY25 is the synthetic one. Can you see how battered my brush is? I have 2 of these and I LOVE it. It's super fine and keeps it's shape really well. So it makes eyeliner as easy as is possible!
Props also go to the Real Techniques fine liner brush, which is my very close second favourite!
Does what is says on the tin and does it very well. Nice dense but fluffy brush, doesn't apply too much product and is good for blending out too. I also like this brush for powder.
I use this for bronzer mainly. I like a bit fat fluffy brush for that and this is perfect. It's also good for powder.
I like this for it's intended purpose but also I love it for highlighting with cream or powder. It's a lovely brush and just the right size for a contour or highlight! The only downside to this brush is that you can't buy it alone, it's part of the Core Collection; however, that set is brilliant because it also has a tiny detailer brush and the buffing brush, which is excellent. The little foundation brush you get with the set is a bit of a waste of space, but ok for concealer etc.
I love this for blending cream shadow on the lids or for blending out concealer. It's a mini version of the F80 face brush, which I also love dearly.
aIt's clean I swear it! It's just a bit stained because it's well loved! I use this every day pretty much to apply my GOSH CC Cream Foundation. I find this works the best with that foundation. I also love this brush for other foundations and for applying and working in primers like the GOSH one that is in a tub.
This is my absolute favourite powder brush. If like me you don't like to be overly matte, then this is the brush for you. It doesn't pick up too much product so it gives you a lovely light dusting. This is also part of a set but it's a brilliant set - a set I have 3 of as I love it so much! :)
I use this brush for precision powdering, so basically small areas like under my eyes and around my nose etc. I've also seen people use it for blending out concealer, but I really use it just for powder.
I'm not that fussy when it comes to lip brushes but I do hate when they're teeny. I like this one because it's a bit bigger and gets the product on quicker.
For cleaning my brushes, I am currently using Parian Spirit to spot clean, which I've been googling like crazy to check it's cruelty free and finding nothing (I've had it ages and have only just used up my pre-china supply of MAC's brush cleanser, so I've gone back to this - I'll update this when I find out!)
But anyway I like it. It dries quick and it smells of oranges.
For a full deep clean I use baby shampoo; the one I'm using right now is this one from Superdrug.
And because I'm too cheap to pay £25 or whatever for the Sigma brush cleaning mitt, I bought this one instead. It's basically a silicone oven mitt that I got off ebay for about a fiver and it works a treat, for a fraction of the price of the Sigma one! Win.
So that's it for my favourite brushes. Let me know what some of your favourites are!
Love & Stuff
Sal xXx
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