Make up brushes are a tool we have all used and there are so many sizes shapes and textures, flat vs round, natural vs synthetic and what we use for different purposes. In this multi part article I’ll talk about the different types and what they’re best for. part one will talk about foundation, powder, blusher, bronzer and highlighter brushes and oval brushes.
Foundation Brushes
Starting with foundation brushes, there are a few different types of foundation brushes. There is the flat top brush, the rounded brush, the flat brush and technically not a brush but I’ll include anyway the sponge. Depending on what you like to do and what type of effect you want to achieve all of these have their uses.
Flat Foundation Brushes
First there is the flat foundation brush. This brush is good for getting full coverage with liquid foundation or with cream to powder compact foundations. These are tightly packed longer bristles and used much like a paint brush you can dip the brush into the foundation and apply it onto your face in longer strokes. Starting at center of your face and cheeks apply stroke out towards your hairline and downward toward the chin. I find that these brushes are great for the initial application but for the finer details like around the lips, eyes and even the creases by the nose the smaller version of this brush is great. There are a few sizes. and I find that the smallest one is great for those detailed areas of the face that are harder to get with the larger size brush. I also find that the smallest flat brush is good for applying concealer and eyeshadow primer around the eyes.
Flat top rounded brush
The flat top rounded brush best used with liquid foundation is a full face full coverage brush. When using these types of brushes it’s a good idea to tap or dab the brush on your face rather than applying in strokes. Circular motion is also a good method with these brushes, they give a nice smooth air brush type of look. They can be used to not only apply the foundation but also to blend it with the powder. This is where the matte, air brush finish comes in. I especially like using this method when doing pics for my social media posts because it gives the skin perfect coverage and even skin tone too. A good tip when applying makeup with these is to tap the makeup onto your face rather than swiping across your face the way you would the flat brush it gives a better, more even application of the makeup.
Round top brush
Round top brushes are sometimes also know as powder brushes. They’re rounded brushes with rounded top. Used to apply loose or compact powder these are good for the finishing touches. They are also good with blushes and bronzers. Here are quite a few variations of these brushes. Some have longer bristles other shorter. This all depends of what effect you’re looking for. Typically the shorter bristles give a more concentrated amount of powder where the longer ones give a more airy lighter coverage. The angled ones are used to contour and apply bronzers.
Fan brushes
Fan brushes are really interesting and pretty cool. They’re typically flat and they fan out as the name indicates. They are often used for highlighters and blushes but best used for brushing eyeshadow fallout off your face in fact they were originally created for this very purpose. Most make up sets come with a standard size fan brush. I had one set come with a giant one and it is such a useful too. I also like to brush it over my face to remove excess powder of any type not just fallout. Just like other brush types they do come in all sizes large, small and everything between. You can even get a set of just fan brushes
Oval Brushes
Oval brushes are fairly new and in the polls I did not so popular. Mostly due to how awkward they are. I have not tried them myself yet but have a set on the way. From what I hear they are actually better than the traditional brushes. They come in all sizes for each part of your face and make up type from big ones for foundation to the tiny ones for the eyes.
Next week I’ll talk about some of the smaller brushes.
Magik’s Mirror 