Different Types of Makeup Brushes and their uses

If you’ve just embarked on the makeup learning adventure or are a little way into it, you’re probably confused and have lots of questions about lots of things. Different types of makeup brushes and their uses are the majority query drawers. It reminds me of when I was learning how to swim; it made no sense at all how moving your arms up and down kept you afloat! Thankfully, in your case, you don’t need to learn physics or any of the other boring sciences. Knowing your makeup brushes will do for now, and, to save you from the trouble of going through countless YouTube tutorials, I’ll be giving you a few leads.

Different types of makeup brushes and their uses

Perfect and appealing makeup requires a lots of materials and tools. Different makeup brushes are one of the most common and complex items here. Different shaped Eyeshadowbrushes can create different looks; for example, a flat shader brush can be used to pack on color while a tapered crease brush can be used to create soft, blended edges. Let’s simplify this complexity . Follow the paragraphs below to have an overall concept about makeup brushes and their uses:

Eyebrow brush:

As the name suggests, the brush is meant to help apply eye shadow to your brows. The brush is slightly angulated, the only angulated brush for your eyes, so it’s fairly easy to identify from other brushes for eyeshadow. The angulated shape makes it much easier to draw your brows in whatever shape you want. And it’s also the right tool for you if you want your winged eyeliners to take flight!

Crease brush:

A crease brush is dome-shaped with densely packed bristles to enable heavy application on the crease of the eyes. Crease brushes can achieve good color diffusion but you’ll need to hold it as far back as possible while maintaining control. So better hone up on your paintbrush skills for this!

Find the history of makeup and cosmetics here.

Lid Brush:

The lid brush is a brush with flat bristles that picks up a decent amount of the product you want to apply on your eyelid. The application of the eyeshadow is also over a small area so a degree of control is necessary for proper application. Good lid brushes will tend to minimize product falloff from the brushes while you are applying the product.

Blending brush:

Applying eyeshadow to your lids isn’t always enough. Quite often, you’ll need of these babies, the blending brush, to soften out harsh lines in your application of eyeshadow. These are needed by anyone trying to go for effects such as smoky eyes and it will blend the eyeshadow both on your lids and crease very nicely. Good blending brushes tend to have soft and dense bristles to help blend eye makeup more.

Bronzer Brush:

Bronzer brushes are round and fluffy in order to enable a very natural-looking layer of bronzer that mimics a slightly tanned look on the user, albeit with a bright, sun-kissed glow. Bronzers make your skin appear to be radiating. The bristles are somewhat loosely packed so that application is not particularly harsh, so don’t worry about too much darkening! It’s also worth noting that brushes have to be used for powdered bronzers so if you are thinking of using a liquid or gel, then you might be able to get by without getting a brush specifically for applying the bronzer.

Foundation Brush:

As should be apparent from the name, foundation brushes are to make sure foundation is applied very smoothly and uniformly on your face. Foundation is one of the most important things to get right as it will be the foundation for the rest of the makeover so it’s imperative that you get a good brush for this. Foundation brushes have flat tips on the bristles and it’s ideal to hold this brush close to the tip for easier application. Having a good brush will make your face have a natural look after application but a poor quality brush will make your face appear somewhat unsaturated.

Types of Foundation Brushes

There are a few different types of foundation brushes on the market, and each has its own unique benefits. Here’s a quick guide to help you choose the right brush for your foundation needs:

1. Flat Foundation Brush: A flat foundation brush is great for creating a smooth, even base. 

It can be used with both liquid and powder foundations, and it works well for both full coverage and light coverage formulations.  

2. Stippling Foundation Brush: A stippling brush is perfect for those who want buildable coverage. It can be used with both liquids and powders, but it works best with cream or gel-based foundations. 

The dense bristles of the brush help to evenly distribute product and create a natural-looking finish.  

3. Kabuki Foundation Brush: A kabuki brush is ideal for those who want a heavy-duty foundation brush that will provide full coverage in just one pass. It’s also great for buffing out any imperfections in your makeup application. 

Kabuki brushes typically have shorter bristles than other types of foundation brushes, which makes them easier to control when applying product.

BEST FOUNDATION BRUSH FOR FULL COVERAGE IS A CLICK AHEAD.

The best makeup brush for the liquid foundation is reviewed here.

Concealer brush:

Concealer brushes are used to evenly layer concealer products on your skin. As you might already know, concealers are a means of spot reduction or correction and with concealers, its key that you do not blend out or smooth out the product after applying it. Therefore, using the brush, you have to pat the concealer onto the required area. Concealer brushes have very short, small bristles suitable for this kind of pat. With a good brush, hiding all your flaws should be a piece of cake!

Blush Brush:

Blush brushes are slightly angulated to make it easier to collect the product and it allows for precise transfer of pigmentation to the cheeks. It is applied to the apple of the cheeks, the slightly elevated part of the cheeks. Good blush brushes will leave a very soft, natural look on the cheeks. People might keep asking you why you’re blushing so much too!

Contour Brush:

Contour brushes are flat brushes that are narrow towards the tip to allow you to contour in a way that mimics the natural lines on your face. The brushes have firm bristles and are slightly angulated towards the tip. Blush brushes may be used for contouring but contour brushes allow for greater emphasis of the lines on the face.

Powder brush:

Powder brushes are made to collect whatever powder product you use to set in your foundation and to apply it on your face in a way that does not overwhelm the foundation or makes you look like a zombie. The function is quite straightforward but good powder brushes will usually let you apply the powder without needing to make alterations to anything you applied already i.e. foundation.

Lip Brush:

Despite not being very popular, as most people end up using the brush that comes included with a liquid lip products, lip brushes are very useful in applying lip products with very high precision. Lip brushes let you line lips near to perfection and unsurprisingly, they’re commonly used as parts of full makeovers. It adds something extra to make the look stand out even more. Mastery over the lip brush will let you really stand out over your friends on a night out, I can tell you!

Stippling brush:

Stippling brushes are also used with foundation but as opposed to foundation brushes, which are mainly to help apply the foundation product in a smooth and uniform manner. The tips of the brush are very thin and light and it’s meant to appear like it’s been sprayed onto your face as opposed to blended out. Stippling brushes can help you get an airbrushed finish. To achieve this, as the name suggests, you’ll have to use the brush in a stippling motion. Instead of dragging the brush on your face, you have to continuously tap it on your face during application.

Domed Blush Brush:

Unlike its counterpart, this blush brush is not angled and resembles a powder brush more. It picks up more pigments than the angled one and it’s meant to apply blush on a greater area of your cheeks than just the apples. The bristles are densely packed but soft. They allow for blending and the dome shape means that it does not leave any harsh lines. Use this brush instead of the angular counterpart if you’re applying blush from the apple of your cheek up to the corner of your ear. If you’re indecisive about which to get, just get both!

Highlighter brush:

Highlighter brushes are similar in shape to blush brushes but are smaller in size. Fan-shaped brushes tend to resemble the look of a hand fan. It makes it easy to spread out a small amount of the highlighter. Highlighter brushes are slightly tapped on areas of the face you want to highlight to just highlight those areas. Brushes with light bristles might be more desirable to you because they end up spreading out the highlight more evenly.

Mascara brush:

Mascara brushes aren’t particularly necessary unless you have a specific look for your lashes in mind. They tend to be disposable and come in packs of several, like 10 or 20. They can be used for a number of different types of looks for your lashes, such as curling or lengthening. Eyeliner on fleek, am I right?!

Now, I know I know, that is a lot of brushes. Don’t worry about getting all of them. If you’re on a budget, you just have to prioritize the ones that are the most necessary ones, such as foundation, lid brush, etc. Of course, it’s also going to be subjective, depending on the kind of look you want going forward. That’s the great thing about makeup; it lets you do what you want and be who you want to become.

Eye shadow brush:

Use this brush to apply eye shadow evenly on your lids. Start from the inner corner of your eye and work your way outwards. You can also use this brush to create a smoky effect by applying darker colors in the crease of your eyelid. 

Eyeliner brush:

Use this thin, stiff brush to apply gel or liquid eyeliner close to the lash line. For a more dramatic look, you can also use this brush to create a winged effect by extending the liner slightly beyond the outer corner of your eye. 

The video below may be a great help in brush usage-

Wrapping up

I hope with this base of knowledge regarding brushes, you have some idea about what each is, what they look like, and what their primary use case is. Different types of makeup brushes and their uses may not be an unknown issue to you by now. Figure out which brushes you will actually need and prioritize them over the ones you can do without at the moment. Most great brush sets don’t get assembled in one day; some people have been doing it for years and they still can’t settle on one set! Just get started to begin. Eventually, you’ll get there and build your own arsenal of brushes to fit all your use cases. Spreading your wings is the first step in getting those winged eyeliners, as one might say!

Click here to discover TIPS AND TRICKS WHEN USING MAKEUP BRUSHES

This is also a must-read to explore the benefits of using a makeup brush