Best Makeup Brush Guides

Makeup stuff is getting more complex these days. Earlier, we just had the basics consisting of foundation, lipstick and eyeliner. Then came the contouring. Today, we have strobing, baking and uniquely shaped oval brushes to use. Use our detailed makeup brush guide we present here to get you doing better with your makeup brushes and easily distinguish blushers from the blenders.

Makeup brushes: For your face

Foundation brush

You have two choices here in terms of shape – tapered or rounded. 

Foundation brush has two types of options – rounded and tapered.

Tapered: Gently tapered edges with flexible bristles render this brush perfect to use with cream and liquid foundation and concealer. Consider working with downward strokes to get the best, natural-looking results.

Rounded: With this brush, bristles are packed closely and they use and distribute the foundation evenly, whether you use powder, cream or liquid foundation. Dome-shaped brush blends the product smoothly.

Kabuki brush

A tiny yet magical brush in the makeup kit, Kubuki brush features dense bristles and short stem. It is named after the Japanese drama theatre makeup and is intended to get you a bold and dramatic look.

Stippling brush

This brush can be used to apply cream or liquid blush and to contour products. It features layered bristles to give a soft and airbrushed effect. This brush is ideal to create color slowly.

Flat concealer brush

This is a great brush that lets you cover larger face parts like the under-eyes. You can use one of the sides to apply the product and then flip it and use the other to blend it.

Powder brush

This brush is designed to pick up compact as well as loose powders and its rounded shape makes it possible. Fluffy bristles make it ideal for application all over the face.

Finishing brush

As the name suggests, the finishing brush is used as the last step in the makeup routine. Soft bristles and unique, fanned shape of this brush makes it ideal for applying translucent powder or creating touch-ups using highlighter.

Makeup brushes: For your eyes

All-over eyeshadow brush

The biggest of the eyes makeup brushes, this brush comes with flat, short bristles which blend eyeshadows easily in absence of a blending brushor. You can use it to apply eyeshadow powder or cream base.

Eyeliner brush/eyebrow brush

This brush has short, closely packed bristles and angled edge to let you draw precise, straight lines. This is an ideal brush to apply gel eyeliner, apply darker shades of eyeshadow along lower or upper lash lines or to do a cat eye. Using this brush, you can color hair-like strokes of the eyebrows and add definition to the eyebrow.

Eye contour brush

Featuring an angled brush head, this makeup brush is intended to work on creases easily and makes this brush ideal for blending layered eyeshadow look.

Blending brush

This brush has loosely packed, little longer bristles and this makes it ideal to blend powder eyeshadows. You can use this brush to work in circular motions over the eyelid to buff the eyeshadow products as well as soften any hard eyeshadow. Such a brush is also useful in applying highlighter to the browbone.

Smudge brush

A special makeup brush with short and tightly packed bristles, the smudge brush is an ideal tool to smudge pencil eyeliner on lower and upper lash lines. It can also smudge the powder or cream eyeshadows to create smokey eyes. Some of these brushes come with a little point to add definition to the eyes’ creases and to be able to apply the eyeshadow in the corners.

Makeup brushes: For your eyebrows

Eyebrow spoolie

A spiral makeup brush featuring stiff bristles, eyebrow spoolie is used to tame uneven brows. This brush also helps disperse powder or pencil product once applied to give a natural finish to the brows.

Makeup brushes: For your lips

Lip brush

With firm and short bristles, the lip brush facilitates controlled, precise application. You should begin by sketching the lip outline and color in the center to get the perfect pout.

Lip-defining brush

Smaller in size than regular lip brush, the lip-defining brush has a tapered point and lesser bristles. It is designed to soften pencil lines and facilitates precise lip color application. This brush is great to use around the Cupid bow area.