Your Complete Guide to Basic Makeup Brushes

Puzzled by the different makeup brushes available in stores? Wondering if that online makeup guru really needs all those brushes?

With up to 14 different makeup brushes out there, it’s no wonder that many women find them confusing. The answer is using makeup brushes isn’t absolutely essential. After all, there are many online videos of people applying makeup with their fingers who end up looking great.

However, makeup brushes can make application easier and give you better-looking results. Whether you’re a makeup novice or a makeup artist, having at least a few essential makeup brushes in your arsenal can make a beautiful difference.

Let’s get to know the ten basic makeup brushes, shall we?

Foundation Brush

Use this fluffy rounded brush to apply foundation in outward strokes. Usually made to easily fit in your hand, you can use a foundation brush to soften lines around your jawline and hairline.

Flat Eyeshadow Brush

The flat eyeshadow brush is a bit dense but flat and is used to create a smooth base for eye makeup. This is essential in building up shades and giving your eye beautifully layered gradients.

Angled Eyeshadow Brush

The angled eyeshadow brush has slightly slanted bristles. It’s fluffier than the flat eyeshadow brush and is used to diffuse makeup from your eyelid’s crease towards your brow. The angle is made to follow the contour of your brow bone for easy blending.

Pencil Brush

This brush has a more pointed tip compared to the other brushes. It’s also smaller, stiffer, and tapered so you can blend colors near your lashes and achieve a smoky eye.

Lip Brush

The lip brush has curved, tapered bristles that allow you to apply lipstick with greater precision and blend your lip liner with your lipstick.

Blush/Bronzer Brush

Blush or bronzer brushes have puffy bristles arranged in a round shape. It’s useful for distributing blush, powder, and bronzer. Don’t use the same brush for all three though to avoid the pigments from blending.

Contour Brush

As you might expect, the contour brush is slightly slanted for easier application. It’s meant to evenly blend contour powder with precision along the forehead, cheekbones, and jawline.

Highlighter Brush

Highlighter brushes have fluffy tapered heads. They’re used for dusting, sweeping, and blending highlighter so you can achieve that bright, dewy, natural-looking glow. You’ll use it in areas where light naturally hits the face like the cheekbones, nose bridge, and brow bones.

Fan Brush

This flat, fanned-out brush is used to sweep off excess powder and clean up stray makeup like eyeshadow. It can also be used to dust highlighter on your skin for a fuller glow.

Eyebrow Brush

The eyebrow brush is flat and blunt with slightly angled bristles. Use it with brow powder or gel to fill in sparse brow hairs.

If you’ve never used makeup brushes before, give them a try by buying one or two pieces instead of starting with a set of the best makeup brushes. You may want to start with a foundation brush or a blush/bronzer brush since most people use foundation and blush in their basic makeup routine.

If you don’t know how to use makeup brushes, a few short how-to videos on YouTube will quickly get you up to speed. This small addition to your kit may just surprise you with how quickly you can apply makeup and how much better makeup looks on you.