My Everyday Makeup Brushes: The Downsized Collection


Makeup brushes are addictive little things, don't you think? Even if you're 100% satisfied with the ones you own, it seems that new sets with their slightly different packaging or slightly different shape will always be enough to tempt you in. After two years of blogging about beauty this is probably how I ended up with quite so many of the things, and up until recently my dressing table was home to two huge pots of them (each filled to the brim with various, yet shockingly similar styles of makeup brushes). After months of digging around to find my favourites every morning I decided a huge declutter was in order...after all, I do only have one face. With so many being similar it didn't even give me an especially wide selection of choices- it just meant I was dirtying up more of them leading to an inevitable huge brush wash...great. Now all of my other brushes are safely tucked away in a set of drawers with the rest of my makeup stash, it means I have easy access to the ones I like best. I mean, do I really need forty or so brushes at arms reach every day? Of course I don't! Here are the ones that made the cut.

Foundation Brushes

These gorgeous white and gold brushes are from a brand called Uspicy, and they honestly are the best face brushes I've ever tried. I stopped using my Real Techniques face brushes pretty much as soon as I got these, while the bristles feel very similar I just much prefer the size and shape of these ones and find the bigger brush heads make applying my base makeup easier. The reason I've kept out four similar brushes is because I always use two at a time, I start by applying foundation with one of the more rounded ones then go in with one of the flat topped ones after to make sure everything is all buffed in. Having two sets means I'm not having to wash my brushes every other day! I use the pointed brush for cream contour, and the small brush for under eye concealer.

Powder Brushes

Of all of the fluffy brushes I've ever owned, these three are by far my favourites and are the only fluffy brushes I need (aside from my fluffy kabuki brush but that lives in my handbag). The first is the Real Techniques blush brush, I'm actually going through a phase of not wearing blush at the moment which is bit of a shocker after years of being obsessed with it! But whenever I do this is the brush I use to apply it. The brown handled brush is what I use for bronzer, it's from a set from eBay I bought when I first started blogging- I've had a LOT of inexpensive brush sets over the years and the majority haven't been brilliant so this was such a good find. The handle is sturdy, the bristles are incredibly soft and I've washed it weekly for the last two years with no shedding or damage to it at all. I'm a bit gutted that I can't find them any more as I can't recommend them highly enough. The third brush is also an eBay find, and is a dupe of the Real Techniques powder brush. I love this thing it applies pressed and loose powder perfectly and is so soft.


It took me years to find decent eyeshadow blending brushes, I've been through loads of crappy ones that were either too small, too stiff or not fluffy enough. But my eye brush problem was solved when I discovered Crown makeup brushes. I have quite a few of these fluffy brushes but managed to whittle it down to two- my favourite is the C319 'stiff tapered crease' (with the black bristles). It's a great size for precisely laying down colour, as well as being reasonably dense so you can blend everything out really nicely. The other fluffy brush is less dense, I mainly use it for softening any harsh lines and making sure everything is fully blended out. I use the smaller smudger brush for applying eyeshadow under the lower lash line, as well as apply highlight to the inner corner of my eye and the angled brush is for brow powder. This was in the same set as my powder brush, and is so good I've never felt the need to replace it.

How many brushes do you have in your 'everyday' collection?