Question of the Day: What are your favourite brushes?

I’m currently craving more eye brushes to add to my collection (yes I know that its a weird craving, but hey, I’m a beauty blogger, lol), so I’ve been wondering, what are your favourite brushes?

My current favourite MAC brushes are MAC 109 Eyeliner brush – perfect for applying cream/gel eyeliner like my Bobbi Brown gel liner, MAC 134 Large Powder Brush – perfect for applying loose powder, but because it is full enough that I even use it to blend my face colours together, and MAC 168 Large Angled Contour Brush – perfect for contouring, which I do everyday.

As for my favourite non-MAC brush is the Dior foundation brush. Seriously, this is the softest foundation brush you will ever find. It is made of very thin synthetic fibres, but lots of them so it is very full and dense. Foundation application is easy and flawless. Because it is so dense, you can even use it to apply cream blushes. It is a bit more expensive than MAC brushes, but it is so worth it. If you get a chance, go to your nearest Dior counter and just feel it. Yes, that sounds kind of disturbing, but really feel it, it is such an awesome feeling.

Anyways, which brushes are your favourites? Any brushes you recommend?

MAC Friends & Family Sale – get 25% off!

MAC Cosmetics is doing their annual friends and family sale where you can get 25% off EVERYTHING on their website with the code SUMO. There are no limits to this offer, so you can buy whatever product in whatever amount you wish.

Here is what I was able to get this time:

Penultimate Eyeliner in Rapidblack: I’ve heard very many good things about this eyeliner, and I had been dying to try it out since the Hello Kitty collection came out this February. My current liquid liner (Dior) is running out and I needed to find a replacement. I loved my Dior liner, but it is very expensive at something like $35 a pop. I bought it once, but if I can find a suitable replacement, I double I will buy it again. I am also planning on getting Bobbi Brown’s gel liner this summer, so stay tuned for that!

I would use this pen mostly to line my upper lid above my lashes. I would also use it to create a nice cat-eye. When I get the Bobbi Brown, I will use that to line the inner lid and to fill in the gaps between lashes.

#168 Large Angled Contour Brush: I don’t wear generally wear blush, but I do a lot of contouring on my face. I have Diorblush in #744 English Rose and I use that for contouring. Technically it is a blush, but it is a darker rosy colour, so I find it is a lot more natural to use than a tanner colour. Christine from Temptalia recommended this brush as THE brush to go to when contouring, so I bought it =)

#134 Large Powder Brush: I prefer loose powder over pressed, and this is a brush that is very good for loose powders. The current brush I use for powder (the same one I use for blushers and contouring) was GWP from Clinique (tres sad, I know), and whenever I use it, it leaves streaks in my foundation. Well, not for long! I am super excited about this brush especially because it means I can finally apply loose powder without worrying about how my foundation is going to turn out.

I was originally going to get the kabuki buffer brush (#184), but I felt that I would probably use this brush more because I prefer to apply foundation with my hands. The warmth from my hands helps the foundation set better, at least that’s what I find.

One more tip: I’ve also found that by dusting a bit of loose powder before applying liquid foundation, there is much better staying power and oil control. This would be especially good for the summer. But this is just dusting a little bit, don’t overdo it, or else it will end up very cakey.

#208 Small Angled Brow Brush: Another recommendation from Christine, who uses this brush for lining the waterline of her eyes. I am a huge believer that the waterline should be lined everytime because it just makes your eyes pop, but I don’t always practice that (since I don’t have the right tools…). Now that I got this brush, I will start doing that all the time!

This is supposed to be a brow brush, but Christine says that she loves this brush to use as an eyeliner brush because it is firm enough, and nicely angled.

#209 Eyeliner Brush: I spent the longest time trying to decide between this, or #210 Precise Eyeliner Brush. The reason being that this one is a bit thicker than the other one, so I don’t know which one would be easier to draw a nice cat-liner with. Also the picture from the site doesn’t really help much, as one just looks like it was taken at a closer range than the other. In the end though, I still decided to get this one because of a quick search on Google, where I found one blogger had posted up a real life shot of this brush. I find that this brush is more tapered than the #210, where it just looks like there are a few bristles and it is just very thin, with not much shape or structure. Also I prefer to draw a thicker line sometimes, so this brush would come in handy.

Prep + Prime Refined Zone Treatment: For pore coverage, not much more I need to say. I have pretty visible pores, and it annoys the heck out of me, so I am really excited about this product, because it means my pores will be covered and gone [temporarily]!

I was also going to get the 224 Tapered Blending Brush for eyeshadow application. But apparently the limited edition 226 works much better. It came out with a previous collection and is now sold out, but it will come out again in July with an upcoming collection, so I will just purchase it then.

My total today came to $158.74 including discount and taxes. The brushes are quite expensive, but I have always been told that a good makeup brush set will make the biggest difference in your makeup application. I’ve always been purchasing good cosmetics, but not good makeup brushes. I guess now is the time to start my collection!

Christine from Temptalia posted up two lists of her favourite essential brushes from MAC. If you’ve never purchased makeup brushes before (like me…), this is a really good place to start.

8 MAC Face Brushes You Should Have For Faking Flawless Skin

7 MAC Eye Brushes You Must-Have for Eye Makeup